40 Under 40 Honoree: Brian Fox, CPA, MBA – 33

Education – MBA, Vanderbilt; BBA Accounting, Southern
Methodist Univiversity’s Cox School of Business
Family – Wife Megan; children Hailey 7, Mathew 4, Rebecca
3.
Hobbies & Interests – Keeping up with his children
and their activities, scuba diving, outdoor activities.
Professional Affiliations – AICPA; Tennessee Society
of CPAs (Accounting & Auditing Conference Committee); reviewer of fraud
articles for the Tennessee Society of CPAs’ monthly periodical; Associate
Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

What peers, clients and friends say about Brian:
Brian is a creative, innovative individual who is making a significant contribution
to the practice of public accountancy by bringing the audit confirmation process
into the 21st century. Brian began working on a system to make the bank balance
confirmation process electronic while a student in one of his college classes
and has persisted in pursuing this dream through a firm he founded in 2001.
He teaches CPE classes on fraud and is often a guest lecturer at professional
conferences and business schools.

What technology or business process does Brian see affecting the tax
and accounting profession in the next five years?
“I believe that the accounting profession has only scratched the surface
when it comes to improving our workflow through the adoption of new technologies.
Over the next few years, we will see a dramatic increase in the use of automated
tax and accounting tools that will perform today’s routine procedures
for us and allow us as professionals to focus our efforts on identifying trends
that lead to new business opportunities and catch the anomalies that may indicate
an irregularity or fraud has occurred. Some of the technologies we will more
readily incorporate into our workflow will be tools that utilize XBRL, data
analysis and electronic audit confirmations. I also think we will see an international
alignment of our tax and accounting standards. We are beginning to see that
shift already, and I believe that trend will continue over the next five years
to where our U.S. standard setters focus on, participate in and adopt what comes
out of the International standard setting bodies. It is imperative that the
United States begin to play a bigger and more active role within the International
accounting community, and I think that will become a major focus for us in the
next five years.”