Meet The Team

Marie Sholes

Accounts Payable Accountant at Broken Tractor. The person on the vendor side of the books — invoice matching, PO reconciliation, returns coordination, and the kind of quiet accuracy that keeps the entire operation moving.

MS

Sheila Marie Sholes • Accounts Payable Accountant • Baton Rouge, LA

Marie joined Broken Tractor a little under four years ago, after an interview that resonated immediately. The vision for the company aligned with exactly what she was looking for: a chance to continue developing in the drop-shipping and aftermarket parts space, while joining a team that was clearly growing into something. Three-and-a-half years in, that bet has paid off in both directions.

Three words from her coworkers’ point of view: Reliable. Organized. Helpful. Three words that don’t come from somebody trying to be impressive — they come from somebody whose work speaks for them.

What a normal week actually looks like

If you ask most people what an Accounts Payable role involves, they’ll say “paying bills.” Marie’s answer is more honest about what the job really is:

“A combination of A/P processing, payment controls, vendor reconciliation, and operational accounting support.”

In a typical week, that means reviewing invoices against purchase orders and receiving records, investigating discrepancies, monitoring vendor credits, and preventing duplicate payments. It also means coordinating returns, RTNs, and inventory-related issues, communicating with vendors directly, and helping maintain accurate financial records and inventory integrity across multiple departments.

That last phrase — across multiple departments — is where the role gets interesting. A/P at a parts company isn’t a back-office function. It touches purchasing, receiving, sales orders, and the warehouse on the same day, often on the same invoice. Marie is the person who makes sure those threads don’t cross.

What makes the job smoother

Ask Marie what vendors and customers can do that makes the work easier, and the answer is the most practical advice in the entire spotlight series:

“Provide complete and accurate documentation upfront.”

For vendors, that means correct PO numbers, complete invoice details, tracking information, and credits properly applied on statements. For customers, it means timely communication on returns, RTNs, and payment issues to prevent delays and reconciliation problems.

Why does it matter? Because clear documentation and quick follow-up reduce duplicate work, speed up resolution time, and keep accounting, inventory, and payment records accurate. Three-and-a-half years on this desk has shown Marie exactly where the bottlenecks live — and almost all of them trace back to the same root cause: incomplete information at the start.

What she enjoys about the work

“I enjoy bringing order and helping keep things balanced behind the scenes. I also like building relationships with vendors and being someone people can count on when they need answers or help.”

That’s a sentence that tells you everything about why she’s good at the role. The accounting work itself — bringing order, keeping things balanced — is the part most A/P professionals would name. The relationship piece is the part most wouldn’t. Vendors at Broken Tractor know Marie by name, by tone, and by the fact that when they call about an invoice, the answer comes back quickly and correctly.

Off the clock

Here’s where Marie’s spotlight goes somewhere most accounting profiles don’t.

Outside of work, Marie is an author, songwriter, and publisher. She writes and shares inspirational and faith-based content, and creates worship music. Music and writing give her a meaningful creative outlet and a way to encourage others through storytelling and song. In her downtime, she also crochets and reads — both of which, she notes, help her relax and stay inspired creatively.

It’s an unusual stack of pursuits next to a serious accounting career, and yet there’s a logic to it. The same instincts that bring order to a vendor reconciliation bring order to a verse, a chord progression, or a stitched row. Pay attention to the details. Make sure everything balances. Build something that holds together.

What she loves most about it

“What I enjoy most about working here is the teamwork, problem-solving, and building strong relationships with both vendors and customers.”

Three-and-a-half years in, that’s the line that captures it. The role isn’t just bookkeeping. It’s a relationship job dressed up in spreadsheets — and Marie has built the relationships that keep the financial side of Broken Tractor running clean.