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Technology

Presenting the 2007 ’40 Under 40′

As the accounting profession ages, the gap in experience that resulted from increased education requirements in the early 1990s is growing more and more obvious.

From the September 2007 Issue

As the accounting profession ages, the gap in experience that resulted from increased education requirements in the early 1990s is growing more and more obvious. In addition to staffing challenges, the profession needs to
identify a new core of leaders to help guide the profession through the technological changes it will face in the coming years.

According to the AICPA, “nearly 75 percent of current AICPA members will reach or approach retirement age in the next 15 years.” This means that accounting firms, already experiencing up to 20 percent attrition in their professional workforce, will have to focus even more on attracting and retaining qualified staff.

Fortunately, college students are returning to the accounting profession in greater numbers, and a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers states that accounting has become the number one major on college
campuses nationally. Post-graduate numbers are also rising fast, with an increase in accounting Masters’ degrees rising by 30 percent through 2005. Some of the credit for these gains among college students can be attributed to the AICPA’s Young Professionals Program and the “Start Here, Go Places” campaign, the latter of which advises young students on the benefits of becoming a CPA.

So the good news is that a flood of new professionals will soon quench
the drought, but who will be there to channel the waters? Who will be the mentors of these newly accredited tax and accounting professionals? Who will be the leaders of the not so distant tomorrow?

The CPA Technology Advisor’s 40 Under 40 program recognizes those
professionals who entered the profession during those lean years and have grown into established leadership roles within the professional community through dedication to client service, strong ethical conviction, education of their peers and adoption of technological resources that aid in client service and practice development. These leaders, who are under 40 years old and young by comparison with the majority of the profession, are therefore the ambassadors of public accounting, and they will assume the reins from the old guard and provide new professionals with the challenges and opportunities to become future leaders themselves.

All of the 40 Under 40 Honorees were nominated by their peers or others working in and around the accounting profession.


Liz
Alexander, CPA —
Owner, Elizabeth Alexander CPA, Arlington, TX

Liz is so special because she goes above and beyond and her expertise in QuickBooks has made the daunting chore of taxes not only easy, but fun.

Will
Breiholz, 37
General Manager, BQE Software, Torrance, CA

Will is a great leader in his profession. He understands technology, markets and people. He always finds ways to improve his product and company by working relationships and enhancing his products.

Kyle
Brownlee, CSA, RSC — 33
CEO, Wymer Brownlee Tax & Financial Management, Enid, OK

It’s all about the “WOW!” experience that Kyle and his firm provide their clients. His initial vision to add investments and some insurance services to what had previously been mainly a tax and write-up firm provided an opportunity for clients to receive comprehensive financial service under one roof.

Robert
J. Chandler — 36
Founder, President & CEO, ManageComm, Inc., El Cajon, CA

ManageComm was one of the first U.S. bookkeeping firms to train and utilize an offshore back office of bookkeepers to provide support data-entry work to assist U.S. bookkeeping staff in doing client bookkeeping work on a timely basis.

Pedro
de Armas, CPA — 37
Partner, Verdeja & De Armas, LLP, Coral Gables, FL

Pedro became a named partner of Verdeja & De Armas, LLP at only 32 years old. His firm has become one of the largest local firms in South Florida.

Chris
Fraser, CPA.CITP, MBA, MCP, CISA — 38
Senior Manager, Sunera Business Consultants, Tampa, FL

Chris has a unique ability to lead among extremely driven professionals in that he maintains respect and genuine concern for all of his coworkers and peers, and always takes the time to listen to their needs.

Tracy
Gaspardo Mortenson, JD — 36
Executive Editor, CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, Riverwoods, IL

Tracy’s previous experience as both a tax attorney and senior tax consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers provide her with the perfect insight into customer’s needs because she was one.

William
(Bill) Gerber, 36
Managing Director of Sales & Marketing, OutSource It Business Services, LLC, Pompton Plains, NJ

Bill has outstanding foresight in the new age of accounting. He is a leader when it comes to creating a work environment unmatched in other companies. In return, clients get the best possible service and attention from “happy” employees.

Rebecca
Gill — 36
VP, Technology Group International, Detroit, MI

Rebecca is an intensely motivated professional who cares deeply about the needs of others, both in professional settings and through her personal community involvement.

Sasan
Goodarzi — 39
Vice President & General Manager, Professional Tax Business, Intuit, Inc., Plano, TX

As Intuit’s vice president and general manager of the professional
tax products group, Sasan is responsible for helping define and develop
the next generation of professional tax preparation software and services
for accountants.

Joe
Harpaz — 34
VP, Office of the President, Thomson Tax & Accounting, New York, NY

With extensive business and leadership experience — from technology architecture and development to business development, sales and marketing — Joe is extremely well-rounded. He is both a jack of all trades and a master of all trades.

Andrew
Hatfield — 32
Chief Strategic Officer, Acct1st Technology Group, LLC, Dallas, TX

Andrew understands process development within firms to achieve document management, workflow, scanning, data migration and client communication initiatives. He has developed unique concepts to standardize and simplify processes within accounting firms.

Trey
James — 36
President & CEO, Xcentric, LLC, Alpharetta, GA

Trey is leading the profession into the world of ASP hosted applications. The Gray Matter product that he created inside Xcentric is the only one that I know of that allows a practice to host all of their applications in one place and to obtain all the benefits of a hosted solution.

Glen
Keenan, CPA — 36
President, Xpitax LLC & XCM Solutions, LLC, Braintree, MA

Glen has been instrumental in educating the accounting industry on the advantages of properly executed outsourcing, developing many of the standards and controls used in outsourcing for accounting today.

Adam
Kupperman — 32
Senior Director, Enterprise Sales, Thomson Tax & Accounting, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Adam Kupperman has forged an impressive path within the tax and accounting
profession. Having worked as a consultant for the GoFileRoom product,
served as Vice President of Immediatech, and now as the Senior Director
of Enterprise Sales for the GoFileRoom system, he has accumulated years
of development, sales and marketing experience…

Jason
Lawhorn, CPA — 32
Operations Principal, Lawhorn & Associates, PLLC, Knoxville, TN

Jason has been integral in his firm’s success, with a vision for growth
that centers on technology. Lawhorn & Associates is a family owned business,
and Jason has helped the firm significantly expand client services and
elevate efficiency to unprecedented levels via online, integrated processes.

Nancy
Lee, MBC, BBA — 36
ProAdvisor Program Manager, Intuit, Inc., Mountain Valley, CA

Nancy is an exceptionally bright and capable young leader who continually strives to understand the needs of accounting professionals so that she and Intuit can provide better solutions.

Bob
Lewis, CPA.CITP — 37
Senior Marketing Manager, Microsoft Business
Division, Redmond, WA

Bob Lewis is responsible for Microsoft’s engagement strategy with the accounting community and helping accounting professionals work with Microsoft.

Teresa
Mackintosh, CPA.CITP — 34
VP Strategic Marketing, Thomson Tax & Accounting, Dexter, MI

Teresa is a stellar example of professional leadership and someone dedicated to continually educating the profession on advanced technologies and best practices.

Paul
J. Mamo — 39
Executive Director, Development Services
– Electronic Tax Admin., IRS, Oak Hill, VA

Paul is a young and vital leader in public technology and policy development at the IRS. He was one of the architects of the Free File Alliance that is now recognized by the President as being a model public-private partnership.

Angie
Martin, MPA — 35
Director of Education, Lane Gorman Trubitt, LLP, Dallas, TX

As the Director of Education at Lane Gorman Trubitt, L.L.P., Angie leads the learning initiatives that keep the staff prepared for new technology, technical issues and professional development needs.

Betsy
Matthews, CPA — 25
Accounting & Audit Supervisor, Steinberg Advisors, Northbrook, IL

Betsy is committed to giving back to young people. She is involved with the alumni groups through her alma mater, DePaul University, and visits campus to speak with students about her experiences. Betsy is also a member of the Illinois CPA Society’s Young Professionals Group.

Ryan
McCowan, CPA.CITP — 35
Partner, Greene & McCowan, CPAs, London, KY

Ryan continues to emerge as a leader in the tax and accounting profession, consistently improving his firm’s workflow processes by implementing smart technology, including integrated software solutions and web-based services.

Marty
McCutchen, CPA — 35
President & CEO, CPA Service Group, LLC, Ft. Worth, TX

Marty has developed a product that will change the face of accounting. His product takes the voluminous accounting standards and simplifies them into a checklist that when completed populates a company’s financial statements .

Rhett
Moliotor, CPA, MCSE, CDIA+ — 34
Sr. Manager, Training & Consulting, CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, Riverwoods, IL

Rhett has built a dynamic team of consultants on the most critical, cutting-edge applications on the market today.

Timothy
Nolan, CPA — 34
President, Nolan Accounting Center, Greenfield, WI

Tim Nolan grew up surrounded by the busy activity of his family’s flourishing accounting practice. He is now VP of Nolan Accounting Center and manages the 15 to 20 employees for this company, also taking care of the technology issues, preparing tax returns and working with 40 to 45 business clients.

Kevin
O’Connell, CPA — 39
Managing Partner, Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP, Walnut Creek, CA

Kevin is an entrepreneurial go-getter, a thought leader in his field, and his leadership style is creative and proactive.

Sonya
O’Connor, EA — 31
Partner, Applied Financial Planning, Inc., Laguna Hills, CA

Sonya is an amazing woman who is striving to achieve new and innovative technological impacts into her profession. She has a wealth of knowledge and enjoys teaching others.

Scott
Ogle — 32
Chief Operating Officer, Sageworks, Inc. – the makers of ProfitCents, Raleigh, NC

Scott continues to exemplify above-and-beyond dedication to customers. He is a tremendous professional who also has a true passion for helping others, which shines through his actions on a daily basis.

Scott
G. Price, CPA.CITP, CIA, CISA — 31
President, SAS 70 Solutions, Tampa, FL

Scott is very involved with Junior Achievement and the FICPA. He is a bright, hardworking professional with excellent client relationship skills.

Chad
Schornack, ACH — 37
CIO, InterceptEFT, Fargo, ND

Chad’s company, InterceptEFT, partners with many tax and payroll software vendors to offer electronic transaction processing to practicing accountants around the country.

Mark
Severance, MBA — 32
Director of Sales & Marketing, Arxis Technology Inc., Simi Valley, CA

Mark is a true leader, not only within Arxis Technology, Inc., but within the accounting software VAR community.

Donny
C. Shimamoto, CPA.CITP — 31
Managing Director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, Honolulu, HI

Donny Shimamoto is a valued member of the AICPA’s Information Technology Executive Committee. He has added a strategic, consultative and younger professional’s viewpoint to our committee’s strategic planning process, which has proven invaluable.

Ian
Shuman, CPA — 37
Director & Shareholder, Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, Bethesda, MD

Ian has more than 10 years of public accounting experience providing auditing, consulting and general accounting services to all types of entities. As a Director in the Client Services staff, he oversees the full range of outsourced accounting services, both on and off-site, to businesses of all types at various stages of development.

Brian
Steinert — 33
Product Manager — CCH, a Wolters
Kluwer business, McPherson, KS

Brian brings strong practitioner experience and an intent focus on professionals’ needs to his role at CCH.

Denise
Stubbs, CPA, MBA — 31
Manager, Litigation Support Dept., Morrison Brown Argiz & Farra, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Denise is an outstanding young person in our profession. She has been involved in the FICPA for a number of years, speaking to college and high school students about the benefits of being a CPA.

Timur
Taluy — 31
VP, FileYourTaxes.com, Oxnard, CA

Timur is one of the leading technologists within the tax software community. The larger tax software companies, such as HR Block and Intuit deeply respect Timur’s opinion, vision and direction.

Brian
Tankersley, CPA.CITP — 38
Principal, Brian F. Tankersley CPA, Knoxville, TN

He is sincerely concerned for the profession and has experience in both public practice as well as industry./dd>

Joel
Thomsen, CPA, CFE, AIE, ARA, AIRC — 39
Audit Partner, Eide Bailly LLP, Fargo, ND

Joel came to Eide Bailly with an idea to help the firm grow its insurance practice. In only four years, he has taken the firm from virtually an unknown accounting firm in the insurance industry to the seventh largest firm in terms of premiums audited.

Dave
Wyle, CPA.CITP — 35
President & CEO, SurePrep, LLC, Newport Beach, CA

Dave is a true visionary and technology leader in the accounting industry. In the past 10 years, he has led the paperless revolution by developing a paperless Audit tool (ePace!) now called ProSystem fx Engagement, developing a paperless workflow tool for 1040 tax preparation (SurePrep Express) and developing the first OCR application that will read the data from source documents directly into tax software (1040Scan).