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A supplement to Accounting Today: Top 100 PeopleAlternate career: A grain farmer, raising cattleWayne BersonCEO, BDO USA, LLPSince taking the helm seven yearsago, Berson’s goal has been to turnBDO into a “21st century powerhouse,” and hecontinues to do just that, through ambitiousinvestments in M&A, technology, upskilling thefirm’s workforce, and more.Born: Cape Town, South Africa, 1961College: University of Cape Town (bachelor’s);University of South Africa (graduate)First full-time job: Audit staff; Mazars (CapeTown, South Africa)Favorite book: “Team of Rivals: The PoliticalGenius of Abraham Lincoln”Alternate career: PilotChandra and SharadaBhansaliCo-founders, AccountantsWorldThere aren’t many double acts in accounting,but it’s hard to ignore the impact the Bhansalishave made together, building a company thatpioneered the use of the cloud to benefitaccountants in firms of all sizes, and is nowworking to make them ever-more valuable totheir clients.Chandra BhansaliBorn: Jodhpur, India, 1947College: University of BuffaloFirst full-time job: Engineer, PerkinElmerFavorite book: John Deorr’s “Measure WhatMatters”Alternate career: ResearchSharada BhansaliBorn: Jodhpur, India, 1951College: University of BuffaloFirst full-time job: Co-founder,Microvision SoftwareAlternate career: MathematicianKen BishopPresident and CEO, NASBABishop always keeps a weather eyeout for major issues that will affectboth public accounting and the public at large,and the one he’s most concerned about now isthe growing national movement to deregulateaccounting and loosen or eliminate the licensingrequirements that underpin the profession.Born: Mexico, Missouri, 1951College: University of Missouri (BA education,MS criminal justice); Harvard University(Executive management)First full-time job: Clerk, KrogerFavorite book: “The Great Bridge”Alternate career: LawL. Gary BoomerVisionary & strategist, BoomerConsulting Inc.Everything you need to know aboutBoomer is right there in the first word of his title:visionary. He grasped the central role oftechnology in accounting practices long beforemost of the rest of us, and has been workingaccountingtoday.comtirelessly ever since to prepare anyone whowould listen.Born: Portis, Kansas, 1945College: Kansas State University (BS, MAcc)First full-time job: Staff accountant, PeatMarwick MitchellFavorite book: “How We Got to Now: SixInnovations That Made the Modern World”Jim BoomerCEO, Boomer Consulting Inc.Boomer has engineered his consulting firm’s transformation from asingle face and a single focus on technology’srole in the future of accounting, to a powerhouse stable of advisors and experts who helpcountless accountants build their own future inmultiple ways.Born: Manhattan, Kansas, 1976College: Kansas State University (BS accounting/MIS): University of Texas at Austin (MBAmarketing/entrepreneurship)First full-time job: Senior consultant, ArthurAndersen Business ConsultingFavorite book: ”Crucial Conversations: Tools forTalking When Stakes Are High”Alternate career: High tech or medicineJim BourkeManaging director, advisoryservices, WithumSmith BrownThrough his work at Withum, Bourkehas proven that accounting firms can thrive bywholehearted embracing technology andintegrating it into their practices — and throughhis generosity and willingness to shareeverything he knows with his fellow accountantsacross the country and around the world, he ischarging them to follow his example.Born: Jersey City, N.J., 1964College: Kean UniversityFirst full-time job: Staff level I,WithumSmith BrownFavorite book: “Good to Great”Dawn BrolinExecutive vice president ofbusiness development andcompliance, Powerful Accountingpowered by Out of the Box TechnologyTo her longstanding advocacy for technology inthe practice of accounting, Brolin has added apassion for the role of the trusted advisor inpreventing and detecting fraud, whether digitalor analog — and the profession’s responsibilityto do more to keep their clients safe.Born: Manchester, Connecticut, 1970College: Eastern Connecticut State University(bachelor’s and master’s)First full-time job: Staff accountant, Champagne ChevroletFavorite book: The Association of CertifiedFraud Examiner’s “Report to the Nations”Alternate career: FBI, CIA, IRS CriminalInvestigation or something similarDavid CieslakExecutive vice president and chiefcloud officer, RKL eSolutionsThe title above is Cieslak’s day job — he’sperhaps better known to thousands uponthousands of accountants both as “InspectorGadget” and as a passionate advocate for thetransformative power of leveraging technologyin every aspect of their lives.Born: Binghamton, N.Y., 1959College: UCLAFirst full-time job: Staff accountant, PriceWaterhouseFavorite book: “The 7 Habits of Highly EffectivePeople”Alternate career: Professional musician(drummer)Jay ClaytonChairman, SECAlmost by definition, the chair of theSecurities and Exchange Commissionwill wield tremendous influence in accounting,but Clayton has made his own mark by workingto streamline and simplify reporting anddisclosure requirements — and by reshaping thePublic Company Accounting Oversight Boardwith an entirely new roster.Born: Newport News, Virginia, 1966College: University of Pennsylvania (BSE);University of Cambridge (BA MA); University ofPennsylvania Law School (JD)First full-time job: Law clerk, the Eastern Districtof PennsylvaniaLauren ClemmerExecutive director, Association forAccounting MarketingAs leader of one of the moreenergetic associations in accounting, Clemmercaptures the attention of not only AAM’s activemembership of more than 800 marketingprofessionals, but the rest of the profession andits leaders, who have come to realize how vitalthis work is to the success of their practices.Born: York, Pennsylvania, 1956College: Dickinson CollegeFirst full-time job: Programmer analyst,Healthcom Inc.Favorite book: “Good to Great”Alternate career: CounselingSue CoffeyExecutive vice president of publicpractice, AICPALong a major figure at the institute,Coffey has an even higher profile of late, as shehelps lead one of its most ambitious andfarthest-reaching initiatives ever: the creation ofthe Dynamic Audit Solution, and its concomitantreimagining of this core service.College: Fairfield UniversityFirst full-time job: Audit and accounting,PricewaterhouseCoopersGale CrosleyPresident, Crosley Co.The old models — of growth,profitability, client service and more— are quickly slipping away; fortunately, Crosleyhas their replacements all ready to go, leadingaccounting firms along new paths to successwith cutting-edge advice on what it will take tothrive in the years ahead.Born: Cleveland, 1951College: University of AkronFirst full-time job: Staff auditor, Arthur AndersenFavorite book: “Atlas Shrugged”Alternate career: Landscaping or forestryKevin DanceyCEO, International Federation ofAccountantsDancey is relatively new to IFAC — hetook over the group in January of this year— but he’s no stranger to accounting, havingrun CPA Canada and a predecessor group for adecade. That experience, along with his tenuresin practice and government, will stand him ingood stead as he looks to speak out as “theglobal voice of the profession.”Born: Oshawa, Ontario, 1950College: McMaster UniversityFirst full-time job: Research associate, Economics Department, McMaster UniversityFavorite book: “Pillars of the Earth”Alternate career: AcademiaSarah DobekPresident and founder, InovautusConsultingDobek is in a couple of uniquepositions that amplify her influence: As asought-after consultant and as president of aninternationally affiliated association, CPAsNet,she has tremendous visibility into the dailychallenges faced by firms, and an opportunity tobring her deep expertise to bear to help themovercome those challenges.Born: Dallas, 1981College: Purdue UniversityFirst full-time job: Marketing coordinator, JohnR. Waters & Co.Favorite book: “Never Eat Alone”Alternate career: Teaching at the collegiatelevelBob DohrerChief auditor, AICPAEven as the institute moves to buildthe audit technology of tomorrow,Dohrer is working to make sure that auditingand accounting standards keep up with therapid pace of technological change — andmake the most of it.Born: Milbank, S.D., 1960College: Black Hills State University (BSaccounting); University of South Dakota (MPA)First full-time job: Entry level, RSM/McGladreyFavorite books: The Jack Reacher seriesAlternate career: Fighter pilotLynne DoughtieChairman and CEO, KPMGDoughtie has focused her Big Fourfirm on technology and innovationsince she became CEO in 2015, and one majorresult of that will come to fruition in January of2020: the opening of KPMG Lakehouse, a55-acre learning, development and innovationfacility in Florida that will host as many as 800December 2019 accounting today 15

A supplement to Accounting Today: Top 100 Peopleprofessionals a week and is expected to offermore than 1 million hours of in-person professional development within a year.Born: Richmond, Virginia, 1962College: Virginia TechFirst full-time job: Assistant accountant, KPMGWilliam DuhnkeChair, PCAOBDuhnke’s first year on the job was oneof transition, reorganization andrebuilding, as he built a new board, aimed to filla number of major positions, and evaluated thePCAOB’s technology, inspection processes andmore. Now he’s poised to move the overseerforward, which is crucial as the auditingprofession itself is moving forward on a numberof fronts.Born: Wisconsin, 1963College: University of Wisconsin at Madison(BA); Catholic University Columbus School ofLaw (JD)First full-time job: U.S. NavyKimberly Ellison-TaylorExecutive director – financethought leadership, Oracle, CloudBusiness GroupAccounting can have few greater or moreinfectiously enthusiastic public faces thanEllison-Taylor, who promotes the field tostudents from elementary school to college —and then turns to those who’ve already joinedthe profession to urge them to transformthemselves and their organizations.Born: Baltimore, 1970College: University of Maryland Baltimore County (IS management); Loyola University (MBAdecision science); Community College ofBaltimore County (public accounting certificate);Carnegie Mellon University (MS IT)First full-time job: Computer specialist, NASAGoddard Space Flight CenterFavorite books: The Harry Potter series;“Outliers” and “The Tipping Point”Alternate career: WritingNeil FishmanPresident, National Conference ofCPA PractitionersFishman is the public face ofNCCPAP, which is laser-focused on the needs ofsole practitioners and small firms, giving them avoice in Washington — where the group meetsregularly with the IRS, regulators and legislators— and a forum to seek advice on all the issuesthat plague practitioners, from staffing andsuccession planning, to technology and security.Born: Bronx, N.Y., 1961College: State University of New York, College atOneontaFirst full-time job: Staff accountant, Metz &FishmanFavorite books: Shakespeare’s complete worksAlternate career: ActingLee FrederiksenWidely readManaging partner, HingePicking a single favorite book wastorture for some of the T100, so weended up with more than 100 choices.What stands out was the sheerdiversity of their reading: Out of 27fiction and 68 non-fiction titles named,only seven authors were named morethan once, and only five books were aswell. (Dickens fans, for instance, weresplit between “A Tale of Two Cities” and“Great Expectations.”) The standoutread: Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.”There’s an old joke that only half ofadvertising works, but no one knowswhich half. Well, that no longer holds, at leastwhen it comes to marketing accounting firms:Frederiksen’s exhaustive and ongoing researchinto how high-growth firms brand, present andotherwise promote themselves — and hiswillingness to share that data and his expertiseextensively with the profession — is rapidlyreshaping how firms hold themselves out to theworld.Born: Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, 1949College: Augustana College (BA psychology);Ohio University (Ph.D psychology)First full-time job: Houseparent in a home forautistic children, Southeast Regional MentalHealth CenterFavorite book: “Factfulness”Alternate career: Racecar driver or movieproducerHector Garcia2ndJohnSteinbeck2Ayn Ra2Steven CoveyJohnGrishamGoodwinKearns2DorisCharleJim Co3s Dickens3llins416 accounting today December 2019CEO, Quick Bookkeeping& AccountingGarcia runs a cutting-edge practice— he’s in the cloud, into value pricing and digitalmarketing, and committed to work-life balance— but that’s not why he’s influential: That comesfrom how he’s using YouTube videos to educatethe almost 60,000 fellow practitioners whosubscribe to his channel on all those subjects,and more.Born: Texas, 1980College: Florida International UniversityFirst full-time job: Interpoint Internet ServicesFavorite book: “1984”Alternate career: MarketingJohn GarrettConsultant, comedian andspeakerGarrett calls himself a thoughtprovoker and a recovering CPA, but what theEmmy nominee may do best is champion “thehuman side” of accounting, consulting with firmson developing better cultures, shining a light onaccountants’ rich lives outside of work throughthe more than 300 episodes of his podcast, andsharing his message of personal authenticitywith over 10,000 people in the profession overthe past two years.Born: Little Rock, Arkansas, 1976College: University of Notre DameFirst full-time job: Advisory services staff, PwCFavorite book: “The War of Art”Alternate career: AstronautJ. Russell GeorgeTreasury Inspector General forTax AdministrationGeorge may not have quite as high aprofile personally these days, but the organization he leads continues to produce a steadystream of in-depth audits that blame, praise orotherwise evaluate every aspect of the InternalRevenue Service.Born: New York CityCollege: Howard University (BA); HarvardUniversity Law School (JD)First full-time job: Assistant district attorney,Queens County District Attorney’s OfficeRussell GoldenChairman, FASBGolden may be approaching the endof his tenure at the standard-setter,but he has plenty to show for his time, particularly a much-strengthened focus on support, sothat companies and organizations of all kindscan actually put the standards into practice— with this fall’s postponement of the implementation of a number of major new standardsa perfect example of the board’s new culture.Born: Opelika, Alabama, 1970College: Washington State UniversityFirst full-time job: Staff accountant, Deloitte &ToucheFavorite book: “Moneyball”Michelle Golden RiverPresident, ForeGolden advises some of the country’stop firms on cutting-edge pricingmodels, training accountants on a criticalcomponent of the profitable evolution fromcompliance work to advisory services. In aprofession that’s starting to embrace thebusiness and revenue models of the future,Golden wants CPAs to know their worth, and isgiving them the tools they need to express it.Born: Long Beach, California, 1966College: Columbia CollegeFirst full-time job: Staff accountant, CoopervisionFavorite book: “Liminal Thinking: Create theChange You Want by Changing the Way YouThink”Alternate career: WriterSasan GoodarziCEO, IntuitUnder Goodarzi, Intuit is creatingmore and more ways to get involvedin its customers’ accounting, launching its newonline accounting service, QuickBooks Live, andbuilding a strategy to become an AI-drivenexpert platform with the goal of bringing moreprofessional expertise to bear on smallbusinesses’ problems.Born: Tehran, Iran, 1968College: University of Central Florida (bachelor’s); Kellogg School of Management atNorthwestern University (master’s)First full-time job: Technical marketing, SiemensFavorite reading: Ben Thompson’s “Stratechery”blogAlternate career: Own and operate an Italianrestaurant and barSen. Chuck GrassleyR-IowaGrassley is back at his old jobchairing the Senate FinanceCommittee, which oversees tax policy and theIRS. This year, he steered the Taxpayer First Actinto law, making a series of wide-rangingreforms in the IRS, including some improvementsin the whistleblower protections that he has longchampioned.Born: New Hartford, Iowa, 1933College: University of Northern Iowa (BA andMA political science); University of Iowa (Ph.D.work)First full-time job: Sheet metal shearerKelly GrierCEO, EYOnly the third woman to helm a BigFour firm, Grier is set on movingforward, doubling down on the future of auditingby expanding EY’s use of digital audit technology, building more diverse audit teams with widerskill sets, and setting up a high-poweredindependent audit quality committee to addoutside perspectives.Born: Avon, MinnesotaCollege: Saint Mary’s CollegeFirst full-time job: Assurance practice, EYAngie GrissomPresident, The RainmakerCompaniesGrissom has been coachingaccounting firm leaders for years, bothindividually and in peer meetings designed asforums for exchanging invaluable ideas andconcerns, and works with them to address thedevelopment of their teams’ proficiency inbusiness development, leadership, culture andcommunication.Born: Nashville, Tennessee, 1977accountingtoday.com

A supplement to Accounting Today: Top 100 PeopleCollege: Middle Tennessee State UniversityFirst full-time job: Account executive, CareerAscensionFavorite book: “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal,and Delight in Our Busy Lives”Alternate career: LegalTom GroskopfTechnical director, AICPA Centerfor Plain English AccountingAuditing is not getting any easier,which may explain why the membership of theCPEA has tripled since it was launched in 2014,and why the advice, training and expertiseGroskopf and his team offer around privatecompany audit issues has proved invaluableto more than 30,000 accounting and auditprofessionals — and counting.Born: Cincinnati, 1973College: Xavier University (BSBA accountingand MBA)First full-time job: Staff accountant, Barnes,Dennig & Co.Favorite book: Bartlett’s QuotationsAlternate career: LawJeffrey HalesChairman, SustainabilityAccounting Standards BoardHales is bringing greater visibility toclimate-related disclosures through his role inchairing SASB and as a board member at theClimate Disclosure Standards Board, in additionto his full-time job as an accounting professor,and helping accountants demonstrate how theycan play a role in quantifying and identifyingthose risks and disclosures.Born: Provo, Utah, 1972College: Brigham Young University (B.S. andM.Acc.); Cornell University (M.S. and Ph.D.)First full-time job: Instructor, University of Texasat AustinFavorite book: “East of Eden”Aaron HarrisCTO, SageAn early hire at Intacct, Harris kept hischief technology officer role when itwas acquired by Sage, and has been instrumental in big change for both organizations,allowing Intacct to accelerate deployment oftools including AI to U.S. businesses much morequickly than it could without Sage, and enablingSage to understand the mid-market space in away they could not before.Born: Binghamton, N.Y., 1971College: Brigham Young University (bachelor’s inaccounting; master’s in IS)First full-time job: Consultant, Arthur AndersenFavorite book: “Cryptonomicon”Alternate career: Architecture and civilengineeringTom HoodCEO, MACPA and BusinessLearning InstituteIt’s one thing to continually create abold vision for the profession, and another tobuild the partnerships and forge the frameworksaccountingtoday.comand provide the education to call that visioninto reality. Hood does both, with an indefatigable excitement that has countless accountantseager to join in.Born: Baltimore, 1959College: Loyola University of Maryland; JohnsHopkins University (master’s of finance)First full-time job: Accountant, FinanceCorporation of AmericaFavorite book: “Saving Washington: TheForgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and theBattle of Brooklyn”Alternate career: FBIHans HoogervorstChair, IASBWith a number of major standardsfully launched, Hoogervorst has saidhe plans for his board to focus more on howfinancial information is presented and to givemore structure to the income statement, tocounter recent moves to more “non-GAAP”reporting among IFRS users. He has alsoexpressed an interest in sustainability reporting— though he doesn’t want to move intostandard-setting in the area.Born: Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1956College: University of Amsterdam; JohnsHopkins University (MA in advanced international relations; master’s in modern history)First full-time job: International banking officer,National Bank of WashingtonWe’re going to need a bigger listHere are 21 more people who will be helping shape(and reshape) accounting in 2020 and beyondOne aspect of the annual ebb andis applying artificial intelligence toflow of influence that’s always worthhelping companies better managementioning is that there are only 100their spending; and Mike Whitmire,spots on this list, and there are alwaysthe founder of FloQast, who ismore than 100 people making anbecoming a thought leader on betterimpact on the profession. That said,accounting practices and new roleshere are yet more people who we’ll beand careers for accountants, not leastkeeping an eye on in the future.through his podcast, “CPA to CFO.”To start, there a number of peopleMeanwhile, the ongoing implemen-who have taken up importanttation of the lease accountingleadership positions recently, like Juliestandard has lent influence to vendorsBell Lindsay, who became executivelooking to help with the mammothdirector of the Center for Auditinformational tasks involved, such asQuality, or Shawn Slavin, who wasGeorge Azih of LeaseQuery, andnamed president of the InformationMichael Keeler of LeaseAccelerator.Technology Alliance. Similary, BridgetTwo people who are raising theirRoberts now serves as acting nationalown profiles in buzzworthy areas aretaxpayer advocate, succeeding NinaShehan Chandrasekera, the head ofOlsen, while Madelyn Antoncic is thetax strategy at CoinTracker, who is anew president of the Sustainabilitywell-respected expert on all thingsAccounting Standards Board, andcryptocurrency, while Jagruti Solanki,Bradley Preber has been installed asan assurance partner at Top 1

MS criminal justice); Harvard University (Executive management) First full-time job: Clerk, Kroger Favorite book: "The Great Bridge" Alternate career: Law L. Gary Boomer Visionary & strategist, Boomer Consulting Inc. Everything you need to know about Boomer is right there in the first word of his title: visionary. He grasped the central role of