John Calahan has been in the accounting and financial reporting software business for over 35 years. He started his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co., formed his own CPA firm, and then founded Timeline, Inc. to provide accounting and reporting software in the 1980s. In 1996, John formed CFOsoft with his long-time friend and business associate, the late Fred Dean, to provide better Excel budgeting, financial reporting, and financial modeling software.
A common theme to John’s career has been the development of spreadsheet software for business applications. As CEO of Timeline, John acquired Why Systems, which created DigiCalc the first mini-computer spreadsheet was used around the world and competed with the original spreadsheet “VisiCalc”.
As CEO of Timeline, John was the driving force behind these initiatives:
- Envisioning and assembling the development team for DigiCalc III, a multi-dimensional spreadsheet application that pre-dated current OLAP technologies.
- Developing the concept for Microsoft’s “Small Business Financial Manager” that was developed using Timeline’s Intellectual Property.
- Conceptualizing Timeline’s Excel-based financial reporting product.
