Laura Johnson

Laura is a Senior Director at Accordion with 25+ years of experience transforming finance organizations for middle-market and global enterprises.  She has deep expertise in scaling infrastructure, optimizing performance, and building finance functions that enable value creation. Laura partners with PE-backed management teams to streamline operations, accelerate reporting cycles, and implement technology solutions that enhance efficiency, accuracy, and operational reliability across portfolio companies. A hands-on leader, she combines strategic vision with deep technical expertise, serving as a trusted advisor while driving financial discipline and operational rigor.

At Accordion, Laura has served in multiple Interim CFO and VP Corporate Controller roles, leading cross-functional teams in Accounting, FP&A, IT, and Procurement during periods of rapid growth, integration, and remediation. She has led full-cycle ERP selections and implementations, redesigned monthly close and budgeting processes, implemented sales-tax automation and WIP accounting improvements, and deployed tools and workflows that materially improved reporting accuracy and shortened cycle times.

Earlier in her career, Laura gained foundational experience in litigation consulting and Big Four audit before advancing into progressive leadership roles within the Office of the CFO. At American Express, she managed KPI reporting and standardized financial reporting packages used across the AEFA segment. As Corporate Controller at Microsemi and Heartland School Solutions, she led Accounting and Finance teams, developed driver-based budgeting and forecasting models, and delivered monthly and quarterly reporting decks for executive leadership—building scalable, repeatable processes aligned with investor expectations.

Most recently, as VP Corporate Controller at Nextiva, Laura spearheaded finance transformation and IPO readiness initiatives. She shortened the monthly close timeline, implemented SOX controls, directed the ERP migration from Sage Intacct to Oracle, automated revenue recognition, and partnered with FP&A to produce executive reporting packages. She also established and managed an overseas shared-services organization supporting controllership, accounts payable, and billing—creating a scalable, cost-efficient finance platform to support accelerated growth.

Laura is a Certified Public Accountant. She graduated with honors from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Finance and a Master’s in Accounting.  She completed the Semester at Sea program during her undergraduate studies and attended the Executive Program in Women’s Leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.