July 28, 2025 • 19 mins
On this episode of Count Me In, Adam Larson sits down with Jameson Galey, CMA, CPA, and dynamic finance leader whose career has spanned TV production, entrepreneurship, and innovative tech startups. Jameson is also the founder of Ledgeroo, a platform designed to help bring accounting education to the world by making it affordable and accessible through bite-sized, gamified lessons. He shares how an unexpected opportunity launched him into accounting, why he fell in love with the field, and the wild ride of becoming a CFO at just 29 years old (including a “tiny” life change: getting married right before the pandemic hit!). From navigating the tricky finances behind hit shows like "Married at First Sight," to building financial systems for a solar tech startup, Jameson’s story is packed with lessons about taking risks, hustling for what you want (hint: sometimes that involves Craigslist), and keeping your passion for learning alive.
Jameson gives us a candid look at what it’s like to transition between industries, build your own tools from scratch, and bravely bet on yourself when everyone says otherwise. Whether you’re an accounting pro, an aspiring entrepreneur, or just love a good real-world success story, you’ll find inspiration and maybe a few laughs in this engaging, relatable conversation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Adam Larson (00:21):
Welcome to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam Larson.
And today, I'm joined by JamesonGaley, a finance professional
with an inspiring andunconventional journey From
taking just two accountingclasses in college to landing
his first job in the industry bychance, Jamison quickly rose
through the ranks to become CFOat 29. Along the way, he
navigated industry pivots, theonset of COVID-nineteen, and
(00:41):
even started his own onlineaccounting firm. Now, he's on a
mission to make accounting funand accessible for everyone
through his new platformLedgeroo.
Whether you're an accounting proor just interested in unique
career stories, you'll findsomething to take away from
today's episode. Let's diveright in! Well, Jameson, I'm
(01:05):
glad to have you on the podcasttoday. And today we're just
going to be talking a little bitabout your story because you
have a very unique story, andI'm really excited to share this
with our audience. And so tostart off, what really initially
what initially drew you to thefield of accounting?
Jameson Galey (01:19):
Cool. Well, thanks for having me on. I'm a
fan of the podcast. And as youknow, I'm a CMA as well, so big
fan of the IMA in general. Kindof an interesting track.
I actually studiedentrepreneurship at USC. Was in
the business school. I only tooktwo accounting courses there.
Tried sales, marketing, PR, afew different things out of
college and wasn't reallyfinding my niche. Then I was
(01:40):
like, You know what?
I actually really love those twoaccounting courses I took. I'm
just on a whim, see if I can geta job in accounting, maybe go
back to school, become a CPA. Iwas actually working for a
television production company atthe time. And I talked to some
of the accounts there and wastelling them about my plan. And
literally the next day, the CFOwalked over to my desk and was
like, Hey, I need a headcorporate accountant, my first
(02:02):
entry level guy.
Do you want the job? And I waslike, Absolutely. So I just
jumped into it. Was super luckyto have that happen and then
just kind of absolutely fell inlove with it. So my kind of, you
know, the fact that I reallylike those two courses, like
really actually paid off.
Adam Larson (02:16):
Wow. Yeah, it's funny. I took a couple of
accounting courses during mymaster's program and I was like,
No, this is not where I want togo. And so it's interesting how
when you take those courses,everybody has a different feel
for it, right?
Jameson Galey (02:30):
Pretty funny. There was a really good teacher
at USC. His name was MerleHopkins. I don't know if he's
still there, but greataccounting teacher, taught the
huge accounting 101 of the wholebusiness school. And he was
actually missing like a pinkyfinger.
And there used to be like arumor going around that he had
been like counting cards inVegas or something. So who knows
if that's true? But he was Igive him credit for like kind of
making it fun and reallybringing me into it.
Adam Larson (02:50):
Yeah. So, you know, you so you mentioned that you're
you're a CMA and so you becamecertified. So how was what was
that like working full time andthese different things and
trying to be sort of becomecertified in the same time?
Jameson Galey (03:02):
Yeah, so I would say, you know, for the first six
months, I didn't do anythingexcept work and just kind of get
my feet up and kind of getgoing. And then I was like, all
right, actually, this was theright call. Like, I'm actually
loving this. I want to kind ofjust rise in my career and
pursue more and more. I startedtaking online courses through
UCLA Extension.
And essentially what I just didis I got in early, a couple
(03:24):
hours early every morning foryears. And I just studied
accounting online through UCLAExtension, got enough credits to
combine with my business degree.And then I sat for the CPA
exams, became a CPA. Honestly, Iloved the experience of studying
so much that then I went on todo the CMA exams as well, just
for the fun of it. I wasabsolutely just loving that
experience of learning andworking at the same time.
Adam Larson (03:45):
Yeah. Wow. I mean, I commend you because I know
that's not easy to do,especially trying to go in a
little early and try to studysomething and then do your work
and then do other thingsoutside. Can be very taxing on
you, but obviously it was veryrewarding.
Jameson Galey (03:58):
Absolutely. I honestly think back, but it's
like a really fun time. It wasjust like this kind of, like,
discovery period of, like,learning on my own. I'm a big
student, love school, alwayshave. So it was like that you
know, the thrill of getting backin and just, cracking open a
huge textbook is, a hugechallenge to me.
I just, like, ate it up.
Adam Larson (04:15):
So you mentioned that you worked for some, you
know, big production companieswho did TV shows during your
career. What was it like workingfor those organizations,
especially in the financialperspective?
Jameson Galey (04:24):
Yeah. Absolutely. It's It's a really cool
industry, honestly, to be on theaccounting finance side. It's
interesting to see a lot ofthat. See, I worked for a
company called Kinetic Content,which has actually ended up
being like a huge success story.
So when I joined, they wereprobably like $10,000,000,000 in
revenue. Over a five yearperiod, we grew to about
90,000,000. And a big part ofthat was they created, actually
(04:45):
they didn't create it, but theybrought the Marriott at First
Sight franchise over. I think itwas originally created by a
different company, Denmark, Ibelieve it was. But they brought
that to The US and, like, made ahuge deal out of it.
Think I don't know if it's stillgoing or not, but it was on,
like, season 17 at some point acouple years ago. But and then
they also did Little Women LA.They went on to do Love Is
Blinds. They had some really bighits. Chris Cole and the guy's
(05:07):
CEO is really, really smartdude.
So being on the finance side,it's really cool. It's actually
it's a cost plus model. So it'slike you learn pretty early on.
The goal is to kinda get thebiggest budgets you can get and
kinda keep getting in there andincreasing number of hours and
things like that. But it'sactually really interesting.
It's this shell game where thestudios that are hiring you to
(05:31):
produce the show, they're onlygonna pay you a 10% production
fee because it's cost plus.There's all kinds of tricks
these production companies do toincrease their margins. Within
the budget, there'll be a weeklycamera rental. But then the
production company will set up adifferent LLC, buy some cameras,
and then it will actually berenting to itself. You've got
production accounts on staffthat you're renting out to your
(05:52):
different productions.
It becomes this kind of game ofhow can you get to a critical
mass of content, and then youcan actually build up that force
and start kind of renting thingsback to yourself and increase
your margins that way. So it'skind of a fun, interesting game.
Adam Larson (06:06):
Wow, that does sound interesting. Were there
elements within like the CPA orCMA exam or things that you had
to learn in studying for thosethat kind of helped you prepare
you for what you had toencounter while trying to do
those financials?
Jameson Galey (06:18):
Absolutely. Television accounting, the
revenue recognition method isPOC, percentage of completion.
So you can actually be kind ofcomplex when you're accounting
for these multimillion dollartelevision projects that
sometimes last over a year,things like that. So there was a
lot of deferred revenue,accounts receivable, POC. There
was a whole system that I helpedbuild out to forecast and track
(06:41):
all that.
Everything I was learning in CMAand CPA exams was constantly
applicable to what I was doingon a daily basis. What I liked
about the CMA exams particularlyis like CPA, there's a lot of
audit and tax focus, which neverfrankly interested me. It's like
I crammed for those exams andjust kind of forgot the stuff
immediately after. It's likeI've always been into the actual
(07:04):
working within companies,business strategy, risk
management, decision making, allthe kind of stuff that CMA
really focuses on. It's reallymeant for people like me that
wanted to be a financialexecutive.
Super helpful across the board.
Adam Larson (07:17):
Definitely. And then from there, you transition
on to becoming a CFO at quite ayoung age. How was it? How was
it like that adapting to being aCFO at a young age, especially
the pressures of that positionand all the weight that comes
with that?
Jameson Galey (07:30):
Sure. Yeah, I got really lucky. I became a CFO at
29. I'm sure there are peopleout there that have also done
it. But for me personally, wouldhave never happened if it wasn't
for this very luckyhappenstance, which is that the
company, Connecticut Content, Iwas working for for five years.
They were owned by a Germanparent company that owned about
20 different productioncompanies around the world. And
(07:51):
I got to be super close withthem just doing month end
finance calls for five yearsstraight. You you can just
imagine just month after month,developed a really good
relationship with them. And theyhad another company in Downtown
LA that they actually just movedme to be the CFO. It was called
Kardig seven Pictures.
So it was a super lucky,fortunate opportunity. I was
(08:12):
very grateful for it, took theleap. And it's actually pretty
funny. It was December 2019actually that I made the jump.
Within like a ninety day, Iactually got married around that
time too.
So within like a ninety dayperiod, I got married, I became
a CFO and then COVID hit. So itwas like, yeah, that ninety days
was like, there's a lot ofchange in my life. It was, you
(08:37):
just kind of, you know, I have ahabit of just kind of throwing
myself in situations and kind ofjust making sure I swim. I think
it's like anything. I think Iencourage people to take the
leap and figure it out becauseyou will.
And there are definite timeswhen I had to pretend like I
kind of was a little bit moresolid than I felt on the inside
being a CFO. And all of sudden,it's like, there's no one else
you can really point to or lookto for answers or things like
(08:58):
that. So that was definitely anew experience, especially being
in a creative world becausetypically, each company is
probably different. The CEO andthe partners are probably going
to be creative people. Sothere's really not going to be
anybody that you can talk toabout finance or whatever.
You're probably going to be kindof on that.
Adam Larson (09:16):
Yeah. Did you have a big team that you were working
with as a CFO or was it very wasit a more small organization?
You're dealing with big budgets,though.
Jameson Galey (09:23):
Yeah, we did about 20,000,000 in revenues a
year, 2025. The company had beenaround for about eight years. I
had three people workingunderneath me when I joined. And
then, you know, you can scale uplike production accountants
maybe for a short period of timeor something, depending on the
level of production and thevolume you have at that time.
Adam Larson (09:40):
So what was it like navigating COVID to COVID during
the worst part of COVID,especially a lot of production
companies couldn't shootanything for a long time there?
Jameson Galey (09:49):
Yeah, we were actually really lucky because a
big part of production is you goout and you shoot the stuff, and
then you have it in the can, andthen you have to spend time
editing it. And we got reallylucky because we had actually
just gone out and shot a bunchof stuff. So we were actually
able to remote edit from homeand then still be releasing
things and delivering the itemswe needed to get the revenue in
(10:12):
from our customers. So we gotlucky that way. And it's funny
when you look back, it's likeeverybody I think was accounting
was one of those things that youjust assumed could not be done
remotely.
It's like, how are going signchecks? How are we going to do
this? And within weeks, it waslike, Oh, this is super easy.
Yeah, there was a totalproduction shutdown across the
(10:32):
industry. We got lucky.
I think we borrowed some moneyfrom our parent company. We did
some layoffs. We got through it.
Adam Larson (10:38):
So what was your next career decision after the
CFO of that production company?
Jameson Galey (10:43):
Yeah, it was interesting. So I was there for
about two and a half years,survived COVID. We kind of
steadied out. And then actuallythe original owners of the
company decided they wanted tobreak away from the German
parent company, start over anddo their own thing. And they
didn't really have a place for aCFO in their new scaled down
role.
So the whole thing justdismantled in an amicable way.
(11:07):
And so I basically found myselflooking for a new job after
being a CFO for about two and ahalf years. And it was
interesting. So I startedreaching out to recruiters and
they were all incrediblypessimistic. It was like, became
a CFO way too early, your resumeis all off.
No one's gonna ever make you aCFO again, not again, but right
now it's just not gonna happenfor you. You've only ever done
(11:27):
accounting and finance in thetelevision industry. So it's
like, basically they're tellingme like, you're gonna sit there
and wait for like a number twoposition of a TV production
coming to open up, and who knowswhen that'll happen? It was very
pessimistic. My wife and I hadreally enjoyed being remote
during COVID.
And it was kind of like, I wouldlove to continue the remote
lifestyle. I'm big fan of this.So I made the decision to open
(11:51):
up my own online accountingfirm. And I was like, I'm just
going to find my own clients.I'm going to just do my own
thing.
And I believe that I have a lotof value to add to any
organization. I'm not going tosit around and wait to be
pigeonholed into the right roleor whatever. I'm going to go do
it myself. I made that decision.And then within a couple of
weeks, was on Craigslist of allplaces, hustling, trying to find
(12:11):
my first clients and bumped intothis guy.
He was a serial entrepreneur. Heread my He actually put a post
on Craigslist and said, Need aCPA one day a week. That's all
it said. And I replied to it.And it was for one startup he
was running, but then we startedtalking, he saw my resume and he
was like, Actually, I would loveyou to come on board and be a
full time CFO of this otherstartup I'm running.
(12:34):
So, I felt pretty good aboutthat. I was like, you know what,
I'll shelve the onlineaccounting firm. This is an
incredible opportunity. I'mgonna go with it. So, the
recruiters called me later andthey were like, hey, you need a
secondary role in a TVproduction company?
Was No, I'm actually the CFO ofa tech startup. Thank you. I
figured it out all on my own.But yeah, I got really lucky. I
(12:54):
think it just goes to show I waswilling to hustle on Craigslist
for $35 an hour or whatever ittook to get that firm off the
ground and it really paid off.
I'm actually still involved withthat company. I've been the CFO
there for about three years now.
Adam Larson (13:09):
Wow. So it was like transitioning from one industry
to another because sometimesit's different, sometimes it's
not. I mean, the accountingstays the same, but what was it
like transitioning?
Jameson Galey (13:17):
Yeah, I would actually counter that. The
accounting definitely does notstay the same in certain cases.
So, yeah, it's interesting. Icall it a tech company because
it kind of was and is techfocused, but it actually was
like a manufacturing companywhen I first joined. So that was
a big change.
We had this kind of proprietarysolar technology that absorbs
(13:38):
solar energy and then is able tomake signs light up at night
automatically. So you see thosesigns these days with the solar
panels affixed to the outside ornear them or whatever, but these
were actually built into thesign itself so you could see
them. And so, were manufacturingthose in house. So, it was a big
(13:58):
change from purely the servicemodel and entertainment to
direct labor and manufacturingoverhead, tracking and
calculating all that. Was a lot.
But I bought a couple oftextbooks on inventory
management and cost accountingand just dug in, and I loved it.
That was the biggest change forme. It was an opportunity to
(14:20):
build out a whole new systembecause most startups didn't
really have a lot of goodinfrastructure in place. It was
actually really cool too. When Iworked previously, I was part of
that group of 20 productioncompanies.
They had a very high level TM1software that did all the
planning and tracking andeverything. Nothing like this
into startups. So it was thefirst time that I actually had
to build out a full FP and Asystem in Excel by myself with
(14:43):
the actuals, forecast,budgeting. And I just feel like
I learned so much during thatprocess. My sales skills
dramatically improved.
And that's why I would encouragepeople to work for small
businesses and start ups.Because when there's not that
infrastructure and you have kindof build it yourself, it can be
a great opportunity.
Adam Larson (14:59):
Well, it was hands on experience and something that
maybe if you're working for avery large organization, you'd a
part of the team choosing it andbeing a part of it. To build it
from the ground up with thefoundation that you've learned
and from, you know, from thecertifications you have to all
the experience you have to beable to build that your own
foundation is an invaluableexperience, really.
Jameson Galey (15:18):
Absolutely.
Adam Larson (15:20):
So I wanted to circle to your other startup you
have, which is called LedgerRoot. Can you talk a little bit
about that?
Jameson Galey (15:27):
Absolutely. Again, we spoke earlier about
it. I told you how much I lovelearning and love accounting.
These are kind of my two greatpassions. Basically, I was using
Duolingo a few years ago.
I was actually learning Germanbecause I was working for the
German parent company and I loveDuolingo, love learning. I was
like, there should really be afun way to learn accounting kind
(15:49):
of in this way. Should begamified, it should be fun,
broken down into bite sizedlessons. And so it took me a few
years, but I actually startedworking on the project over the
last year. And we actually havean MVP now, we're on the market
and people are using it everyday.
We've got people that havealready come on and done
hundreds and hundreds ofproblems. They're learning. We
just launched in the last thirtydays. Super excited to see the
(16:11):
early traction we're seeing. Andhonestly, I'm so thrilled to
have it be out in the world andreally enjoying it and learning.
And I think the future is reallybright for the business.
Adam Larson (16:20):
Definitely. So, you know, who is your who is your
main audience for this? Are youtrying to get young accountants
to come in and learn in a betterway? Are you trying to get
people from all around theorganization to understand what
accounting is doing?
Jameson Galey (16:31):
Yeah, it's a great question. So, you know,
obviously I have some earlyinvestors and that's a that's a
common question that I've had totackle along the way. The answer
right now is, I think it'sactually broader. I've got a mix
of people already using thesite. I've got people who are
pursuing accounting degrees,people who have just graduated
with finance degrees who want tobolster their accounting skills
a little bit.
I've got a COO of a company.I've got a head of business
(16:53):
analytics of a company. So Ithink it's actually pretty
broad. That is kind of my dreamis like, how can I make it as
ubiquitous and global aspossible? It's really not to
kind of hone in on any one smalldemographic of accounting
students.
It's like, I genuinely believethese skills should be
transferable and universal. Mydream is that people from all
walks of life will be using thisproduct and it will help them
(17:15):
grow in their careers, startbusinesses, improve their
communities. I really want it tobe as universal as possible.
Adam Larson (17:22):
Do you think there's different stigmas that
can surround accounting thatwould prohibit people from
saying, I don't want to do agame about accounting?
Jameson Galey (17:30):
Absolutely. You know, accounting kind of has
this bad reputation as beingsort of boring and tedious and
all these things. Like, it'sactually so cool and it's so
empowering and there's so muchstructure and symmetry to it.
It's like, that's the big hurdleis like, can I get people to
just start trying it because itlooks a little bit fun and it's
a little bit more lighthearted?And they'd be like, wow, this is
so cool.
I can actually apply this in somany different ways. Because my
(17:51):
belief is that if you work inbusiness, no matter what role
you're in, you should have afirm understanding of how to
read financial statements.Absolutely. And it's like, this
is kind of what we're here tohelp people learn.
Adam Larson (18:02):
That's awesome. So what are your goals for Ledgeroo
going forward and for yourcareer as well? Because you've
jumped to a lot of differentthings and it's pretty exciting
to hear.
Jameson Galey (18:12):
Thank you. Appreciate that. I want this to
be the next twenty years of mylife, honestly. So, you know,
we're already seeing the usergrowth. It's really exciting.
I'm super passionate about it.Like nothing would make me
happier than to run thisbusiness for the next twenty
years. Just continue to findways to add more and more
content, more and moregamification, reach a broader
audience. It's my dream goal inlife to wake up and just kind of
(18:32):
build this thing every day.
Adam Larson (18:33):
Well, Jamison, I really want to thank you for
coming on the podcast. It'sgreat to that you could we're
willing to share your story withour audience, and we appreciate
it.
Jameson Galey (18:41):
Thanks, Adam. Been a been a pleasure.
Announcer (18:45):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast, providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
Welcome to Count Me In. I'm your host, Adam Larson.
And today, I'm joined by JamesonGaley, a finance professional
with an inspiring andunconventional journey From
taking just two accountingclasses in college to landing
his first job in the industry bychance, Jamison quickly rose
through the ranks to become CFOat 29. Along the way, he
navigated industry pivots, theonset of COVID-nineteen, and
(00:41):
even started his own onlineaccounting firm. Now, he's on a
mission to make accounting funand accessible for everyone
through his new platformLedgeroo.
Whether you're an accounting proor just interested in unique
career stories, you'll findsomething to take away from
today's episode. Let's diveright in! Well, Jameson, I'm
(01:05):
glad to have you on the podcasttoday. And today we're just
going to be talking a little bitabout your story because you
have a very unique story, andI'm really excited to share this
with our audience. And so tostart off, what really initially
what initially drew you to thefield of accounting?
Jameson Galey (01:19):
Cool. Well, thanks for having me on. I'm a
fan of the podcast. And as youknow, I'm a CMA as well, so big
fan of the IMA in general. Kindof an interesting track.
I actually studiedentrepreneurship at USC. Was in
the business school. I only tooktwo accounting courses there.
Tried sales, marketing, PR, afew different things out of
college and wasn't reallyfinding my niche. Then I was
(01:40):
like, You know what?
I actually really love those twoaccounting courses I took. I'm
just on a whim, see if I can geta job in accounting, maybe go
back to school, become a CPA. Iwas actually working for a
television production company atthe time. And I talked to some
of the accounts there and wastelling them about my plan. And
literally the next day, the CFOwalked over to my desk and was
like, Hey, I need a headcorporate accountant, my first
(02:02):
entry level guy.
Do you want the job? And I waslike, Absolutely. So I just
jumped into it. Was super luckyto have that happen and then
just kind of absolutely fell inlove with it. So my kind of, you
know, the fact that I reallylike those two courses, like
really actually paid off.
Adam Larson (02:16):
Wow. Yeah, it's funny. I took a couple of
accounting courses during mymaster's program and I was like,
No, this is not where I want togo. And so it's interesting how
when you take those courses,everybody has a different feel
for it, right?
Jameson Galey (02:30):
Pretty funny. There was a really good teacher
at USC. His name was MerleHopkins. I don't know if he's
still there, but greataccounting teacher, taught the
huge accounting 101 of the wholebusiness school. And he was
actually missing like a pinkyfinger.
And there used to be like arumor going around that he had
been like counting cards inVegas or something. So who knows
if that's true? But he was Igive him credit for like kind of
making it fun and reallybringing me into it.
Adam Larson (02:50):
Yeah. So, you know, you so you mentioned that you're
you're a CMA and so you becamecertified. So how was what was
that like working full time andthese different things and
trying to be sort of becomecertified in the same time?
Jameson Galey (03:02):
Yeah, so I would say, you know, for the first six
months, I didn't do anythingexcept work and just kind of get
my feet up and kind of getgoing. And then I was like, all
right, actually, this was theright call. Like, I'm actually
loving this. I want to kind ofjust rise in my career and
pursue more and more. I startedtaking online courses through
UCLA Extension.
And essentially what I just didis I got in early, a couple
(03:24):
hours early every morning foryears. And I just studied
accounting online through UCLAExtension, got enough credits to
combine with my business degree.And then I sat for the CPA
exams, became a CPA. Honestly, Iloved the experience of studying
so much that then I went on todo the CMA exams as well, just
for the fun of it. I wasabsolutely just loving that
experience of learning andworking at the same time.
Adam Larson (03:45):
Yeah. Wow. I mean, I commend you because I know
that's not easy to do,especially trying to go in a
little early and try to studysomething and then do your work
and then do other thingsoutside. Can be very taxing on
you, but obviously it was veryrewarding.
Jameson Galey (03:58):
Absolutely. I honestly think back, but it's
like a really fun time. It wasjust like this kind of, like,
discovery period of, like,learning on my own. I'm a big
student, love school, alwayshave. So it was like that you
know, the thrill of getting backin and just, cracking open a
huge textbook is, a hugechallenge to me.
I just, like, ate it up.
Adam Larson (04:15):
So you mentioned that you worked for some, you
know, big production companieswho did TV shows during your
career. What was it like workingfor those organizations,
especially in the financialperspective?
Jameson Galey (04:24):
Yeah. Absolutely. It's It's a really cool
industry, honestly, to be on theaccounting finance side. It's
interesting to see a lot ofthat. See, I worked for a
company called Kinetic Content,which has actually ended up
being like a huge success story.
So when I joined, they wereprobably like $10,000,000,000 in
revenue. Over a five yearperiod, we grew to about
90,000,000. And a big part ofthat was they created, actually
(04:45):
they didn't create it, but theybrought the Marriott at First
Sight franchise over. I think itwas originally created by a
different company, Denmark, Ibelieve it was. But they brought
that to The US and, like, made ahuge deal out of it.
Think I don't know if it's stillgoing or not, but it was on,
like, season 17 at some point acouple years ago. But and then
they also did Little Women LA.They went on to do Love Is
Blinds. They had some really bighits. Chris Cole and the guy's
(05:07):
CEO is really, really smartdude.
So being on the finance side,it's really cool. It's actually
it's a cost plus model. So it'slike you learn pretty early on.
The goal is to kinda get thebiggest budgets you can get and
kinda keep getting in there andincreasing number of hours and
things like that. But it'sactually really interesting.
It's this shell game where thestudios that are hiring you to
(05:31):
produce the show, they're onlygonna pay you a 10% production
fee because it's cost plus.There's all kinds of tricks
these production companies do toincrease their margins. Within
the budget, there'll be a weeklycamera rental. But then the
production company will set up adifferent LLC, buy some cameras,
and then it will actually berenting to itself. You've got
production accounts on staffthat you're renting out to your
(05:52):
different productions.
It becomes this kind of game ofhow can you get to a critical
mass of content, and then youcan actually build up that force
and start kind of renting thingsback to yourself and increase
your margins that way. So it'skind of a fun, interesting game.
Adam Larson (06:06):
Wow, that does sound interesting. Were there
elements within like the CPA orCMA exam or things that you had
to learn in studying for thosethat kind of helped you prepare
you for what you had toencounter while trying to do
those financials?
Jameson Galey (06:18):
Absolutely. Television accounting, the
revenue recognition method isPOC, percentage of completion.
So you can actually be kind ofcomplex when you're accounting
for these multimillion dollartelevision projects that
sometimes last over a year,things like that. So there was a
lot of deferred revenue,accounts receivable, POC. There
was a whole system that I helpedbuild out to forecast and track
(06:41):
all that.
Everything I was learning in CMAand CPA exams was constantly
applicable to what I was doingon a daily basis. What I liked
about the CMA exams particularlyis like CPA, there's a lot of
audit and tax focus, which neverfrankly interested me. It's like
I crammed for those exams andjust kind of forgot the stuff
immediately after. It's likeI've always been into the actual
(07:04):
working within companies,business strategy, risk
management, decision making, allthe kind of stuff that CMA
really focuses on. It's reallymeant for people like me that
wanted to be a financialexecutive.
Super helpful across the board.
Adam Larson (07:17):
Definitely. And then from there, you transition
on to becoming a CFO at quite ayoung age. How was it? How was
it like that adapting to being aCFO at a young age, especially
the pressures of that positionand all the weight that comes
with that?
Jameson Galey (07:30):
Sure. Yeah, I got really lucky. I became a CFO at
29. I'm sure there are peopleout there that have also done
it. But for me personally, wouldhave never happened if it wasn't
for this very luckyhappenstance, which is that the
company, Connecticut Content, Iwas working for for five years.
They were owned by a Germanparent company that owned about
20 different productioncompanies around the world. And
(07:51):
I got to be super close withthem just doing month end
finance calls for five yearsstraight. You you can just
imagine just month after month,developed a really good
relationship with them. And theyhad another company in Downtown
LA that they actually just movedme to be the CFO. It was called
Kardig seven Pictures.
So it was a super lucky,fortunate opportunity. I was
(08:12):
very grateful for it, took theleap. And it's actually pretty
funny. It was December 2019actually that I made the jump.
Within like a ninety day, Iactually got married around that
time too.
So within like a ninety dayperiod, I got married, I became
a CFO and then COVID hit. So itwas like, yeah, that ninety days
was like, there's a lot ofchange in my life. It was, you
(08:37):
just kind of, you know, I have ahabit of just kind of throwing
myself in situations and kind ofjust making sure I swim. I think
it's like anything. I think Iencourage people to take the
leap and figure it out becauseyou will.
And there are definite timeswhen I had to pretend like I
kind of was a little bit moresolid than I felt on the inside
being a CFO. And all of sudden,it's like, there's no one else
you can really point to or lookto for answers or things like
(08:58):
that. So that was definitely anew experience, especially being
in a creative world becausetypically, each company is
probably different. The CEO andthe partners are probably going
to be creative people. Sothere's really not going to be
anybody that you can talk toabout finance or whatever.
You're probably going to be kindof on that.
Adam Larson (09:16):
Yeah. Did you have a big team that you were working
with as a CFO or was it very wasit a more small organization?
You're dealing with big budgets,though.
Jameson Galey (09:23):
Yeah, we did about 20,000,000 in revenues a
year, 2025. The company had beenaround for about eight years. I
had three people workingunderneath me when I joined. And
then, you know, you can scale uplike production accountants
maybe for a short period of timeor something, depending on the
level of production and thevolume you have at that time.
Adam Larson (09:40):
So what was it like navigating COVID to COVID during
the worst part of COVID,especially a lot of production
companies couldn't shootanything for a long time there?
Jameson Galey (09:49):
Yeah, we were actually really lucky because a
big part of production is you goout and you shoot the stuff, and
then you have it in the can, andthen you have to spend time
editing it. And we got reallylucky because we had actually
just gone out and shot a bunchof stuff. So we were actually
able to remote edit from homeand then still be releasing
things and delivering the itemswe needed to get the revenue in
(10:12):
from our customers. So we gotlucky that way. And it's funny
when you look back, it's likeeverybody I think was accounting
was one of those things that youjust assumed could not be done
remotely.
It's like, how are going signchecks? How are we going to do
this? And within weeks, it waslike, Oh, this is super easy.
Yeah, there was a totalproduction shutdown across the
(10:32):
industry. We got lucky.
I think we borrowed some moneyfrom our parent company. We did
some layoffs. We got through it.
Adam Larson (10:38):
So what was your next career decision after the
CFO of that production company?
Jameson Galey (10:43):
Yeah, it was interesting. So I was there for
about two and a half years,survived COVID. We kind of
steadied out. And then actuallythe original owners of the
company decided they wanted tobreak away from the German
parent company, start over anddo their own thing. And they
didn't really have a place for aCFO in their new scaled down
role.
So the whole thing justdismantled in an amicable way.
(11:07):
And so I basically found myselflooking for a new job after
being a CFO for about two and ahalf years. And it was
interesting. So I startedreaching out to recruiters and
they were all incrediblypessimistic. It was like, became
a CFO way too early, your resumeis all off.
No one's gonna ever make you aCFO again, not again, but right
now it's just not gonna happenfor you. You've only ever done
(11:27):
accounting and finance in thetelevision industry. So it's
like, basically they're tellingme like, you're gonna sit there
and wait for like a number twoposition of a TV production
coming to open up, and who knowswhen that'll happen? It was very
pessimistic. My wife and I hadreally enjoyed being remote
during COVID.
And it was kind of like, I wouldlove to continue the remote
lifestyle. I'm big fan of this.So I made the decision to open
(11:51):
up my own online accountingfirm. And I was like, I'm just
going to find my own clients.I'm going to just do my own
thing.
And I believe that I have a lotof value to add to any
organization. I'm not going tosit around and wait to be
pigeonholed into the right roleor whatever. I'm going to go do
it myself. I made that decision.And then within a couple of
weeks, was on Craigslist of allplaces, hustling, trying to find
(12:11):
my first clients and bumped intothis guy.
He was a serial entrepreneur. Heread my He actually put a post
on Craigslist and said, Need aCPA one day a week. That's all
it said. And I replied to it.And it was for one startup he
was running, but then we startedtalking, he saw my resume and he
was like, Actually, I would loveyou to come on board and be a
full time CFO of this otherstartup I'm running.
(12:34):
So, I felt pretty good aboutthat. I was like, you know what,
I'll shelve the onlineaccounting firm. This is an
incredible opportunity. I'mgonna go with it. So, the
recruiters called me later andthey were like, hey, you need a
secondary role in a TVproduction company?
Was No, I'm actually the CFO ofa tech startup. Thank you. I
figured it out all on my own.But yeah, I got really lucky. I
(12:54):
think it just goes to show I waswilling to hustle on Craigslist
for $35 an hour or whatever ittook to get that firm off the
ground and it really paid off.
I'm actually still involved withthat company. I've been the CFO
there for about three years now.
Adam Larson (13:09):
Wow. So it was like transitioning from one industry
to another because sometimesit's different, sometimes it's
not. I mean, the accountingstays the same, but what was it
like transitioning?
Jameson Galey (13:17):
Yeah, I would actually counter that. The
accounting definitely does notstay the same in certain cases.
So, yeah, it's interesting. Icall it a tech company because
it kind of was and is techfocused, but it actually was
like a manufacturing companywhen I first joined. So that was
a big change.
We had this kind of proprietarysolar technology that absorbs
(13:38):
solar energy and then is able tomake signs light up at night
automatically. So you see thosesigns these days with the solar
panels affixed to the outside ornear them or whatever, but these
were actually built into thesign itself so you could see
them. And so, were manufacturingthose in house. So, it was a big
(13:58):
change from purely the servicemodel and entertainment to
direct labor and manufacturingoverhead, tracking and
calculating all that. Was a lot.
But I bought a couple oftextbooks on inventory
management and cost accountingand just dug in, and I loved it.
That was the biggest change forme. It was an opportunity to
(14:20):
build out a whole new systembecause most startups didn't
really have a lot of goodinfrastructure in place. It was
actually really cool too. When Iworked previously, I was part of
that group of 20 productioncompanies.
They had a very high level TM1software that did all the
planning and tracking andeverything. Nothing like this
into startups. So it was thefirst time that I actually had
to build out a full FP and Asystem in Excel by myself with
(14:43):
the actuals, forecast,budgeting. And I just feel like
I learned so much during thatprocess. My sales skills
dramatically improved.
And that's why I would encouragepeople to work for small
businesses and start ups.Because when there's not that
infrastructure and you have kindof build it yourself, it can be
a great opportunity.
Adam Larson (14:59):
Well, it was hands on experience and something that
maybe if you're working for avery large organization, you'd a
part of the team choosing it andbeing a part of it. To build it
from the ground up with thefoundation that you've learned
and from, you know, from thecertifications you have to all
the experience you have to beable to build that your own
foundation is an invaluableexperience, really.
Jameson Galey (15:18):
Absolutely.
Adam Larson (15:20):
So I wanted to circle to your other startup you
have, which is called LedgerRoot. Can you talk a little bit
about that?
Jameson Galey (15:27):
Absolutely. Again, we spoke earlier about
it. I told you how much I lovelearning and love accounting.
These are kind of my two greatpassions. Basically, I was using
Duolingo a few years ago.
I was actually learning Germanbecause I was working for the
German parent company and I loveDuolingo, love learning. I was
like, there should really be afun way to learn accounting kind
(15:49):
of in this way. Should begamified, it should be fun,
broken down into bite sizedlessons. And so it took me a few
years, but I actually startedworking on the project over the
last year. And we actually havean MVP now, we're on the market
and people are using it everyday.
We've got people that havealready come on and done
hundreds and hundreds ofproblems. They're learning. We
just launched in the last thirtydays. Super excited to see the
(16:11):
early traction we're seeing. Andhonestly, I'm so thrilled to
have it be out in the world andreally enjoying it and learning.
And I think the future is reallybright for the business.
Adam Larson (16:20):
Definitely. So, you know, who is your who is your
main audience for this? Are youtrying to get young accountants
to come in and learn in a betterway? Are you trying to get
people from all around theorganization to understand what
accounting is doing?
Jameson Galey (16:31):
Yeah, it's a great question. So, you know,
obviously I have some earlyinvestors and that's a that's a
common question that I've had totackle along the way. The answer
right now is, I think it'sactually broader. I've got a mix
of people already using thesite. I've got people who are
pursuing accounting degrees,people who have just graduated
with finance degrees who want tobolster their accounting skills
a little bit.
I've got a COO of a company.I've got a head of business
(16:53):
analytics of a company. So Ithink it's actually pretty
broad. That is kind of my dreamis like, how can I make it as
ubiquitous and global aspossible? It's really not to
kind of hone in on any one smalldemographic of accounting
students.
It's like, I genuinely believethese skills should be
transferable and universal. Mydream is that people from all
walks of life will be using thisproduct and it will help them
(17:15):
grow in their careers, startbusinesses, improve their
communities. I really want it tobe as universal as possible.
Adam Larson (17:22):
Do you think there's different stigmas that
can surround accounting thatwould prohibit people from
saying, I don't want to do agame about accounting?
Jameson Galey (17:30):
Absolutely. You know, accounting kind of has
this bad reputation as beingsort of boring and tedious and
all these things. Like, it'sactually so cool and it's so
empowering and there's so muchstructure and symmetry to it.
It's like, that's the big hurdleis like, can I get people to
just start trying it because itlooks a little bit fun and it's
a little bit more lighthearted?And they'd be like, wow, this is
so cool.
I can actually apply this in somany different ways. Because my
(17:51):
belief is that if you work inbusiness, no matter what role
you're in, you should have afirm understanding of how to
read financial statements.Absolutely. And it's like, this
is kind of what we're here tohelp people learn.
Adam Larson (18:02):
That's awesome. So what are your goals for Ledgeroo
going forward and for yourcareer as well? Because you've
jumped to a lot of differentthings and it's pretty exciting
to hear.
Jameson Galey (18:12):
Thank you. Appreciate that. I want this to
be the next twenty years of mylife, honestly. So, you know,
we're already seeing the usergrowth. It's really exciting.
I'm super passionate about it.Like nothing would make me
happier than to run thisbusiness for the next twenty
years. Just continue to findways to add more and more
content, more and moregamification, reach a broader
audience. It's my dream goal inlife to wake up and just kind of
(18:32):
build this thing every day.
Adam Larson (18:33):
Well, Jamison, I really want to thank you for
coming on the podcast. It'sgreat to that you could we're
willing to share your story withour audience, and we appreciate
it.
Jameson Galey (18:41):
Thanks, Adam. Been a been a pleasure.
Announcer (18:45):
This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast, providing
you with the latest perspectivesof thought leaders from the
accounting and financeprofession. If you like what you
heard and you'd like to becounted in for more relevant
accounting and financeeducation, visit IMA's website
at www.imanet.org.
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