RollForgeAdvisory Tell me what you’re working on

Every business has a destination. Let's forge the plan to get there.

RollForge Advisory provides business advisory and CFO services to business owners and leadership teams. You bring the goal — I bring senior finance judgment, a clear plan, and hands-on help executing it. For founder-owned, family-owned, and investor-backed businesses alike.

Tell me what you’re working on Where engagements start
CPA, Big Four trainedInvestment banking & M&ACFO & operating leadershipFundraising, equity & creditFinance systems & AI
Where We Start

It starts with your goal, not my services.

Owners come to RollForge with a destination in mind. A few we work toward:

Some owners want a tighter operation — cleaner books, faster reporting, better margins, a financial function that runs itself so they can run the business. Some are chasing a growth target — a revenue or profit number with a real plan behind it: the model, the milestones, the hiring, the capital it takes. And some are getting ready for what's next — a raise, a credit facility, an acquisition, an eventual exit — and want it evaluated honestly and prepared early enough to matter.

And there's plenty in between: fix a model, price a deal, get a second opinion. If it's a finance decision an owner loses sleep over, it's in scope.

Services

Then the plan gets scoped — before it starts.

Work begins with a written statement of work — clear deliverables, timeline, and fee. Engagements draw on seven practice areas:

Finance Function Assessment

A structured review of your finance operations — people, process, and systems — with a prioritized, practical roadmap. Where you're exposed, what to fix first, and what can wait.

Capital Planning & Readiness

Cash and runway strategy, scenario modeling, and preparation for what's next — an equity raise, a credit facility, a banking relationship, or simply a stronger balance sheet. Grounded in years of transaction work on both sides of the table.

Systems & AI Modernization

From spreadsheet finance to systems finance. Practical modernization of your accounting and reporting stack — including where AI genuinely helps and where it doesn't — designed around your size, not a vendor's pitch.

Provider Selection & Coordination

RollForge doesn't do bookkeeping or prepare tax returns — and that independence is the point. I help you define what you need, solicit and compare bids from accounting, tax, and audit providers, negotiate scope and fees, and make sure the work stays good after the engagement letter is signed.

Finance Hiring & Placement Support

Define the role before you fill it. I engage with your business first, define what the seat actually requires, then help you source, interview, and select finance talent against that standard — from a first bookkeeper or controller to a full-time CFO.

Research & Special Projects

Market and competitive analysis, pricing and margin reviews, board- and lender-ready materials, transaction support — analytical projects that need rigor and an operator's judgment.

Scope & Second Opinions

Not sure what you need yet — or want a second set of eyes on a plan, a deal, or a proposal you've received? A short diagnostic produces a clear picture and a scoped plan, whether or not RollForge does the work that follows.

What RollForge isn't

Not a bookkeeping service. Not a tax preparer. Not an outsourced accounting shop, and not a staffing agency with a bench to sell you. No open-ended retainers, and no recommendations designed to create more billable work.

What RollForge is

Senior, independent finance judgment — the person who helps you decide, choose, negotiate, build, and hire well. When outside providers are the right answer, I help you find the best ones and hold them to standard.

How It Works

Senior help without the full-time commitment.

Understand

A conversation and a short diagnostic. I learn your business, your constraints, and what's actually keeping you up at night — before proposing anything.

Scope

A written statement of work: deliverables, timeline, and fee, agreed before work begins. You'll always know what an engagement costs.

Deliver

Hands-on work by the person you hired — not a team of juniors. Clear artifacts, honest recommendations, and a finance function stronger than I found it.

About

Led by John Barkeley, CPA

John Barkeley, CPA — Founder, RollForge Advisory

I've spent fifteen years in and around the finance seat — as a CFO and finance leader at investor-backed and founder-led companies, as a technology investment banker advising on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises, and as the diligence lead for a private credit fund. I started my career in audit at Deloitte, working across real estate, structured finance, and technology, and I've kept the CPA's habits ever since.

Along the way I've led an institutional fundraise from first model to final signature, carried an acquisition through closing and integration, modernized a finance function from QuickBooks onto modern systems with an AI-powered reporting layer, and built and led teams spanning finance, HR, and operations.

What that adds up to: I've sat in most of the chairs around the table — operator, banker, lender, auditor — and I bring all of them to every engagement. The specifics are on LinkedIn; the short version is that I like hard finance problems, I do the work myself, and I'll tell you the truth about what you need.

— John

Deepest experience: FinTech · insurance & insurance distribution · SaaS & software · Internet infrastructure & data centers · real estate & structured finance · private credit

Worked across: media, logistics & supply chain, consumer platforms, and more. Every business is a model of flows — revenue in, cost out, cash in between. I learn new ones quickly, and the fundamentals never change.

Let's talk about what you're working on.

Engagements typically begin with a no-cost conversation. Tell me where things stand and what's ahead — I'll tell you honestly whether and how I can help.

john@rollforgeadvisory.com