#55 – From the Trenches: Accounting, M&A & MSP Financial Maturity(Doug Johnston – Stonewall Finance)

Most MSPs don’t fail because they lack revenue. They stall because they lack financial clarity—and confuse bookkeeping with leadership.

In this From the Trenches episode of the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson sits down with Doug Johnston of Stonewall Finance to unpack what real financial maturity looks like inside an MSP. Not cleaner reports for their own sake—but numbers that actually inform decisions, reduce risk, and support long-term stewardship.

This is not a discussion about closing the books faster or hitting arbitrary benchmarks. It’s about whether your financials are trustworthy enough to guide hiring, pricing, growth, and eventual exit—and whether leadership is using them that way.

The real problem: numbers without leadership

Most MSP owners have financial reports. Very few have financial confidence.

Doug explains why this gap exists. Traditional accounting focuses on historical accuracy—what already happened. But MSP leadership requires something different: forward-looking clarity. Forecasts that guide cash decisions. Baselines you actually trust. Numbers that hold up under scrutiny from partners, lenders, buyers, and your own leadership team.

Without that trust, financials become noise. Decisions slow down. Risk increases. Growth feels harder than it should.

Financial guardrails are not strategy

MSP benchmarks and “guardrails” are useful—but only when context is understood.

Doug walks through why standard targets (gross margin, payroll ratios, overhead percentages) can mislead owners when they’re applied mechanically. A mature MSP doesn’t ask, “Are we hitting the benchmark?” It asks, “Do these numbers reflect how our business actually operates—and where we’re trying to go?”

This distinction matters. Guardrails help prevent disasters. Strategy determines direction.

Budgeting vs. forecasting: where maturity shows up

One of the clearest signals of financial maturity is how an MSP treats planning.

A budget is static. A forecast is alive.

Doug explains why mature MSPs stop treating budgets as annual checkboxes and instead build rolling forecasts tied to hiring plans, sales velocity, marketing spend, tax exposure, and cash availability. This is where finance stops being compliance—and starts becoming leadership infrastructure.

• Budgets establish intent
• Forecasts support decisions
• Cash visibility determines freedom

Without this discipline, even profitable MSPs operate reactively.

Why M&A readiness starts years earlier

Exit readiness is not an event. It’s a habit.

Doug brings a sobering perspective from M&A diligence: buyers don’t just look at revenue—they look for defensible, consistent, trustworthy financial stories. Clean books. Documented assumptions. Repeatable reporting.

Financial maturity reduces buyer risk. And reduced risk increases valuation.

The same discipline that makes an MSP easier to buy also makes it easier to run.

From accountant to operational partner

This shift mirrors what mature MSP owners must make themselves: from technician to leader, from operator to steward.

Financial maturity is not about perfection. It’s about usefulness. Numbers that inform decisions. Systems that reduce uncertainty. Habits that compound over time.

This philosophy aligns directly with the Vision operating system—where people, process, and performance are connected through disciplined execution.

Episode highlights

• 00:00:00 – Why financial maturity is a leadership issue, not an accounting one
• 00:08:41 – Forecasting vs. bookkeeping: what owners actually need
• 00:12:11 – When MSP benchmarks help—and when they mislead
• 00:26:47 – Budgeting, forecasting, and cash visibility in practice
• 00:46:12 – Financial discipline as M&A risk reduction

About the guest

Doug Johnston is a CPA and MSP finance professional at Stonewall Finance, helping service businesses improve financial maturity through clean reporting, practical forecasting, and decision-ready insight. His background spans large corporate finance and PE-backed MSP operations.

Connect with Doug on LinkedIn →
Visit Stonewall Finance →

About the host

Josh Peterson is the CEO of Bering McKinley and host of the BMK Vision Podcast, where he speaks candidly with MSP owners about growth, execution, and building durable service businesses.

Connect with Josh on LinkedIn →

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