Year In Review 2025

Ascent CFO

December 21, 2025

8 MINS

A Note from Dan DeGolier

All,

As we wrap up 2025, I’m filled with gratitude — not just for what Ascent CFO Solutions achieved this year, but for who helped make it possible: our clients, partners, and extraordinary team.

The global economic backdrop presented its challenges for everyone — geopolitical uncertainty, tariff pressures that created planning headwinds across industries, and evolving interest rate policy that, thankfully, eased moderately later in the year. While that environment made forecasting more complex than in past cycles, it also reinforced a core truth: companies with clarity around their financial strategy thrive — even amid uncertainty.

This year feels like a true inflection point for Ascent. I’ve been blown away by the culture we’re building and the level of alignment across our leadership team as we continue to grow and do meaningful, high-impact work for our clients. We invested intentionally in strengthening our foundation — upgrading our sales and marketing infrastructure, continuing to adopt AI tools that support better and faster outcomes, and reinforcing a belief I’ve shared before: we don’t want to grow for growth’s sake, but rather in a way that’s deliberate and sustainable, with the right people serving the right clients. More than anything, I feel immense pride in the team we’ve built and the way they continue to show up for each other and for our clients.

As we enter 2026, I encourage you to think about this quote from Sameer Dholakia, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners: “Everything that got you to where you are… isn’t going to get you where you want to be” (SaaStr). Scaling, whether from $2M to $20M in revenue or beyond, requires a different mindset and structure than early-stage startup success.

This idea resonates powerfully with our perspective on scale:

Systems and processes matter more than ever — from financial planning and analysis to sales forecasting and operational rigor.
Leadership evolution is critical. Growing companies must assess whether current roles and structures serve the next stage of growth — and embrace change when necessary.
Profitability becomes a strategic priority. The narrative of “growth at all costs” continues to give way to a more sustainable approach: control your destiny, drive toward profitability, and do so with capital discipline.
Fractional leadership continues to play an important role for growing companies — particularly at the CFO level. More businesses are choosing experienced, flexible financial leadership that can meet them where they are, help bring focus to what matters most, and support thoughtful planning for what comes next.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a restful holiday and a thoughtful close to your own year. If there’s anything I can do to support you on your journey into 2026, please reach out.

Here’s to entering the new year with clarity, momentum, and confidence in the path ahead.

Cheers,
Dan

Dan DeGolier
Founder & CEO
Ascent CFO Solutions

Another Year with an Amazing Team!

Here are some highlights from our team events and gatherings this year.

“The Ascent CFO Solutions team has been super professional and extremely impactful at our company. We were in an entirely different spot when we signed on with Ascent CFO, and the team has helped us mature immensely – so much so that we hired our own Controller and have a real finance department now! Thank you again for such a valuable engagement.” – T.R. Ludwig, CEO, Brooklyn Solarworks

What Companies Are Asking For in 2026

Interim CFO

Companies that need full-time or near full-time CFO support benefit from our Interim CFO Services. Whether managing planned departures, parental leave, sudden exits, or leadership transitions, we provide immediate continuity in financial operations and strategic guidance. Our team steps in within 48 hours to maintain reporting cadences and keep growth initiatives on track. Meanwhile, our in-house recruiter can help you identify and hire top finance and accounting talent to fill a permanent position.

Reporting, Automating & Visualizing Data

Think about how much more clear (and faster) your strategic and day-to-day decisions could be with a single, real-time view of your numbers and KPIs. You have a lot of potential in your data—the next step is cleaning it up and putting it together in a way that lets you and your team instantly see what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus next. That’s what Insights by Ascent CFO delivers.

Client Showcase

At Ascent CFO Solutions, we’re lucky to partner with bold, brilliant companies doing meaningful work across a variety of industries. As we close out the year, we want to extend a special cheers to the following clients:

Big wins for cybersecurity! RADICL was named a 2025 Colorado Companies to Watch winner, a well-deserved nod to their innovation and impact. As a cybersecurity leader, RADICL protects small and mid-sized businesses that are critical to America’s defense and infrastructure. We’re proud to support a company safeguarding what matters most.
See the full list of 2025 winners

Thirty-five years of spreading light. Sunsense Solar celebrated its 35th anniversary, marking more than three and a half decades of leadership in renewable energy and sustainability. That’s a legacy worth celebrating—and a future that’s looking very bright.
Read more about their anniversary celebration

Momentum is flowing at Rinse! This year they announced a $23M Series D, expanded operations into Canada, and hired their own Internal Controller—a clear signal of a maturing organization and finance function. We love seeing companies hit this exciting stage of growth.
Read the Series D announcement

Global recognition alert: Healthmine was named to TIME’s “World’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2025”, highlighting their leadership at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Innovation with impact—and international applause to match.
Read the Businesswire announcement
See TIME’s full list

To the moon (and beyond)! CisLunar Industries was recently featured on NPR’s Marketplace Morning Report as part of its series on the emerging Lunar Economy, spotlighting their role in building the future of space infrastructure. They were also selected for a $1.9M Space Force contract to develop revolutionary space power and propulsion technology—and they’re seeing strong momentum in funding their Seed Round. Colorado innovation, cosmic scale.
Listen to the NPR feature
Read about the Space Force contract

Congratulations to all of our clients on an incredible year of progress, innovation, and impact. We’re honored to be part of your journey.

Ascent CFO Career Opportunities

Do you know talented finance & accounting professionals who thrive in a fast-paced and flexible environment and want to work across diverse industries?

Please send these opportunities to your network!

We’re actively searching for Controllers to join our team of fractional finance professionals. Fractional Controllers are experienced accountants with strong leadership abilities, responsible for leading accounting processes for our client organizations.

We’re always looking for talented CFOs, Accounting Managers, and Senior Accountants too!

Explore Careers & Apply!

Team Member Spotlight

Meet a few of the talented professionals we’re grateful to have on board this year!

Molly Jones,
VP of Client Success and Operations

Molly brings over 15 years of diverse experience across accounting, recruiting, HR, sales, and operations, helping organizations solve complex business challenges and unify cross-functional goals. Her passion for problem-solving and deep industry perspective drive client success and operational excellence at Ascent CFO Solutions.

Kristen Mello, Director of Sales

With more than 20 years of revenue and sales leadership experience across SaaS, proptech, professional services, and talent marketplaces, Kristen excels at building scalable go-to-market strategies and driving growth. She has consistently led high-performing teams and strengthened sales operations to accelerate business success.

Alex Vorobieff, MBA,
Fractional CFO

Alex is a seasoned financial executive with over 30 years of experience helping companies across industries evolve their business models, improve financial systems, and drive sustainable growth. He has guided both startups and mature organizations through critical transitions and brings deep expertise in strategic financial leadership with a track record of transforming financial operations.

Kimberly Ferguson, MBA,
Accounting Manager

Kim serves as an Accounting Manager, applying her MBA-level expertise to oversee accurate financial reporting and support robust accounting operations. She plays a key role in maintaining financial integrity and enabling smooth day-to-day finance functions for our clients.

Derek Johnson,
Fractional CFO

Derek brings nearly 20 years of finance and accounting experience working with venture- and private-equity-backed companies across industries such as SaaS and consumer goods. He has built financial processes from the ground up, led diligence and integration for M&A, and supports clients with actionable financial strategy.

We invite you to learn more about all the experienced professionals on your Ascent CFO team who can help your business gain financial clarity and reach its full potential: Meet Your Team

“Ascent CFO has been a great partner, enabling our company to grow with confidence. As a former FP&A professional and current start-up CEO, I knew I needed to bring in the experts once our company started to take off. The Ascent CFO team stepped in with Fractional CFO and accounting services that saved me mountains of time. They have my strongest recommendation!” – Gary Calnan, CEO, CisLunar Industries