Results

I work with you on a personal level to determine the best solutions for your unique needs, then leverage my seasoned expertise to achieve the best possible results.

Relationships

I am your trusted partner in success. My firm is large enough to offer a full range of professional services at a fair price, but small enough to give you the individual attention that you deserve.

Relief

Rest assured that when a need arises, my firm is ready and capable to handle everything for you so you can focus on what matters most to you.

Staff Profiles

Jon A. Sayre, Jr.

Growing up inside the Beltway, I enjoyed my younger days where once a month, I had to put my Parent’s checks in numerical order so they could reconcile their bank account. It was at this point I realized my love for math could help others.

I didn’t go to college right out of high school and worked at the City of Falls Church Public Utility department until, at the age of 20, realized I could do better with my life. With my father’s guidance, we opened a Washington Post newspaper (which I delivered all through high school) and looked for jobs in the classified section. We both knew I loved numbers and the amount of accounting help wanted jobs showed me I could get a job after college in accounting. My initial college applications all had accounting as my primary major.

At the age of 20, I began my college career and was progressing towards my accounting major. As a Junior at Virginia Tech, I was taking an Intermediate Accounting II class when I was convinced to look elsewhere for a major. The professor described a life of 70/80 work weeks for the next 7 years and I was talking marriage with my girlfriend at the time (she later became my wife and bore two children).

While in my work-study job, my best friend in college and I began talking about his major of Finance. He stated he wanted to be a Commercial Lender when he got out of school. I began researching that industry and took my first Corporate Finance class that summer in Blacksburg. I was hooked. I could analyze financial statements and work with clients. I switched majors and had a Commercial Lending position with Central Fidelity Bank (now Wells Fargo) in Richmond, Virginia as I walked across the stage.

My Commercial Lending position took me around the Commonwealth of Virginia but I always felt something was missing. I wanted my CPA because it was a goal of mine and my profession didn’t value it. A good friend of mine was a college professor at James Madison University and taught the auditing section for JMU’s “CPA bootcamp”. He asked if I wanted to attend a class and I did. I took some of the quizzes and did well for not studying. During my 23-years as a Commercial Lender, I not only had to analyze financial statements but had to know how the figures got there, what the rules were, and how to read and understand complicated tax returns and financial statements. The rule was to “follow the money” and this rule was heavily grounded in dual entry accounting.

In 2018, I left banking and became an auditor with a local firm. I also began studying for my CPA and in 2020, I passed the final section of the exam. I spent 5 years in auditing but still felt like something was missing in my life – I wanted more control of my life. My wife and I sat down and decided where our family would need to be financially to go out on my own. In December of 2022, I started Ridge View Accounting, PLLC and hung out a shingle.

When I work with clients, I think back to my childhood and the joy it got me to have the checks in the proper order. It made life easier for my father and it is with this same enjoyment I work with my clients today. I had a current client ask me if I enjoyed bank reconciliations. I responded “not really but it’s a means to an end”. After I finished a full year of bank reconciliations for this client, we were able to sit down and “follow the money” month to month for the year. We analyzed payroll, product cost percentages, what caused the fluctuations, etc…that’s the fun part!

Another client was looking to increase his payroll for the long-term employees and wasn’t sure if he could handle it. We projected out the increases he wanted and it was close but afterwards, an additional $5,000 in payroll for the month of January, 2023 produced an additional $20,000 of income. It was a win-win for everyone.

That’s the kind of passion I have for working with my clients and my schedule is always flexible to meet wherever is more convenient: the golf course, at Lake Anna where my parent’s spent my college money (that’s a true statement), or for a coffee.