Professionals on the move is a collection of recent hiring, promotion, awards, and leadership changes from around the profession.
Bennett Thrasher Expands Mergers and Acquisitions Practice with New Tax Transaction Advisory Partner Matt Taylor
Bennett Thrasher, a nationally recognized full-service accounting and advisory firm, recently announced that Matt Taylor has joined the firm as a partner in its Atlanta office. Taylor will serve within the firm’s expanding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) practice, helping lead tax diligence and transaction structuring engagements for clients navigating complex deals.
Taylor’s arrival comes as Bennett Thrasher’s Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice continues to deliver exceptional growth amid a challenging M&A environment. Despite broader macroeconomic pressures and a slower overall deal market, the practice has consistently outperformed industry trends, advising clients nationwide on increasingly complex transactions and achieving strong, consistent results across the middle market.
Taylor has more than 20 years of public accounting experience, beginning his career in New York, and most recently serving as a managing director in the transaction tax practice at Ernst & Young. During his tenure, he held a range of roles, advising private equity firms and corporate clients on transactions spanning the middle market to multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. Earlier in his career, Taylor worked at KPMG and Arthur Andersen.
Taylor earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law and an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Accountancy in Auditing, both from the University of Alabama.
Brandon Boyle Joins CohnReznick as International Tax Partner
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Brandon Boyle has joined as an International Tax Partner in its San Francisco office. Boyle brings to the firm extensive experience in international taxation across the technology, life sciences, financial services, and digital asset sectors.
Boyle advises clients on a broad range of international tax matters, including cross-border restructuring, foreign tax credit planning, intellectual property strategy, Pillar Two readiness and global effective tax rate optimization. He advises companies in all stages of global expansion to deliver practical, actionable solutions that reduce risk, support execution, and create measurable value in complex, fast-moving environments. He has also worked extensively with clients and the IRS to navigate and resolve international tax-related controversy matters.
Prior to joining CohnReznick, Boyle was Principal and West Region International Tax Leader at a top 10 accounting firm. Previously, he held International Tax roles in both the practice and National Tax offices at another top 10 accounting firm. He earned an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law; a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law; and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kelly Benefits Names Katherine Vahdani Chief Technology Officer
Kelly Benefits recently announced the appointment of Katherine (Kate) Vahdani as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Vahdani brings more than 20 years of experience leading technology teams, guiding organizations through major transformation, and strengthening the systems and teams that support long-term growth. As the leader of Kelly Benefits’ 70-person technology team, Kate will continue the advancement of the company’s technology strategy and enhance solutions for clients, brokers and partners with a key focus on the company’s Total Benefits SolutionÒ technology (ktbsonline.com) as well as their other technology-driven services and solutions.
Vahdani joins Kelly Benefits with extensive experience leading cloud modernization, AI-enabled transformation, and enterprise technology initiatives. Her background includes senior leadership roles at Genpact, LTI Infotech, Slalom Consulting, and most recently AnswerRocket. Additionally, she has worked closely with organizations across the insurance, pharmaceutical, financial services and healthcare sectors — including several of the nation’s largest, publicly traded insurers and healthcare organizations — supporting initiatives such as building modern data foundations, transforming call-center operations, and deploying advanced AI solutions.
In her new role, Vahdani will also partner closely with Wes Mace, Chief Product Officer, and Rasoul Motavalli, Chief Information Security Officer, ensuring alignment across product, technology, and security. As CTO, Kate will oversee application development and infrastructure support to ensure that Kelly Benefits remains at the forefront of technological innovation.
While advancing the organization’s technology and AI strategy is a key priority, Kelly Benefits remains equally committed to the client relationships and service experience that have defined the company for 50 years. Founded in 1976, Kelly Benefits is a leading provider of benefits administration and technology, broker and consulting services, payroll solutions, retirement plan consulting, and comprehensive business tools and strategies.
Kahrs joins CohnReznick as Restructuring and Dispute Resolution Managing Director
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Hank Kahrs has joined the firm as a Managing Director in its Restructuring and Dispute Resolution practice. Based in Los Angeles, Kahrs brings deep expertise in quantifying economic damages in complex cases, helping clients accurately understand and pursue the value of contested assets and businesses.
In over 25 years as a forensic and fraud examiner quantifying economic damages, Kahrs has served as an expert in hundreds of commercial, civil, and criminal cases, testifying in trials, arbitrations, and depositions. In addition to spanning diverse industries – including entertainment, technology, and manufacturing – his experience covers a range of dispute types, such as fraud schemes; partnership and corporate dissolution; trademark and copyright infringements; contract and shareholder disputes; and personal injury and wrongful death.
Kahrs holds an M.B.A. in Finance from California State University – Fullerton and a Bachelor’s in Accounting from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Simon Dufour joins CohnReznick as assurance partner
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Simon Dufour has joined as an assurance partner in the firm’s Consumer and Industrial practice. Dufour has extensive audit and assurance experience covering a wide range of industries including apparel, cannabis, food and beverage, manufacturing and distribution, and restaurants.
Dufour will focus on expanding CohnReznick’s practice throughout Southern California and bolstering the firm’s capabilities serving businesses in the apparel sector. He brings to the role 25 years of experience, which includes conducting a range of compliance and other audits, overseeing accounting and operational projects, performing research on the accounting treatment of specific transactions, and benchmarking for both public and private companies.
Dufour joins CohnReznick from a Top 50, Orange County-based CPA firm where he served as Manufacturing and Distribution Practice Leader. He began his career at a Big Four firm in Los Angeles and worked at a Top 10 firm based in Orange County. He earned a B.S., Accounting degree from California State University – Long Beach, College of Business.
Norm Law Expands Investment Funds Platform with Formation and Tax Additions
Norm Law, LLP (“Norm Law”), an AI-native law firm built for global institutional clients, recently announced the addition of Nir Fishbien as Tax Counsel and Brian Bowman as Counsel in its Investment Funds practice, expanding the firm’s capabilities across fund formation and structuring.
These appointments mark a continued buildout of Norm Law’s investment funds platform, bringing together regulatory, tax, and transactional expertise to support asset managers and institutional investors across the full fund lifecycle.
Nir Fishbien joins Norm Law as Tax Counsel, bringing more than a decade of experience in transactional and international tax. His practice focuses on advising private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds, multinational companies, and high-net-worth individuals on M&A, investment structuring, financing, and cross-border matters.
Fishbien previously was associated with Sullivan & Cromwell, White & Case, and Caplin & Drysdale, where he worked on complex public and private transactions, capital markets matters, and cross-border financings. Most recently he founded NFTAX LLC, where he advised startups and growth-stage companies on federal tax matters.
Brian Bowman joins Norm Law as Counsel in the Investment Funds practice. He advises investment advisers and financial institutions on the formation, offering, and operation of private investment funds, including private equity, hedge, and venture capital funds, as well as funds-of-funds and single-investor vehicles.
Bowman also represents institutional investors in structuring fund investments and secondary transactions, including LP-led portfolio transactions on both the buy-side and sell-side. His experience includes managing large-scale diligence processes for liquidity transactions and advising on collateralized fund obligations, as well as regulatory, compliance, and M&A matters affecting investment advisers. He previously served as a Senior Managing Associate at Sidley Austin LLP.
Brett Long joins CohnReznick as Assurance Partner
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Brett Long has joined as an assurance partner in the firm’s Commercial Real Estate industry practice. A CPA, Long has 20 years of experience serving real estate funds, asset management companies, and clients throughout the broader commercial real estate industry.
Long’s expertise extends to numerous alternative investment businesses involving fair value accounting. These include private equity, fund of funds, and investment advisors. He has conducted multi-national integrated audits for Fortune 500 commercial real estate entities and public real estate investment trusts. His experience includes overseeing engagements involving foreign jurisdictions including audits of financial statements in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards. He is well-versed in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); and Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting (ICOFR).
Long joins CohnReznick after 20 years with a Big Four firm. He earned Masters in Accounting and B.S., Accounting degrees from Southern Methodist University.
Third Road Management Announces Colleen Sullivan as Director of Accounting Services
Third Road Management, a leading fractional CFO and financial services firm supporting small to midsized companies, recently announced Colleen Sullivan as Director of Accounting Services. Colleen Sullivan, CPA is a strategic and hands-on accounting executive with over 18 years of progressive leadership experience across public companies, high-growth startups, and Fortune 500 environments. Most recently, she served as Senior Director of Corporate Accounting at Upwork, following leadership roles including VP of Finance and Controller at The Mom Project and Director of Accounting at Echo Global Logistics.
Colleen is known for driving operational excellence, leading complex audits and system implementations, and delivering accurate, insightful financial reporting. She brings deep expertise in technical accounting, SEC reporting, and financial transformation initiatives. Colleen has proven ability to lead high-performing teams and navigate organizations through growth, change, and complexity.
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