Indiana’s embedded CFO and Operating Partner firm
We prove what a
business earns. And how
to make it worth more.
Operator-grade Quality of Earnings and diligence when a deal is on the table, buy-side or sell-side. An embedded CFO and operating partner when you want the business running without you and worth more, whether or not you ever sell. We started as operators, and we do the work with you. Indiana-first, in the work statewide.
100+
Business sales reviewed, buyer’s side
$3M–$30M
Revenue businesses we serve
Indiana-Rooted
Statewide reach
Fixed-fee or retainer
Equity or value-based pricing considered
Start Where You Are
Tell Us Where You Are.
Two Ways To Work With Us
Start with a project. Grow into a partnership.
One firm, one standard of work, two ways in. Most clients meet us on a single project, a deal, a model, a readiness review, then keep us in the seat once they see how we work.
Deal Services · Fixed-fee
When a deal or a decision is on the table
Defined-scope, fixed-fee projects you can hand us and get back fast. Operator-grade, independent, and built for the lower-middle-market deals bigger firms pass on.
- Quality of Earnings, buy-side or sell-side
- Sell-Side Readiness Review before you list
- Customer-reference and concentration diligence
- Capital and lender readiness
Embedded · Ongoing
When you want it worth more, for the long haul
A CFO and an operating partner in the seats with you: clean numbers, a team that can run it, and the systems that make it worth more when you sell.
- Embedded CFO Partner and Operating Partner
- The operating system and cadence
- Exit readiness, years before you sell
- Equity or value-based pricing considered
QoE is the way in. Embedded is what you grow into.
Deal Services
A deal or a decision on the table? We do the diligence.
Fixed-fee, independent, and fast. Operator-grade Quality of Earnings and the diligence a buyer, seller, or lender actually needs. We tell you what a buyer will find, and we hand the client back.
Red-Flag Review
Buy-Side Diligence
Sell-Side Readiness
Quality of Earnings
The Value Gap
Same profit. Very different price.
Two businesses can earn the same profit and sell for very different prices. A business that runs through the owner tends to trade nearer 3 to 4 times profit. A lower-risk, buyer-ready one commonly trades at 5 to 6 times, sometimes more. The difference is not the profit. It is the risk a buyer sees. We close that gap on purpose. A buyer-ready business gets bought on your terms. The rest get sold on the buyer’s, or do not sell at all.
The Problem
Sound Familiar?
If you, or your key person, were gone Monday, what would the next 90 days look like? The honest answer is usually where the value gap starts.
The business runs through you
Owner-dependency is the single biggest driver of a valuation discount. It is also the most fixable, quarter by quarter.
A deal is on the table and the numbers have to hold
Deals do not die on price. They die in diligence, when a buyer’s team finds something you were not ready to explain.
You’re a few years out and not ready
Most owners get deal advice once the LOI is signed. By then the value is set and the leverage is gone.
You keep hearing “not yet” on capital
Usually it is not the business. It is the package. We build the numbers and the story before your first meeting.
The Embedded Model
An operating partner and a CFO. In the business with you.
Plenty of people will advise you from the sidelines. We get in and do the work. Two operators, working as one, plus the systems and the cadence that make it run. The next decade in the lower middle market is about the operator, not financial engineering.
Operating Partner
The seat that drives the value. The plan, the weekly rhythm, the right people in the right roles, and a business that runs on more than the owner. Jared-led.
CFO Partner
The seat a buyer checks first. Clean monthly close, a 13-week cash view, the numbers behind every decision, and books that survive diligence. Ryan-led.
AI & Systems, quietly
The quiet enabler, delivered through trusted partners. It handles the repetition so our people spend time on judgment. You own your data. No lock-in.
How It Works
Start small. No long engagement to find out if we fit.
01
Book a Call
Tell us about the business or the deal. We tell you where the numbers stand and what a buyer would look for first. No charge, no pitch.
02
Scope and fixed quote
One tier, one fixed fee, quoted up front after a short scoping call. You know the number before you commit.
03
We do the work
We prove the earnings, or get the business ready, and hand you a report and databook that hold up in diligence.
04
Grow into a partnership
Many clients keep us on as their CFO and operating partner once they see how we work. Never required.
The Work, In Practice
What changes when we get in the numbers.
They fully embedded themselves into our business, helping us navigate complex decisions and significantly accelerating our path to market readiness. LIMESTONE’s proactive, comprehensive support has been invaluable.
They’re not just financial advisors, they roll up their sleeves and get involved in every aspect of the business. What really sets LIMESTONE apart is that they operate like true partners, not outsiders.
It is with great honor to write this review for Jared and his firm Limestone strategic partners. Jared has shown consistent knowledge in the Finance and scaling of our company. We have three complex divisions and his ability to navigate and create factual strategies has been great help the knowledge or leadership team and the company to define and pivot in areas we needed.
The Team
You’re hiring Jared and Ryan.
A CFA operator and a CPA who has run more than 100 buyer-side reviews. One proves the numbers are real; the other tells you whether they will hold, and what to fix.
Founder & Operating Partner
Jared Luegers, CFA
Jasper, Indiana · IU Kelley School of Business
CFO Partner
Ryan Anoskey, CPA
Evansville, Indiana · IU Kelley School of Business
The Free Foundation Check
See where your business stands. In about ten minutes.
Answer a few questions and get your Bedrock Score: how your business rates on the five things a buyer prices, and the one weak link worth fixing first. Free, about ten minutes, and yours to keep.
A · Clean numbers
B · Runs without you
C · Leadership bench
D · Market & product
E · Deal-ready
Straight Answers
Questions people actually ask.
No. Most people start with a single, fixed-fee deal service, a Quality of Earnings or a readiness review. If it makes sense to keep us on as your CFO and operating partner afterward, we can. It is never required.
Yes. On a deal we work for you and only you, and we do not stay on unless you ask us to. On sell-side work we never take the listing, and we hand the client back to their advisor. Our read only helps if it is honest, so we show the add-backs we reject.
Different jobs. Your CPA reports the past. Your broker runs the sale. We prove and build the value in between, and we work alongside both. We are not brokers or investment bankers.
Deal services are fixed-fee, scoped to your deal, with one number quoted up front after a short call. No public rate card, no surprises. Embedded work is a monthly engagement.
Pre-revenue startups, and owners who just want bookkeeping or steady-state back-office help. We will point you somewhere better.
get started
Indiana limestone built the most enduring structures in America.
We are building Indiana’s most enduring businesses. Send us a deal or a decision. We will scope it, price it, and tell you the truth, fast.