diff --git a/cmd/consumer/main.go b/cmd/consumer/main.go
index 4602c13..860a9ca 100644
--- a/cmd/consumer/main.go
+++ b/cmd/consumer/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type SampleRecordProcessor struct {
+	checkpointer      *kcl.Checkpointer
 	sleepDuration     time.Duration
 	checkpointRetries int
 	checkpointFreq    time.Duration
@@ -26,14 +27,15 @@ func New() *SampleRecordProcessor {
 	}
 }
 
-func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) Initialize(shardID string) error {
+func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) Initialize(shardID string, checkpointer *kcl.Checkpointer) error {
 	srp.lastCheckpoint = time.Now()
+	srp.checkpointer = checkpointer
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) checkpoint(checkpointer kcl.Checkpointer, sequenceNumber *string, subSequenceNumber *int) {
-	for n := -1; n < srp.checkpointRetries; n++ {
-		err := checkpointer.Checkpoint(sequenceNumber, subSequenceNumber)
+func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) checkpoint(sequenceNumber *string, subSequenceNumber *int) {
+	for n := 0; n < srp.checkpointRetries+1; n++ {
+		err := srp.checkpointer.Checkpoint(sequenceNumber, subSequenceNumber)
 		if err == nil {
 			return
 		}
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) shouldUpdateSequence(sequenceNumber *big.Int,
 		(sequenceNumber.Cmp(srp.largestSeq) == 0 && subSequenceNumber > srp.largestSubSeq)
 }
 
-func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) ProcessRecords(records []kcl.Record, checkpointer kcl.Checkpointer) error {
+func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) ProcessRecords(records []kcl.Record) error {
 	for _, record := range records {
 		seqNumber := new(big.Int)
 		if _, ok := seqNumber.SetString(record.SequenceNumber, 10); !ok {
@@ -80,16 +82,16 @@ func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) ProcessRecords(records []kcl.Record, checkpoin
 	}
 	if time.Now().Sub(srp.lastCheckpoint) > srp.checkpointFreq {
 		largestSeq := srp.largestSeq.String()
-		srp.checkpoint(checkpointer, &largestSeq, &srp.largestSubSeq)
+		srp.checkpoint(&largestSeq, &srp.largestSubSeq)
 		srp.lastCheckpoint = time.Now()
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) Shutdown(checkpointer kcl.Checkpointer, reason string) error {
+func (srp *SampleRecordProcessor) Shutdown(reason string) error {
 	if reason == "TERMINATE" {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Was told to terminate, will attempt to checkpoint.\n")
-		srp.checkpoint(checkpointer, nil, nil)
+		srp.checkpoint(nil, nil)
 	} else {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Shutting down due to failover. Will not checkpoint.\n")
 	}
diff --git a/kcl/kcl.go b/kcl/kcl.go
index a9f4d9c..1933a68 100644
--- a/kcl/kcl.go
+++ b/kcl/kcl.go
@@ -9,16 +9,24 @@ import (
 )
 
 type RecordProcessor interface {
-	Initialize(shardID string) error
-	ProcessRecords(records []Record, checkpointer Checkpointer) error
-	Shutdown(checkpointer Checkpointer, reason string) error
+	Initialize(shardID string, checkpointer *Checkpointer) error
+	ProcessRecords(records []Record) error
+	Shutdown(reason string) error
+}
+
+type CheckpointError struct {
+	e string
+}
+
+func (ce CheckpointError) Error() string {
+	return ce.e
 }
 
 type Checkpointer struct {
 	ioHandler ioHandler
 }
 
-func (c Checkpointer) getAction() (interface{}, error) {
+func (c *Checkpointer) getAction() (interface{}, error) {
 	line, err := c.ioHandler.readLine()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -30,15 +38,7 @@ func (c Checkpointer) getAction() (interface{}, error) {
 	return action, nil
 }
 
-type CheckpointError struct {
-	e string
-}
-
-func (ce CheckpointError) Error() string {
-	return ce.e
-}
-
-func (c Checkpointer) Checkpoint(sequenceNumber *string, subSequenceNumber *int) error {
+func (c *Checkpointer) Checkpoint(sequenceNumber *string, subSequenceNumber *int) error {
 	c.ioHandler.writeAction(ActionCheckpoint{
 		Action:            "checkpoint",
 		SequenceNumber:    sequenceNumber,
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ func New(inputFile io.Reader, outputFile, errorFile io.Writer, recordProcessor R
 	}
 	return &KCLProcess{
 		ioHandler: i,
-		checkpointer: Checkpointer{
+		checkpointer: &Checkpointer{
 			ioHandler: i,
 		},
 		recordProcessor: recordProcessor,
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func New(inputFile io.Reader, outputFile, errorFile io.Writer, recordProcessor R
 
 type KCLProcess struct {
 	ioHandler       ioHandler
-	checkpointer    Checkpointer
+	checkpointer    *Checkpointer
 	recordProcessor RecordProcessor
 }
 
@@ -204,11 +204,11 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) reportDone(responseFor string) error {
 func (kclp *KCLProcess) performAction(a interface{}) (string, error) {
 	switch action := a.(type) {
 	case ActionInitialize:
-		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.Initialize(action.ShardID)
+		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.Initialize(action.ShardID, kclp.checkpointer)
 	case ActionProcessRecords:
-		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.ProcessRecords(action.Records, kclp.checkpointer)
+		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.ProcessRecords(action.Records)
 	case ActionShutdown:
-		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.Shutdown(kclp.checkpointer, action.Reason)
+		return action.Action, kclp.recordProcessor.Shutdown(action.Reason)
 	default:
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown action to dispatch: %s", action)
 	}