transcript
show notes
In this episode of CFO Weekly, John Wise, Director of Finance and Accounting at The Armstrong Company, joins Megan Weis to unpack how the CPA designation can become a launchpad for strategic business leadership rather than a lifelong ticket to the back office. John brings a career built across Fortune 500 rotational programs, regional public accounting, and FP&A leadership before landing at The Armstrong Company, a family-held, fourth-generation moving and storage business with roots stretching back to 1957.
With hands-on experience in lease accounting, financial reporting, M&A due diligence, and finance modernization, John shares how he approaches transforming a decentralized, founder-led finance function into a scalable, data-driven operation. He unpacks the cultural growing pains that hit middle-market companies as they scale, the warning signs that a process has been outgrown, and why he believes the traditional linear path from accountant to controller to CFO is being disrupted by FP&A and cross-functional business partnership.
What You'll Learn:
Learn More About John:
Episode resources:If you enjoyed this episode, then please either:
Instructions on following, rating, and reviewing CFO Weekly are here.
Previous guests include: Tom McDermott, CFO at Career Certified, Claire Bramley, CFO at Teradata, Chris Miles, Founder of Money Ripples, Ranil DeSilva, CFO & COO at CARE, Jordan Grumet, Financial Independence Expert & Host of Earn & Invest & William Washington, Global CFO at Baker McKenzie
Check out some of our most recent episodes:
CFO Weekly is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
With hands-on experience in lease accounting, financial reporting, M&A due diligence, and finance modernization, John shares how he approaches transforming a decentralized, founder-led finance function into a scalable, data-driven operation. He unpacks the cultural growing pains that hit middle-market companies as they scale, the warning signs that a process has been outgrown, and why he believes the traditional linear path from accountant to controller to CFO is being disrupted by FP&A and cross-functional business partnership.
What You'll Learn:
- Why the CPA designation opens doors far beyond traditional accounting and auditing
- The biggest cultural and operational growing pains middle-market companies face as they scale
- How to know when a finance process has been outgrown and needs to change
- Where to start when transforming or centralizing a finance function
- How a CPA background helps uncover risks that others miss during M&A due diligence
- How to balance strong financial controls with the flexibility middle-market businesses need to grow
- How the CFO and CAO roles will evolve over the next three to five years
Learn More About John:
Episode resources:If you enjoyed this episode, then please either:
- Follow, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts
- Follow on Spotify
Instructions on following, rating, and reviewing CFO Weekly are here.
Previous guests include: Tom McDermott, CFO at Career Certified, Claire Bramley, CFO at Teradata, Chris Miles, Founder of Money Ripples, Ranil DeSilva, CFO & COO at CARE, Jordan Grumet, Financial Independence Expert & Host of Earn & Invest & William Washington, Global CFO at Baker McKenzie
Check out some of our most recent episodes:
- Driving Value Beyond Finance with Tom McDermott
- Why CFOs Are the Chief Everything Officers with Claire Bramley
- Why Traditional Financial Advice Fails and What To Do Instead with Chris Miles
- NGO Finance Secrets: CARE’s $900M Strategy with Ranil DeSilva
- What Lights You Up? with Jordan Grumet
- Become a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with William Washington
CFO Weekly is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
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