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Accounting

AICPA Recognizes Outstanding Young CPAs with ‘Standing Ovation’ Honors

The AICPA has honored eleven young CPAs for contributions to their specialty area with the fifth annual Standing Ovation award. The recipients, all talented CPAs age 40 and under, were acknowledged during ENGAGE 2020.

The American Institute of CPAs has honored eleven young CPAs for contributions to their specialty area with the fifth annual Standing Ovation award. The recipients, all talented CPAs age 40 and under, were acknowledged during ENGAGE 2020.

“Financial planning and technology advisory services are two areas where CPAs are extremely well suited to add value to clients and businesses. To continue to meet these needs, it’s important that we have a pipeline of talented, young CPAs moving up in these areas,” said Jeannette Koger, CPA, CGMA, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants VP of Advisory Services & Credentialing. “The recipients of this year’s Standing Ovation honors have had an impressive impact on both the profession and their communities at a young age.”

The AICPA’s Standing Ovation program recognizes young CPAs who exhibit exemplary professional achievement in personal financial planning, business valuation and forensic accounting, and information management and technology assurance. Beyond making a notable contribution to the profession, nomination requirements include maintaining an active CPA license, being an AICPA member in good standing and holding either the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), or Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential. Nominees must also be 40 years old or younger.

Personal Financial Planning Standing Ovation Honors

The five recipients of the Personal Financial Planning (PFP) Standing Ovation all hold the PFS credential. They are noted on the PFP Section website and acknowledged during the AICPA’s Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference at ENGAGE 2020.

Examples of the contributions this group of CPAs has made to the profession include bringing their firms into the future by developing services for previously overlooked individuals and businesses, volunteering their financial planning services both nationally and in their local communities, helping to develop a curriculum for a degree path in financial planning, fundraising for charity, and mentoring fellow CPAs and young accounting students.

The 2020 PFP Standing Ovation recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

  • Nathan Byers, CPA/PFS, Madison, WI
  • Drew Digby, CPA/PFS, Brentwood, TN
  • Conner Kolodge, CPA/PFS, St Louis Park, MN
  • Shane Mason, CPA/PFS, Brooklyn, NY
  • Joshua Morris, CPA/PFS, Plano, TX

Information Management and Technology Assurance Standing Ovation Honors

Six CPAs who hold the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) specialty credential have been recognized for their contributions in the area of information management and technology assurance. They were announced at the Practitioners and TECH+ conference at ENGAGE. They will also be recognized on the AICPA Technology Resource Center website.

This year’s recipients were recognized for their work helping fellow CPAs embrace technology, their efforts to ensure that their firms stay abreast of the latest changes in accounting and technology, and for founding a nonprofit whose mission is to introduce underprivileged youth to the fields of accounting and technology, among other accomplishments.

The 2020 IMTA Standing Ovation recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

  • Phyllis Amdur, CPA/CITP, Arlington, VA
  • Marisa Doras Bayoro, CPA/CITP, Dacula, GA
  • Julien Marais, CPA/CITP, Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec
  • Dean Papadopoulos, CPA/CITP, Forest Hills, NY
  • Jon Powell, CPA/CITP, Atlanta, GA
  • Kevin Wang, CPA/CITP, Birmingham, AL