Sage Summit 2011

Session Speaker Bios

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Sage Accountants Network: Session Speaker Bios

• Randy Johnston

  

  Randy Johnston has been an entrepreneur, technologist, and teacher for most of his career. He has helped start and run many businesses, and currently owns part of both Network Management Group, Inc., and K2 Enterprises (of which he is executive vice president), a leading technology CPE provider in the CPA industry. He is best known for his early and ongoing expertise in networks including LANs, WANs, intranets, extranets, and the Internet. His expertise has grown over the past 30 years to touch virtually every technology in the marketplace. He is particularly well-known for his technology overview, accounting software, and paperless office expertise. He helps businesses with strategic technology planning, accounting software selection, document management selection and planning, and business continuity planning. Randy has been listed on Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People between the years of 2004–2010, and Accounting Technology’s Top 10 Technology Professionals in the industry. Randy has been a featured speaker at the AICPA Technology Conference for the past 20 years.

• Darren Root

  

  Darren Root Co-Founder and Managing Partner, RootWorks, LLC; President, Root & Associates, LLC; Executive Editor, The CPA Technology Advisor magazine. As the owner of a highly successful accounting firm, CEO of RootWorks, and the Executive Editor of The CPA Technology Advisor, Darren understands first hand the challenges that face accounting firms. With more than two decades working in the tax and accounting profession, Darren's vision for the structure and functionality of the modern accounting firm and his pragmatic, engaging style have made him one of the most sought after presenters in the tax and accounting profession. Viewed as a technology and workflow expert, he is a frequent speaker at numerous conferences, tradeshows, and industry-related events. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Darren holds CPA and CITP (Certified Information Technology Professional) certificates. He is an AICPA CITP Credential Committee Board Member, and has served on the Board of Directors for the Indiana CPA Society

• Brian Tankersley

  

  Brian Tankersley is a CPA and consultant based in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a frequent speaker at continuing education courses on auditing and technology for the American Institute of CPAs and K2 Enterprises, and is a senior faculty member with Becker Professional Review. Brian writes and publishes a nationally recognized blog on accounting and technology (http://blog.bftcpa.com). Brian writes the popular column, The Sage Peachtree Perspective for The CPA Technology Advisor magazine. Brian’s areas of practice include accounting systems, taxation, IT consulting, and general business consulting. Prior to forming his own firm, Brian practiced in public accounting with both international and local firms as well as industry. His financial experience includes accounting and auditing, accounting system implementations, tax returns, financial analysis, inventory costing, and audits of public and private companies. Brian’s non-financial experience includes retail, wholesale, and manufacturing industry experience, technology strategy, technology management, systems implementation, technical training, and documentation.Brian is both a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Information Technology Professional, and has Bachelor of Science degrees in both accounting and finance, cum laude, from the University of Tennessee. Brian has served on numerous boards of directors and in leadership roles for both his church and professional organizations. Brian is a member of the Tennessee Society of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs, and the Information Technology Section of the American Institute of CPAs. He has also served as an officer and director for numerous area community and professional organizations.

• Ronald Baker

  

  Ronald Baker started his accounting career in 1984 with KPMG Peat Marwick’s Private Business Advisory Services in San Francisco. Today, he is the founder of VeraSage Institute, a think tank dedicated to teaching Value Pricing to professionals around the world. As a frequent speaker at events and conferences, and a consultant to professional service firms on implementing Total Quality Service and Value Pricing, his work takes him around the world. He has been an instructor with the California CPA Education Foundation since 1995 and has authored fifteen courses for them. He is the author of the best-selling marketing book ever written specifically for the professions, Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing, Sixth Edition, published by CCH (out of print). His book, The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services, co-authored with Paul Dunn, was the 2003 Book of the Year on SmartPros.com and is in its sixth printing. His Intellectual Capitalism Series (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) consists of three books so far: Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value, published in February 2006; Measure What Matters to Customers: Using Key Predictive Indicators, released September 20, 2006; and Mind Over Matter: Why Intellectual Capital is the Chief Source of Wealth, published in November 2007. His recent book was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in December 2010: Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional firms. Ron has been appointed to the AICPA Group of One Hundred, a think tank of leaders to address the future of the profession, named on Accounting Today’s 2001-2007 Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession, and received the 2003 Award for Instructor Excellence from the California CPA Education Foundation.

• Leslie Shiner

  

  Leslie Shiner—author, speaker, and trainer—has more than twenty years’ experience as a financial and management consultant. She is also the author of numerous publications that focus on the construction industry including A Simple Guide to Turning A Profit as a Contractor. Ms. Shiner is an engaging speaker with a long history of rave reviews. She continues to receive high praise for her ability to make financial management interesting, understandable, and even entertaining. Ms. Shiner’s post-graduate education focused on Finance and Accounting culminating in an MBA from UC Berkeley. Ms. Shiner has combined her knowledge of construction management with her passion for education. Ms. Shiner has been the keynote speaker at the Sleeter Conference and at the ABC of Wisconsin Winter Convention. Ms. Shiner’s past speaking engagements have included the Remodeling Show, JLC Live, the International Builders Show, the World of Concrete, the Southern Building Show, CEDIA Expo, International Roofing Show, and the Southeast Builders Conference to name a few. Leslie was recently named one of CEDIA’s Overall Top Instructors. Ms. Shiner has taught as Adjunct Faculty both at the California State University System and Dominican University.

• Gail Perry

  

  Gail is a CPA, tax accountant, the instructor of an online personal finance course, and the author of 30 books about taxes, financial software, and personal finance. Her titles include “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Doing Your Income Taxes,” “Surviving Financial Downsizing: A Practical Guide to Living Well on Less Income,” “Quicken All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies,” “QuickBooks 2010 On Demand,” and, most recently, "Mint.com For Dummies." Gail is a former senior tax accountant with the Big Four firm, Deloitte, and she has a degree in journalism and English from Indiana University.

• Doug Sleeter

  

  Doug Sleeter is the Founder of The Sleeter Group, a national network of accounting software experts. In 2008 and 2010, Accounting Today magazine named him as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. The Sleeter Group Consultants network is the largest network of its kind, serving hundreds of thousands of small businesses throughout the US and Canada. In addition to providing accounting software setup, troubleshooting, and training services, the network is a Value Added Reseller channel for software companies who need qualified consultants and VARs to sell, install, and support their products in the marketplace. He is the host of the Sleeter Group's annual Accounting Software Consulting Conference, bringing together consultants and software developers from across the US and Canada. Doug is the author of over 40 QuickBooks reference books and courseware materials and writes a regular column for The CPA Technology Advisor magazine The QuickBooks Advisor.

• Ed Kless

  

  Ed Kless joined Sage North America in July of 2003 and is the senior director of partner development and strategy. He developed and delivers the curriculum for the Sage Consulting Academy, a five-day course designed to educate Sage partners on the art and practice of small business consulting. He also facilitates the Sage Leadership Academy, a yearlong program designed to assist Sage Software partners develop a continuous process of improvement in their organizations and serves as liaison to the Sage Leadership Academy Alumni Association. Prior to joining Sage, Ed worked with Tipping Point Advisors, an organization dedicated to the growth and development of software implementation partners. Before that, he co-founded Third Wave Business Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner, in 1996, which grew to 20 team members and 5 million in revenue. At Third Wave, Ed developed the implementation methodology and managed the CRM and ERP consulting teams. Ed is a frequent contributor to industry publications, including the Journal of Accountancy and Harvard Business Review, and has spoken at many conferences worldwide on project management, pricing, and knowledge workers. He is also active in the Information Technology Alliance (ITA), Toastmasters, and is a senior fellow at the VeraSage Institute. Follow him on his blog at edkless.com or on Twitter @edkless.

• Jody Padar

  

  Over the past few years, Jody Padar has emerged as a thought leader in the profession—with several educational presentations, webcasts, by-lined articles, and blog posts to her credit. Having successfully transformed her own firm into a technologically advanced, paperless work environment, she is now dedicated to educating her fellow colleagues on how to make the same transition. Jody is a regular contributor to the Accounting Tomorrow blog, where she offers practical tips and advice on running a next-generation firm. She is a key presenter at the 2010 Growth & Profitability Summit and continues to develop other educational content for the profession. Jody also won back-to-back (2009 & 2010) 40 under 40 awards. This accolade is presented by The CPA Technology Advisor and recognizes accounting professionals who are emerging into leadership roles and are poised to help shape the profession in years to come. Jody earned her BBA from Saint Mary’s College and MST from Northern Illinois University. Jody is also an adjunct professor at Oakton Community College and a contributing member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network.

• Jason Blumer

  

  Jason M. Blumer, CPA.CITP, CFE is managing shareholder of Blumer & Associates, CPAs, PC. He wears flip flops and jeans, says “dude” a lot, and often works in coffee shops with headphones blaring the latest Bloomberg podcasts (though he doesn’t understand most of it). Jason loves new game-changing cloud technology and plays rock and roll too loud. His daily duties include consulting, process design, blogging, marketing and business development, innovative thinking, coaching, practice management, and acting as a change agent. As the industry has changed, the need for new CPA firm leadership has emerged for the younger generation ready to move into the world of firm ownership. Jason founded the THRIVEal +CPA Network to accommodate the needs of this new younger generation. The THRIVEal +CPA Network looks to enhance and change the CPA profession based on the foundational tenets of Community, Collaboration, Technology and Innovation.