000000_VTAcctg_Roan_Proof

BIOs OF SPEAKERS FOR ROANOKE CONFERENCE

Arthur (Art) Auerbach , CPA, CGMA is an independent tax consultant located in Atlanta, GA., specializing in tax consulting and estate and financial planning for individuals and closely held businesses. He is affiliated with the Asbury Law Firm as a consultant. He is a member of the Georgia, Virginia, New York and Greater Washington CPA societies. Art was appointed to the AICPA Tax Executive Committee for a term beginning February 1, 2018 ending May 31, 2019. As an active member of the Georgia Society he serves on the Georgia Department of Revenue Commissioners Advisory Group, the Financial Literacy Task Force and Chairs the GSCPA Federal State Tax Task Force. He has served as an advisor to the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue and the Tax Commissioners Advisory group in Virginia. Art is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Accountancy and serves as a member of the Ethics Committee of the Virginia Society of CPA’s. Art is a nationally recognized speaker on a variety of tax topics offered for continuing education for CPA’s and financial planners. He has authored several publications and articles. Art is licensed in Georgia, Virginia, District of Columbia and New York and is a life member of the American Institute of CPA’s. He can be reached at Arthur.Auerbach@cpa. com. Tracy M. Bedgood , CPA, As an audit manager, is responsible for all aspects of the audit process. She maintains an active presence throughout the planning, performing, supervising and reporting stages of the engagement, as well as provides direct communication and value-added services to clients. Tracy serves clients across a wide range of industry groups, specializing in attestation services for the government sector. Attestation services she provides include financial and performance audits, agreed-upon procedures, single audits and compliance audits. With over 13 years of audit experience, Tracy has also guided state and local government entities with financial statement and compliance audits in accordance with both GAAS and Government Auditing Standards, the Single Audit, and the Auditor of Public Accounts’ Specifications for Audits of Counties, Cities and Towns, and Specifications for Audits of Authorities, Boards and C ommissions. Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Tracy practiced public accounting in Georgia for nearly 10 years. James (Jim) W. Brackens Jr. , CPA, CGMA, is vice president of ethics and practice quality at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). His responsibilities include providing strategic and tactical direction for peer review, professional ethics, the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center and the Governmental Audit Quality Center. Prior to joining the AICPA in 2006, Jim was associated with both international and local public accounting firms including managing his own practice for 17 years in which he served primarily closely held businesses and nonprofit organizations. He also served as a peer reviewer and performed more than 300 peer reviews of local accounting firms. Jim is a member of the AICPA, the North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCACPA) and the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) and has served in various volunteer leadership positions for both the AICPA and VSCPA including chairing the VSCPA’s Peer Review Committee, ser ving as vice chair and member of the VSCPA’s Board of Directors and as a member of the AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee. Through a joint effort of the VSCPA and Virginia Business magazine, Jim was voted by his peers as being one of the top CPAs in Virginia in small business consulting (2001 through 2004) and assurance services (2004 and 2005). In 2004, he was the initial author and primary presenter of the VSCPA’s CPE course "Ethics 2004 — Your License Depends on It!" and continued in this capacity until joining the AICPA. Jim received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Virginia Tech in 1977. Michael (Mike) K. Cheng joined the staff of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 2012 as a project manager. He serves as the Private Company Council (PCC) coordinator where he is responsible for all PCC related matte rs. He also lead the board’s private company decision making framework project focused on determining whether and in what circumstances it is appropriate to adjust financial reporting requirements for private companies following U.S. GAAP. In addition, he served on the FASB project teams working on policies and procedures for consolidations. Burman S. Clark is President of Muneris. He has 25 years of experience in the insurance and employee benefits industry. Clark’s strong benefits background encompasses life, health, disability and retirement benefits with specific emphasis on Health Care Reform. He specializes in providing cost-effective solutions to small and mid-size employers. Clark, a Randolph-Macon graduate, earned designation as a Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) from the American College and his Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) designation in 2007. Alicia P. Cohen is the director of diversity programs in the office for inclusion and diversity at Virginia Tech. In this role she provides leadership for diversity education and has facilitated workshops on: Communicating Respectfully; Disability and Diversity; Diversity, Sports and Culture; Facilitating Conversations; Neurodiversity; Creating Inclusive Workplaces; Social Identity; and Women in Higher Education. Alicia began her career at Virginia Tech in 1989 as the coordinator of student organizations. After working 10 years in student activities she moved to multicultural affairs as assistant to the vice president. She served in multiple capacities in a number of university offices focusing on issues of diversity and inclusion. She is a trained facilitator for NetSpeed Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, $tart$mart, Mentors in Violence Prevention, and Intergroup Dialogues. She earned her B.S. in Science and Technology Studies from Lyman Briggs School at Michigan State University and her M.A. in College and University Administration with a Health Promotion Cognate from Michigan State University. Jim Cole , CPA, CGMA, is the CEO for the Masonic Home of Virginia, a Richmond-based continuing care retirement community. Formerly controller of the Virginia Tech Foundation, he held several administrative positions at Virginia Tech following his tenure with an international accounting firm. His 35 years of experience with nonprofits and businesses includes roles as auditor, founder, officer and director of numerous organizations. He has been a licensed life insurance agent and holds two degrees from Virginia Tech. Jim is a former Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) Board member and formerly chaired the VSCPA Business and Industry Conference Task Force. He has been a co-author of the 2014 – 2017 Ethics courses and an ethics instructor for 14 years.