Robert E. Barnhill III, CPA/PFS, CFP, JD, MBA, (Surgent McCoy CPE, LLC) is an attorney, certified public accountant, personal financial specialist and certified financial planner who practices in the estate and retirement planning areas. He is also an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University in the Personal Financial Planning Department. He also conducts training sessions for various professional associations throughout the U.S. Mr. Barnhill was the 1996-97 International President for Toastmasters International, a past President of the West Texas Chapter of the Financial Planning Association and a member of the American Bar Association, AICPA, and the National Speakers Association. He also holds the Toastmasters International Accredited Speakers designation for platform excellence.

Nicholas J. Bedlan, CFP, CIMA, (Morgan Stanley Smith Barney) began his investment career in 2001 after graduating from Nebraska Wesleyan University. Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Bedlan was a Financial Analyst for Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking & Investments Group in Los Angeles, which caters to client accounts of $10 million or more. During his five years at Merrill Lynch, most recently in La Jolla, California, he gained valuable experience in helping clients with substantial wealth deal with complex issues such as concentrated positions in illiquid securities, tax issues, and the formation of foundations.

Andrew R. Biebl, CPA, is a principal with LarsonAllen, LLP, specializing in taxation, small business entity selection, S corporations and agricultural taxation. He heads the Federal Tax Services Group, which provides tax research and training firm wide. He also provides internal tax training within LarsonAllen and external tax training for other tax professionals. Biebl is an author and instructor of LarsonAllen Tax Advisors Update and Farm Taxation: Planning Opportunities and Pitfalls; an author of a column on agricultural taxation issues in Progressive Farmer magazine and the DTN Network; a contributing author for the Farm Tax Network, an email subscription service that addresses agricultural tax issues;  a co-author of several tax publications for Practitioner Publishing Company/ThomsonReuters, as well as former co-author of continuing professional education tax seminars for ThomsonReuters and American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). In addition to authorship activities, Biebl has spoken at numerous seminars and conferences throughout the country. He is a past recipient of the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award, and also a past recipient of Outstanding Discussion Leader Awards for Minnesota and Iowa CPA Societies. Biebl has a Bachelor’s in Economics and Accountancy from St. Johns University, one year of post-graduate school at the Minnesota Graduate School of Business and served as an adjunct faculty member in the University of Minnesota Masters of Business Taxation program for 20 years. He is a past president of the Minnesota Society of CPAs.

Charles Borek, CPA, JD, MBA, (AICPA) practices law and provides consulting services to accounting firms and nonprofit organizations as a principal with the Law Offices of O’Connor & Borek, LLC, the firm which he co-founded in 2000. His areas of expertise include taxation of individuals and small businesses, nonprofit law and accounting, and OMB Circular A-133 audits. Chuck has also taught a variety of courses at the University of Baltimore, School of Law, where he was named Visiting Assistant Professor of Law in 2003. While on the faculty he founded and was director of the University of Baltimore Tax Clinic, which provides free legal assistance to low income taxpayers involved in disputes with the IRS. Prior to joining the law faculty he was an Associate Professor of Accounting and Business Law at Prince George’s College in Maryland. He is a frequent lecturer for the American Bar Association, Maryland Institute for CPE of Lawyers and the American Health Lawyers Association. His 2003 book “Contract Drafting and Review for the Maryland Lawyer” was cited as authoritative guidance by the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. Charles is a member of the bars of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, and the Court of Appeals of Maryland. He currently serves as a commissioner on the Howard County (Maryland) Pension Commission.

Bradley P. Burnett, CPA, JD, LLM, is a practicing Tax Attorney and Tax Accountant in Denver, Colorado. Prior to establishing his own law firm in 1990, he practiced tax accounting with a national CPA firm, worked as a trust officer for a Denver bank and managed the tax department as Partner in a medium-sized Denver law firm.  After receiving his B.S. degree in accounting and law degree, he earned a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Denver School of Law Graduate Tax Program. Burnett has delivered more than 2,350 presentations on U.S. tax law, tax planning, college planning and estate planning to CPAs, attorneys, enrolled agents, civic groups and corporations throughout all 50 U.S. States, Washington, D.C., the Bahamas, Italy, Greece, Turkey and in British Columbia, Canada. He has authored the texts of 24 CPE (or CLE) courses, authored and taught tax materials for Commerce Clearing House (CCH) and written articles for national and local tax journals in the past 26 years. He also served four years as adjunct professor at the University of Denver School of Law Graduate Tax Program, where he pioneered an employment tax course and occasionally pinch-hit in the IRS practice and procedure field.   He has also appeared on television answering tax questions for call-in viewers of Denver NBC affiliate KUSA Channel 9. Burnett’s seminar style is to deliver the subject matter in briskly paced, enthusiastic fashion. His forte’ is the candid communication of practical ideas relating to tax law.

Dallon Christensen, CPA/CITP, CMA, CFM, (Surgent McCoy, CPE LLC) is a controller with AccountingDepartment.com, a leading provider of virtual accounting and controllership services based out of Pompton Plains, New Jersey. He is responsible for bookkeeper supervision, financial analysis, and management reporting for businesses in a variety of industries. Prior to joining AccountingDepartment.com, Dallon was with a leading agricultural and industrial equipment manufacturer in a variety of finance, operations, and information technology assignments. He has extensive experience with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and has served as a project lead and subject matter expert on two ERP implementations. Dallon also has experience as an international internal auditing supervisor. Dallon is a member of the Iowa Society of CPAs, the Illinois CPA Society, and the Illowa Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants. In addition, he serves as an adjunct instructor at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.

Gregory Clark, CPA, is an author and discussion leader for Loscalzo Associates Ltd. and a Principal with the Business Compliance & Controls Group (BCCG) an accounting consulting firm specializing in employee benefit plan audits and compliance, internal controls auditing, consulting and assessments, and technical accounting training and consulting. With extensive experience in the audit and business compliance field, he has participated in all aspects of employee benefit plan engagements, including plan audit and business risk assessments, plan internal control assessment and design, plan regulatory compliance, data retention management, and administrative contract compliance. BCCG provides technical accounting and auditing consulting services, quality control and effectiveness reviews and compliance assistance to CPA firms performing both general attest and employee benefit plan engagements. Clark is an internationally known speaker on the topics of employee benefit plans, technical accounting and auditing, operational auditing and internal controls evaluations, data retention management, organizational risk assessments and various other topics. He has worked with accountants and auditors from international companies throughout the world, many Fortune 500 companies, numerous local, regional, and national CPA firms, and for more than 40 State CPA societies.

Jared Cottrell, CPA, (AICPA) Partner with Kennedy Cottrell Richards, has responsibility for the management of a variety of services provided to the firm’s state and local governmental clients including financial statement and single audits, financial statement compilations and various agreed-upon procedures engagements. Before joining KCR, he was an Auditor-in-Charge for the State Government Region of the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office, where he gained extensive experience with state-level government auditing. Cottrell earned his BSBA degree in Accounting from the University of Toledo. He is licensed to practice as a CPA in the State of Ohio. Jared has been a member of the AICPA’s faculty of teaching professionals, instructing courses nationwide on various topics, since 2006. In 2008 Cottrell was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Chapter of the Government Finance Officers Association Ohio Chapter. In addition, from 2003 to 2008, he served in varying capacities, including both Treasurer and President, for the Central Ohio Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants. He is a member of the following professional organizations: AICPA, Ohio Society of CPAs, Association of Government Accountants and Government Finance Officers Association.

Pamela J. Davis-Vaughn, CPA, (Surgent McCoy CPE, LLC) is a general practitioner providing accounting, tax and consulting services to clients across the United States from her office in Painted Post, New York. She has designed and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in state and local tax at Texas universities, including Baylor and Texas Tech and has been a highly rated speaker at the Controller’s Roundtable, a sponsored event for controllers of automobile dealerships in Texas. In addition to her accounting practice, Davis-Vaughn is a co-owner of One Main Place Farms, an organic farming operation located in upstate New York. Davis-Vaughn has over 25 years of experience in both public and private accounting sectors. Her public experience ranges from a Big Four firm where she assisted several Fortune 500 companies in restructuring their operations to provide state income and franchise tax savings, participated on the mergers and acquisitions team, and served as the Southwest Area Employment Tax practice leader to providing tax consulting services for closely held businesses of a 16-partner, 100-staff Dallas CPA firm. Her experience in the private sector as CFO of a Dallas based manufacturer servicing the telecom industry and Tax and Accounting Manager of a large independent oil and gas company provides her with significant insight into the challenges faced by those practicing in industry. Davis-Vaughn holds a BS degree in Business and Accounting from the University of Kansas, an MBA from Wichita State University and has completed post-graduate work in International Tax at New York University. She holds a license to practice in Kansas, Texas and New York.

Ronald D. DiMattia, CPA/ABV, CMA, (AICPA) founded Corporate Value Partners, Inc. to assist clients with a broad range of valuation, corporate finance, litigation and bankruptcy matters. He has significant experience in financial analysis, forecasts/projections, acquisitions, shareholder value measurement and forensic accounting. He is the President of his current firm and previously was a Senior staff member for a regional accounting firm and was a Senior Manager in a “Big Four” accounting firm’s financial advisory services practice.DiMattia has served on the AICPA Business Valuations Subcommittee and was appointed to the National Accreditation Commission of the AICPA. He also served as a member of the AICPA’s Governing Council and is an instructor for the AICPA ABV exam review course as well as introductory valuation courses and the AICPA’s National Business Valuation School.

Jack Ellovich, CPA is a discussion leader forLoscalzo Associates Ltd, and is a sole practitioner in Hartford, CT.  He has over 35 years of accounting experience, which includes six years with Price Waterhouse, Manager of Internal Audit, and Vice President of audit for a Fortune 500 company and an asset based lender.  Ellovich has also been the managing partner of a local firm.   His audit and accounting experiences have included SEC, as well as privately held companies and not for profit entities.  In addition, he has performed business valuations, and served as an expert witness in several litigation support engagements.  Ellovich served as an adjunct professor at Central Connecticut State University for eleven years, and has presented continuing education courses in 33 states.  He has received the Outstanding Discussion Leader recognition from the Connecticut Society of CPAs, New Hampshire Society of CPAs and Florida Institute of CPAs. Ellovich has been published in Thinking Big in Small Business, Connecticut Society of CPAs, Hartford, CT 1985 and 1986, as well as being the co-author of a staff training course.

William I. Eskin, CPA, (AICPA) is the owner of a consulting group, WIE, Inc. that provides assistance in various accounting and financial fields including construction contractors and real estate developers. Among the services provided include:  profit enhancement, forensic and fraud investigations, and expert witness testimony in the areas of GAAS compliance, SSARS compliance, and GAAP compliance, specifically related to identifying and proving CPA malpractice. Previously, Eskin was the Director of Financial Analysis & Investigation for the world’s largest surety fidelity operation.  There, he provided financial and accounting assistance, and advice to the underwriting and claims functions in addition to performing numerous forensic and fraud investigations related to employee dishonesty and other defalcations. Eskin is an annual speaker at the AICPA National Construction Conference, numerous state CPA societies, as well as many organizations related to GAAP, GAAS and SSARS compliance.  In addition, each year, he assists in the authoring and review of the AICPA annual Construction Audit Guide Update and Construction Contractors Industry Developments.  Eskin has recently authored and published Construction Contractors:  Real-World Guide to Accounting & Auditing and Real Estate:  Real-World Guide to Accounting & Auditing. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Bill received an Outstanding Discussion Leader of the AICPA award.

Catherine G. Eucker, CPA, (AICPA) runs a full-service consulting firm in Vermont, ‘Pay It Forward, LLC.’ Also, she has been a controller at Bennington College since 2007, where she is involved in their institutional ERP project as well as serving on their Sustainability Committee. In addition, Euker has taught several week-long sessions on budgeting, planning, and financial statement analysis. She started her career in accounting at UST, Inc.’s corporate headquarters in Greenwich, CT. Her auditing work was with the firm Ernst & Young out of Stamford, CT, where she specialized in manufacturing clients. She then moved to Vermont and became a vice president with Intrawest – an operator of four season resorts worldwide. While with Intrawest, she was integral in the growth of the Stratton Mountain resort with her involvement in municipal and state regulations, and the permitting and planning process as well as the integration of a full ERP for not only Stratton but for all of Intrawest’s U.S. Holdings. Eucker attended Pace University and received a Bachelor’s degree in Managerial Accounting and pursued her Master’s degree at Pace’s White Plains, NY campus. She is also a former board member of the Vermont Society of CPAs and the Stratton Foundation.

Nathan P. Farmer, CFP (Morgan Stanley Smith Barney). Upon graduation from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Accounting and Finance in 2000, Farmer spent three years as a CPA with Seim, Johnson, Sestak & Quist, LLP, an Omaha-based accounting firm. He has been with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and its predecessors since 2006. Although he is no longer a practicing CPA at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Farmer’s prior career as a CPA provides him with an extensive knowledge-base in the areas of retirement, business, and tax planning. He also focuses on employer-based retirement plans, such as 401(k)s.

Grace B. Ghezzi, CPA/PFS/CFF, CFP, CFE, AEP, (Surgent McCoy, CPE LLC) is a Vice President at Benefit Consulting Group, Inc. Her areas of practice include comprehensive financial planning; tax, estate and retirement planning; fraud and litigation support services; and business advisory services. She speaks nationally and conducts television appearances on topics including income tax and estate planning, financial planning, and fraud. She appears regularly on TV’s “Financial Fitness” and WSTM’s “Financial 411.” Ghezzi is a member of several prestigious CPA organizations. In addition, she is a member and has served as president and past board chair of the Estate Planning Council of Central New York, as well as a member, past President and past Board Chair of the Upstate New York Chapter of the Financial Planning Association. She is also a Regent Emeritus and chair of the Board of Review of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and a founding member of the Upstate New York Chapter of the ACFE. Ghezzi’s past experience includes being Partner at various local CPA firms and working in public accounting with an international accounting firm. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in accounting from LeMoyne College, where she has served as an adjunct professor of federal income-tax accounting.

Edward A. Harter, CPA, (Surgent McCoy, CPE LLC) is a general practitioner in Canton, Ohio, who provides accounting and tax services to his clients. Harter has been a Partner in a multi-office firm with ten partners, a one-office firm with two partners and a Sole Practitioner with only one support person. He has instructed CPE programs for 38 years and has presented CPE in all 50 states with consistent "excellent" ratings from program participants. He is continually commended for his ability to reduce complicated tax concepts to understandable English with his “real world” examples. In addition, he has held a number of leadership positions in The Ohio Society of CPAs. He is a graduate of Kent State University.

Glenn L. Helms, Ph.D., CPA, CISA, CIA, CFF, CITP, (AICPA) was the Arthur Young Fellow in IT Auditing at the University of Houston and has served as Director of Certification for the International Certified Information Systems Auditor program. He has served on numerous national and international academic and professional committees including the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board’s Computer Auditing Subcommittee and its Specialized Accreditation Board. Helms has presented over 1,000 professional seminars throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. He has published over 60 articles in a wide range of practitioner and academic journals. He has served on the editorial advisory boards of several national and international journals. His books address security, controls and fraud in a variety of internal control environments. He has numerous years experience in public accounting and serves as a consultant to various organizations including CPA firms, financial institutions and large and small entities. He has written six CPE courses for the AICPA and is a multiple year recipient of the Don Farmer Award and also the Outstanding Discussion Leader Award from the AICPA for the years 2005 through 2009. He has received similar awards from state societies and universities.

Vern Hoven, CPA, EA, MTA, (Vern Hoven Tax Seminars) is the author of e Real Estate Investor’s Tax Guide: What Every Investor Needs to Know to Maximize Profits and Real Estate and Taxes! What Every Agent Should Know, and has written articles on taxation for numerous national publications. Hoven is a nationally-recognized tax lecturer (averaging 100 days a year for CPAs, tax practitioners and REALTORS® throughout the United States) and has a Master’s Degree in Taxation from the University of Denver's School of Law (1985). His hallmark teaching style blends key information with a strong dose of humor and a high-tech presentation. Numerous state CPA Societies have named Hoven their “Tax Instructor of the Year” and, during tax season, he is a favorite for interviews on radio (a regular on Real Estate Today), on television, and in newspapers. Additionally, Hoven’s speaking skills earned him the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association (one of 430 CSPs out of 3,730 NSA members as of 2006"). He has served on many national boards, including the National Association of REALTORS® Legislative Committee and the Federal Tax Subcommittee. He also served for two years as National Secretary and three years as National Director-at-Large for the National Real Estate Educators Association.

Russ Inbody, is currently the Administrator of Finance and Organizational Services within the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). His duties include the internal budgeting and accounting functions within the NDE as well as assisting local school district personnel, auditors, the Legislature, and others with school finance issues. He also directs the activities involved with school organization and pupil transportation issues as well as directing the internal accounting, budgeting and all payment systems that provide funds to school districts and other educational entities. Inbody has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Paul H. Koehler, CPA, of Lincoln is a Government/Nonprofit Services Specialist, providing auditing, training and consulting services to governmental and nonprofit organizations and professionals nationwide. He is a member of the AICPA, the Nebraska Society of CPAs and is a past president of the Lincoln Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants. Koehler is the Nebraska Society’s representative to the Mid-America Intergovernmental Audit Forum, and is a current member and past chairman of the Nebraska Society’s State and Local Governmental Accounting and Auditing and Not-For-Profit Committees. A frequent speaker on not-for-profit and governmental topics throughout the country, he has been honored by the AICPA, many other state societies and the Nebraska Society for his outstanding skills as a discussion leader.

Darl G. Krause, CPA, (AICPA) has CPA Certifications and he practices in: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin as Manager & CEO of his firm, which he founded in 2005. Previously he enjoyed 23 years of diversified responsibilities with Ernst & Young. Industries he served included manufacturing, construction, real estate and financial services. Krause was the Ohio Valley Area Director of Employee Benefit Plan Services specialty audit practice for 8 years responsible for the technical accuracy and quality of over 300,000 hours of employee benefit plan audit effort. Roles included sign-off partner for approximately one third of the entire area's engagements, independent reviewer on approximately 100 additional plans per year and technical advisor for all work. As Senior Manager in the Entrepreneurial Services group for 3 years, he managed a portfolio of corporate audit client relationships. Roles included providing SEC reporting assistance to new public companies, assisting in due diligence on potential acquisitions and helping companies improve their controls and financial reporting processes.He served in E&Y's National Professional Development group as a Senior Manager for 5 years. Roles included designing, developing and delivering core curriculum Audit and Entrepreneurial Services training programs for the entire U.S. practice. Part of the 11 member team that completed the development effort to introduce the Ernst & Young Audit Approach training for Staff through Partner following the Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young merger, which was deemed a critical success factor for the newly formed Ernst & Young.

Jeffrey Lieman, CPA, (AICPA) currently heads his own consulting firm in Owings Mills, Maryland. He provides consulting services, contractual assistance services, and training to CPAs, their firms and their clients on matters related to U.S. and international accounting principles, auditing standards, governmental auditing standards and business planning services. His previous experience included serving as the Chief Financial Examiner for the Maryland Insurance Administration and being a Director for Ellin & Tucker, Chartered. As the Chief Financial Examiner, he was responsible for the solvency examination of the Maryland domestic insurance companies. While he was a Director for Ellin & Tucker, Chartered, he developed two new niche areas for the firm and supervised numerous audit service engagements. Lieman trained staff in many areas of accounting, administration and consulting and provided training services on a national level to other organizations. He reviewed numerous accounting systems and assisted in the selection and implementation of automated systems, helped develop policies and procedures for technology usage, work paper development, administrative procedures and other office policies and also provided Peer Review Services (SEC section). Lieman also served as a Senior Manager with KPMG/Baltimore. At KPMG he maintained client relations, marketed audit, tax and consulting services, and managed audit related services for publicly traded and privately held entities. His clients have included real estate ventures, printing and publishing companies, electronic manufacturers, wholesale distributors, retail stores, financial institutions, construction contractors, Governmental units and various nonprofit organizations. Lieman has been a national trainer for KPMG where he developed training materials for staff and instructors and is recognized nationally as a lecturer for various accounting, auditing and technology topics and has been quoted in various trade journals. He was elected Chairman of the Year by the Maryland Association of CPAs for chairmanship of the Computer Resources Committee.

Laura Lindal, CPA, (AICPA) has over 20 of experience in auditing, including audits performed in accordance with OMB Circular A-133, HUD Consolidated Audit Guide and Government Auditing Standards. She has spent those 20 years understanding and documenting client’s internal control, assessing risk (often below maximum) and designing audit plans and procedures tailored to the client’s internal control and the assessed risks. Lindal has experience in a variety of industries, not limited to not-for-profit organizations, affordable housing, real estate development and property management, construction, mortgage banking, manufacturing, and professional service industries. She has complemented her skills by performing peer reviews as well as consulting with firms regarding performance and documentation of their attest engagements. Lindal is the Chairperson of the Washington Society of CPAs’ Auditing and Accounting Review Services Committee. She also is an instructor for the AICPA and is a licensed CPA in the states of California, Washington and Alaska.

Anne M. Marchetti (Surgent McCoy, CPE LLC) currently operates Account-Ability Consulting and provides advisory and consulting services in the areas of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, internal controls optimization, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, IFRS, financial system implementation and training/education. She has 25 years of finance and accounting experience in both private industry and public accounting. In addition, she is a Sarbanes-Oxley subject matter expert focused on the design, implementation, analysis, and optimization of internal control systems and corporate governance and risk management programs. Also, she has spoken at numerous conferences as well as published several articles on this particular subject. She has worked globally with both public and private entities in most industries as well as organizations of all sizes. She regularly interacts with external audit firms as a liason on behalf of these organizations. Marchetti served as the Global Service Line Director – Governance and Risk Management Practice at Parson Consulting. As the Practice Director, she worked with numerous clients on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiatives and frequently collaborated as well as presented to the Board of Directors in regard to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Corporate Governance and Enterprise Risk Management. She has designed training programs for Board of Directors and Audit Committees as well as end users and consultants on various business software applications, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, ERM in addition to IFRS, and has conducted over 200 formal training seminars. Marchetti has also served as an assistant controller for a manufacturing company and has held positions in public accounting as well as provided expertise in consolidation and financial reporting with Hyperion Solutions. She has authored two books and is currently working on a third one.

Lawrence (Mac) A. McClelland, MBA, J.D., (K2 Enterprises) an attorney and accounting professional, is an associate of K2 Enterprises of Hammond, Louisiana and Network Management Group of Hutchinson, Kansas. He was formerly the Director of the Centre for Financial Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, where he lived and worked for seven years from 1990 to 1996. He was also a member of the faculty of the Advanced Business Programme, ranked in the top 100 MBA programs in the world by The Economist, specializing in business strategy and strategic management accounting. McClelland gained his practical experience in information systems with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and has an established practice in business and technology consulting. Services offered include technology assessments and plans, accounting software selection, advanced cost system analysis and design, LAN/WAN design and implementation, and customized business and technology training. He has taught hundreds of continuing professional education seminars to accountants and business managers in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Southeast Asia. His presentations are highly rated, and he has won several awards for teaching excellence. McClelland has been published in leading business and practitioner journals, including Tax Ideas, Computers in Accounting, Journal of Accounting Education, Chartered Accountants Journal of New Zealand and the top-rated Journal of Accounting Research.

Roger Nelson, CPA, (AICPA) started his own consulting firm, Roger Nelson & Associates, in 1987. The firm specializes in small business financial management. Formerly, Neslon was an Audit Partner with the CPA firm of Charles Bailly & Company in North Dakota and South Dakota and was a Senior Manager with a national CPA firm. He has had audit and tax experience in a wide variety of industries, including health care, manufacturing, retailing and real estate. In addition, he managed the Fargo, North Dakota office of Charles Bailly & Company and has been active in staff recruiting, counseling and education during his career in public accounting. Nelson is a member of the AICPA, the North Dakota Society of CPAs and several other organizations.

Jack Park, MBA, CPA, CSP, (Financial Insights) is a corporate advisor who is well-respected as a developer of financial and leadership enhancement programs. He reveals the common threads between championship football teams and peak performance organizations in his highly-rated presentation, The Leadership Secrets of Football’s Master Coaches. Park’s Certified Speaking Professional designation (CSP) has been granted to fewer than 7% of the 3,200 members of the National Speakers Association. Park is an award-winning national presenter. He has developed and presented CPE programs for 46 state CPA associations and societies across the country. His corporate clients include The Microsoft Corporation, BMW, Merrill Lynch, The Home Depot, Cardinal Health, General Mills, and Edward Jones. Park is also a football radio commentator each fall for The Ohio State Football Radio Network. He is the author of The Ohio State University Football Vault with Foreword by Head Coach Jim Tressel, and The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia with Introduction by two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and Foreword by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. Park is featured frequently in college football programming on ESPN, HBO, and The Big Ten Network. He received his M.B.A. from The University of Pittsburgh and his B.S. from The Ohio State University.

Ron Roberson, CPA, (Vern Hoven Tax Seminars) is a very popular speaker covering individual and business tax topics across the country. For several years, Roberson has taught thousands of tax professionals about the latest tax law changes, tax planning opportunities, and tax problem areas. His energetic, easy to understand and humorous presentation style has made him a crowd favorite. He began his accounting career in the early 1980s with the international accounting firm Deloitte Haskins and Sells. Since 1986, he has owned a CPA firm located in the rural California community of Twain Harte, near Yosemite National Park. Roberson is a very active CPA, and draws extensively from his practice to provide practical, real-world examples and solutions for seminar attendees, making complex tax topics easily understandable. He is also a prolific author. He has written and edited numerous tax training manuals for a national CPE provider. His articles focus on such hot topics as business entity selection, taxation of corporations, partnerships and LLCs, and individual income taxation. Roberson is also a regular guest on an internet radio broadcast dedication to issues of taxation.

Thomas M. Sheets, CPA, (AICPA) is a CPA with over 29 years experience in auditing and tax return preparation for businesses and individuals. He provides business valuations, consulting, accounting and tax services for a wide variety of individual clients and industries including banks, construction contractors, nursing homes, and non-profit organizations. Sheets was with a large, local CPA firm in Enid, Oklahoma for 15 years before establishing his own consulting, tax and accounting practice eleven years ago. He has written seminars on bank auditing, audits of construction contractors and information systems control and auditing. Sheets has lead seminars on various accounting, auditing and tax topics including real estate accounting, construction contractors, bank auditing, tax issues for nonprofit organizations, and nonprofit accounting and auditing.

John N. Sherrick, MA, CPA, (Surgent McCoy, CPE LLC) is a partner of Sitrick & Associates, LLC in Bettendorf, Iowa. John prepares tax returns and financial statements for closely held companies and their owners. He also provides a variety of income tax, retirement, and estate-tax planning services for his clients. John also serves as an expert witness for business valuations and other tax and accounting issues. Hehas over 35 years of experience in public accounting with local firms. His experience includes a wide variety of tax and accounting issues for small businesses in a number of industries. Sherrick also has had experience in auditing and taxation of not-for-profit organizations on the local and national level. Sherrick received his bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Knox College in Galesburg, IL. He then received his master’s degree in accounting from the University of Iowa, IA. John holds CPA certificates in both Iowa and Illinois and is a member of the AICPA, the Iowa Society of CPAs, and the Illinois CPA Society.

Peter J. Towle, CPA, J.D., LL.M., (AICPA) is a sole practitioner with a general civil practice that includes business and commercial litigation, taxation, family/domestic relations, probate and estate planning, personal injury, accountant’s malpractice and sports & entertainment representation. Prior to his successful law practice, Towle worked with a national accounting firm where he had substantial involvement in the development and teaching of various tax courses. He is a member of the bar association in both Tennessee and Florida. A CPA, Towle is an active member of the AICPA, the Tax Sections of the Tennessee and American Bar Associations and the Tennessee Society of CPAs. He is a registered investment advisor in the state of Tennessee.

Mark Vanden Berg, CFO, with Garverick CPE, has over 25 years of experience in the field of public accounting. After graduating from college, he accepted a staff accounting position with a local CPA firm where he was exposed to all areas of public accounting. Four years later, he accepted a position with a regional CPA firm in their tax division. Within two years, he was in charge of the tax division and was primarily responsible for over 500 tax clients. After three years, he established his own firm, Vanden Berge, Inc., in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and still operates that firm at the present time as the CEO and president. The firm assists their clients in all areas of taxation, business planning, and financial consulting. In addition to his work in public accounting, Vanden Berge is CEO and president of VBI Company, Inc., which is an independent commodity brokerage firm located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. VBI has nine branch offices serving clients in the Midwest. In addition to offering the typical retail brokerage services, VBI is very active in the managed futures industry, which is experiencing significant growth as a viable alternative investment to the typical equity and fixed income investment vehicles. Vanden Berge has passed the Series 7 Securities exam as well as holding the Series 3 license. He was also involved in taking a telephone company public and was involved in an IPO roll-up with several other companies in 2000. Additionally, he has had ownership interests in trucking and freight companies, retail sales businesses, and software companies. This broad background has provided Vanden Berge with a wide range of experiences in the areas of taxation, business, and finance. Vanden Berge is a graduate of Northwestern College.

Dana J. Weber, CPA, is the author and discussion leader for the Nebraska Society’s Audits of Nebraska School Districts CPE course and a sole practitioner in Scottsbluff. He is a graduate of the University of Denver and has over 30 years of public accounting experience. An active member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs, Weber is a past Chairman of the Nebraska Society’s State and Local Governmental Accounting and Auditing Committee. He is also a past president of the Nebraska Society’s West Nebraska Chapter.

Jeremy Wortman, Ph.D., (HRD Initiatives LLC) is in the field of Organizational Psychology and is the Director of Organizational Dev. for TD Ameritrade. He is also an adjunct Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an adjunct Professor and former Program Director at Bellevue University. Wortman holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His areas of research interest are in moral decision-making, leadership and employee engagement. He is also a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Academy of Management.

James E. Woy, CPA, is a discussion leader for Loscalzo Associates Ltd. and is also a Partner in the Butte office of Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., P.C. (AZ) with 29 years of public accounting in the employee benefit and government and not-for-profit fields. He is the past President of the Montana Society of CPAs. Woy also performs peer reviews throughout the country and is a instructor for the AICPA peer review program. He is a technical reviewer for the MSCPA Peer Review Committee and has served as a member of the AICPA’s Technical Issues Committee. He is an adjunct instructor of Auditing at Montana Tech of the University of Montana, and Board member of Granite Mt. Bank, Butte.

Benjamin Wright, Esq., (Gary Zeune & Associates) an attorney practicing from Dallas, TX, Wright advises financial institutions, government agencies, Fortune 500 corporations and start-up technology companies on the law of technology and records. In 2003, he advised the government of Sri Lanka on e-commerce, e-signatures and PKI law and policy. He has served as a consultant to a World Bank-sponsored project advising Indonesia on revision of its national laws to accommodate electronic commerce. In addition, he helped IBM as it built a root PKI certification authority for the Canadian Payments Association and PenOp, Inc., a biometric signature pioneer, in its development and marketing of e-signature technologies. On numerous occasions he has assisted the Mississippi Secretary of State with e-commerce law and regulation. Finally, in July 2000, the United States Patent Office issued patent number 6,091,835 on electronic signature technology. He has delivered over 500 speeches on electronic commerce and records since 1988 – including speeches in Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, France, UK, Malaysia, Colombia, Brazil, Taiwan, Switzerland and India – as well as authoring two books, The Law of Electronic Commerce and the newly released Business Law & Computer Security. Wright is continually in demand around the globe as a public speaker on cyber-attacks, record-keeping and destruction, Internet contracts, e-commerce privacy, digital signatures, public key infrastructure (PKI), and biometrics law. He has been quoted and published as an e-commerce and information security expert in hundreds of publications worldwide, from the Wall Street Journal to the Sydney Morning Herald.