RollForgeAdvisory Tell me what you’re working onLet’s talk

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

Business advisory and CFO services for business owners and leadership teams. You bring the goal — I bring senior finance judgment, a clear plan, and hands-on help executing it.

Tell me what you’re working on Where engagements start
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:

Most owners I talk to say some version of the same thing: the numbers are fine — the decisions are the problem. The reports arrive on time, and the big calls still feel like guesses. That's the gap this practice exists to close.

Some owners want a tighter operation — cleaner books, faster reporting, a finance function that runs itself. Some are chasing a growth target — a real number with a real plan behind it. And some are getting ready for what's next — a raise, an acquisition to complete, an eventual exit — 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 three practice groups:

Deals & Transitions

Transaction judgment on your side of the table — whether you're buying, selling, or between leaders.

  • Buy-side acquisition support — the banker or broker works for the seller; I work for you. Deal review, diligence, LOI and structure, financing, and integration planning — mid-market platforms to main-street deals.
  • Sell-side & exit readiness — quality-of-earnings prep, clean financials, the data room, and the story — built early enough to move the multiple.
  • Transaction & interim finance leadership — a senior finance executive for a defined window: run a deal from diligence through integration, or hold the CFO seat through a transition.

The Finance Function

Make the finance operation match the business you're becoming — people, process, and systems.

  • Finance function assessment — where you're exposed, what to fix first, and what can wait.
  • Systems & AI modernization — spreadsheet finance to systems finance, including where AI genuinely helps and where it doesn't.
  • Provider selection — I don't do bookkeeping or tax returns; I run the bids, negotiate the fees, and hold providers to standard.
  • Finance hiring — define the role before you fill it, from first bookkeeper to full-time CFO.

Projects & Second Opinions

Scoped analytical work when the moment calls for rigor and an operator's judgment.

  • Capital planning & readiness — runway strategy, scenario modeling, and raise or credit-facility preparation.
  • Research & special projects — market analysis, pricing reviews, and board- and lender-ready materials.
  • Scoped second opinions — a short diagnostic that produces a clear picture, whether or not I do 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 before proposing anything.

Scope

A written statement of work: deliverables, timeline, and fee — agreed before work begins.

Deliver

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

About

Led by John Barkeley, CPA

John Barkeley, CPA — Founder, RollForge Advisory

Fifteen years in and around the finance seat: CFO and finance leader at investor-backed and founder-led companies — after early years in technology investment banking working M&A and capital raises, and a start in audit at Deloitte, with the CPA's habits kept ever since.

Along the way: roughly $30 million in equity raises executed across Series A to Series C in head-of-finance and CFO seats, an acquisition carried through closing and integration, a finance function modernized from QuickBooks onto modern systems with an AI-powered reporting layer, and teams built across finance, HR, and operations.

I've sat on several sides of the table — operator, banker, auditor, and enough time doing credit diligence to know how a lender reads your numbers — and I bring all of it to every engagement. The specifics are on LinkedIn. The short version: 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, consumer platforms, and more. Every business is a model of flows — and the fundamentals never change.

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

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

john@rollforgeadvisory.com