David Lightfoot has almost 40 years of accounting, finance and operational experience. Most of the last 30 years David has served as Controller, Chief Financial Officer or Vice President of Finance for small and medium-sized businesses. He also has operations experience and has worked as a CEO, giving him a broad business perspective.
David’s industry experience includes professional services, healthcare, real estate development, construction, property management and software.
David is known for his ability to quickly get to the root of business problems and find solutions. This is especially true in the areas of cash flow improvement, profitability, operations process improvement, strategic planning, budgeting and risk management. He also has expertise in implementing accounting systems, human resources and legal issues.
David believes that cash is the most important issue for all businesses. His focus is on cash for the short-term, profitability for the mid-term and increasing the value of the business in the long-term. He has considerable experience in troubled situations and turnarounds.
After financial factors, David tends to focus on people issues, believing that people are the biggest assets of a business and the factor that makes the most difference in business performance. He enjoys building high performance teams through careful training and management.
His peers have called David “a world-class listener.” He considers this his greatest strength.
David works with owner/operators to improve their businesses. He has developed an expertise in helping owners increase the value of their businesses and position the owner for an exit from the business.
David has been a CPA for almost 40 years and also is a CMA (Certified Management Accountant). He is a Seattle native and a graduate of the University of Washington, holding a degree in accounting.