Built by people who spent their careers holding the books that matter.
Ardent & Aces exists because the work of bookkeeping — done well — is the quiet foundation every serious business stands on. And too many businesses have stopped being able to count on it.
A note from the founders.
We've spent our careers inside the financial engine room.
One of us, Shehan, spent the last fifteen years at HSBC — following earlier roles at other multinational institutions — sitting on the side of the table where numbers couldn't be approximate, where a reconciliation had to be right the first time, and where the quiet discipline of good financial work was the thing that separated the firms that scaled from the firms that stalled.
The other, Kavinga Ratnayake, spent his career inside the profession itself — leading accounting and financial operations for blue-chip companies across multiple industries, and serving inside global BPOs like Accenture, where he saw first-hand how large enterprises expect their financial work to be managed, reviewed, and delivered. Fifteen-plus years of that experience now shapes every deliverable that leaves our team.
What we kept seeing was the same pattern. CPA firms drowning in capacity issues they couldn't hire their way out of. Business owners losing nights and weekends to QuickBooks because they couldn't find a bookkeeper who would show up, stay, and do the work to the standard it deserved. A middle market of outsourcing that was cheap for a reason — staffed by under-qualified teams, managed loosely, and trusted even more loosely.
We started Ardent & Aces because there was a gap between those options — between the expensive, slow path of internal hires, and the inconsistent, cut-corners path of typical outsourcing. A gap for a senior-qualified team that could deliver premium work at a transparent, predictable price, with the kind of institutional discipline we'd each been trained in at HSBC, Accenture, and the blue-chip firms that shaped us.
We built this from Sri Lanka deliberately. A country with one of the oldest and most respected accounting traditions in Asia, a deep pool of Commonwealth-qualified professionals, English as a working language across the profession, and a time zone that lets us close your books overnight while you sleep.
We're here to be the back office that works harder than you'd expect, holds a standard you won't find at this price point, and gets the details right because we believe that's still worth doing.
Thank you for considering us.
— Shehan Ratnayake & Kavinga Ratnayake, Co-founders
The founding team.
Fifteen years at HSBC, following earlier roles at other multinational institutions. A career built inside international banking and finance, spanning risk, operations, and client-facing financial work. Brings the institutional discipline of global banking to a profession that has long needed more of it.
Fifteen-plus years leading accounting and financial operations for blue-chip companies across multiple industries, with additional experience inside multinational BPOs including Accenture. Built the A&A delivery standard from the ground up, leads the senior bookkeeping team, and owns the quality of every deliverable that leaves our team.
A senior team. By design.
We don't hire bookkeepers the way most outsourcing firms do. Every member of our bookkeeping team holds or is actively pursuing a professional accounting credential — CIMA, ACCA, or CA — and our wider team carries more than 30 years of combined experience.
Our standard is simple: if the person handling your books wouldn't qualify to handle the books at a top-tier firm, they don't handle them here.
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK)
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK, global)
Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, recognized across the Commonwealth
One standard. Every engagement. Regardless of client size.
Some teams are built on geography. Ours is built on standards.
Sri Lanka has one of the most established accounting traditions in Asia. CIMA has operated here for decades. ACCA has a deep local footprint. CA Sri Lanka is among the oldest professional accounting bodies in the region, with a rigorous qualification pathway recognized across the Commonwealth.
English is a working language across the profession — every deliverable, every client communication, every workpaper. There is no translation layer.
The time zone works in your favour. Sri Lanka sits 10.5 hours ahead of US Eastern time. Work that begins at the end of your day is complete by the time you open your laptop the next morning.
We are in Sri Lanka because it is the best place in the world to do this work. That is the only reason that matters.
Principles that shape the work.
Precision over speed.
We'd rather deliver a clean close in five days than a careless one in two. The point of bookkeeping is that it's right.
Discretion as a standard.
Your financials are confidential, and we treat them that way — in our processes, our contracts, and our culture. Security is not a marketing line; it is a professional obligation.
Transparency in pricing.
Fixed-fee. Tiered. No hourly surprises, no hidden add-ons. You should know what you're paying before the work begins.
Durability over novelty.
We're not trying to be the trendy AI-this or automated-that. We are trying to be the team you can still count on in ten years.
Trusted by firms that can't afford to get this wrong.
We work with a growing roster of US CPA firms and businesses across several industries — and we treat their identities the way we treat their books: with discretion. We don't list client names because respecting their privacy is part of the service. As partnerships mature and clients approve public naming, we will add named case studies here. In the meantime, the best reference is a conversation.