CFO Insights - Finance, M&A & Capital Markets
Perspectives on capital allocation, M&A, fractional CFO strategy, and financial leadership for business owners and institutional investors.
Gregg Carlson is a CPA and CFA Institute member with 25+ years of CFO, Controller and financial analyst leadership across public companies, cannabis operators, gaming and hospitality businesses, and institutional investors. He has closed $700M+ in transactions. These articles apply that experience to the financial decisions founders, operators, and investors face.
To discuss a specific situation: gregg@gregg-carlson.com
The Cloud Supercycle: What It Means for Investors and Business Operators
The five largest hyperscalers are projected to spend $660–$700 billion on capex in 2026 — the largest infrastructure investment cycle in technology history. What it means for your portfolio and your business.
Exit Readiness: The Financial Work You Should Start 24 Months Before You Sell
The 24-month preparation timeline, what buyers examine in due diligence, the Quality of Earnings analysis, valuation multiples, five deal killers — and how AI-assisted reporting builds your exit value.
AI in the Small to Medium Business (SMB) Finance Function
What AI and agentic AI actually do in your accounting and finance function — 18 concrete use cases, a three-phase implementation roadmap, and the regulatory framework every owner must understand before deploying AI in a financial context.
If Trump Strikes Iran’s Power Grid: Human Impact, Water Risk & Global Oil Price Analysis
90M Iranians. 100M+ Gulf residents dependent on desalination. Brent at $114 and rising. A data-driven analysis of what happens next — and what businesses must do now.
EVA, ROIC, and CFROI: Why Most Small Business Financial Reporting Misses What Actually Matters
Accounting profit and economic value are not the same thing. The value-based metrics institutional buyers use to evaluate every business — and why owners should adopt them before the process begins.
Raising Debt Capital in 2026: What Founders and Business Owners Need to Know Now
The U.S. private debt market has grown to $1.7T and now accounts for ~70% of middle-market loans. Here is what lenders are underwriting, what has changed, and how to position for it.
What Distressed Companies Get Wrong About Cash Flow — And How to Fix It
The five structural mistakes that convert a manageable liquidity challenge into a survivability crisis — and the intervention framework that changes the outcome before options disappear.
The Fractional CFO Advantage in an AI-Disrupted Economy
As AI accelerates financial automation, on-demand senior financial leadership is now the strategically superior structure — not a cost compromise — for most businesses below $50M in revenue.
Navigating AI Disruption: A Strategic Guide for SMID Businesses, 2026–2028
SMID specific AI exposure: Where risk is concentrated.
The Cash Conversion Cycle: The Working Capital Discipline That Funds Both Stability and Growth
SMIDs consistently underestimate how much capital is trapped inside their operations. Releasing it may be the most powerful growth-financing tool available—and it costs nothing to borrow.
Why Most Private Company Sales Stall or Get Discounted — And How to Make Sure Yours Does Not
Lessons from 20+ years on the sell-side as a Fractional and Interim CFO. The difference between your headline price and what you actually deposit is rarely the deal - it is the preparation.
How Small and Mid-Size Companies Can Achieve Growth While Improving Return on Invested Capital
Most SMIDs pursue growth or efficiency—the highest-performing companies pursue both simultaneously. Here's how to build the dual engine that delivers revenue growth and ROIC improvement.