Award recipients at the AICPA FVS conference in Las Vegas

About 1,100 business valuation and forensics pros mingled at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for the AICPA’s 2017 FVS Conference November 13-15. Plus, there were another 300 attending online. Being a virtual attendee is fine, but there’s nothing like being there in person to network and rub shoulders with your colleagues and top experts in the profession. And what you can learn during networking sessions can be equally as valuable as what you learn in the regular sessions. You’ll find complete coverage starting in the January issue of Business Valuation Update. 

The AICPA’s FVS Section represents CPAs who provide forensic accounting and business valuation services. It offers the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) and Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) specialty credentials for CPAs who concentrate in these areas.

Top volunteers: Some individuals give the most precious gift—their time and energy—to help advance the profession. At the conference, Michelle F. Gallagher, CPA, CFF, ABV (Gallagher Valuation & Forensics), was honored as the Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year and Anna Maria Cicirello, CPA, CGMA, CFF, ABV (KPMG Toronto), was honored as the Forensic and Litigation Services Volunteer of the Year.

The AICPA also announced this year’s crop of young CPAs who received the third annual FVS Standing Ovation for significant contributions in their accounting specialty areas and in their communities.

Up and comers: The Standing Ovation recipients are all age 40 or younger, and they hold the CFF or ABV specialty credential, with 30% holding both. The 2017 recipients are in alphabetical order below:

•   Howard Berkowitz, CPA, CFF, ABV, Berkeley Research Group, New York City;

•   Joshua Downey, CPA, ABV, SC&H Group, Sparks, Md.;

•   Dan Etherton, CPA, ABV, Stout Risius Ross, Los Angeles;

•   Bill Fellows, CPA, CFF, ABV, Deloitte, New York City;

•   Alexander Gershner, CPA, CFF, StoneTurn, New York City;

•   Jeremy Golnick, CPA, ABV, RSM US LLP, Dallas;

•   Michael Haugen, CPA, CFF, HSNO Accountants, Scottsdale, Ariz.;

•   David Hern, CPA, ABV, Alvarez & Marsal, Suwanee, Ga.;

•   Lynsey Honegger, CPA, ABV, Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC, Chicago;

•   Jessica Krushensky, CPA, CFF, Brinig Taylor Zimmer, Inc., San Diego;

•   Frank Pina, CPA, CFF, Mercadien, Hamilton, N.J.;

•   B. Steven Purdy, CPA, ABV, Aronson LLC, Rockville, Md.;

•   Graham Quast, CPA, CFF, MNP LLP, Edmonton, Alberta;

•   Avi Reichman, CPA, CFF, ABV, Frankel Reichman & Rizzo, Los Angeles;

•   Marylee Robinson, CPA, CFF, Stout Risius Ross, Baltimore, Md.;

•   Scott Romans, CPA, CFF, ABV, Enderle Besten Dieruf PLLC, Lexington, Ky.;

•   Megan Thompson, CPA, CFF, ABV, Thompson Accounting, San Jose, Calif.;

•   Ben Towne, CPA, CFF, ABV, Towne Advisory, San Jose, Calif.;

•   Amy Yurish, CPA, CFF, Veris Consulting Inc., Reston, Va.; and

•   Sacha Zadmehran, CPA, ABV, Hemming Morse, San Francisco.

Next year’s FVS conference will be held in Atlanta (dates not announced yet), so we hope to see you there!