Stephen M. Yoss, Jr., CPA, MS

Stephen M. Yoss, Jr., CPA, is a partner and principal of Devmatics, LLC, a software development company that focuses on solving problems through the implementation of technology. Devmatics builds custom software, mobile apps, integration solutions, workflow automation, and more for all types of organizations.  Stephen has consulted with several companies on how to lower overhead, personnel, and compliance costs by investing in technology and reengineering their business practices. He teaches his clients to embrace technology at every opportunity to increase efficiency and productivity.  Stephen began working with technology at age ten, and started his first IT company at age 13, designing web applications for local businesses. He started writing original computer code at age 15 and has been working with technology ever since. He has presented to thousands of practitioners worldwide on topics such as cloud computing, mobile technology, Excel tips and best practices, data modeling and analysis, big data, information security, identity theft prevention, and more. Apart from working in technology and accounting he is a professional licensed pyrotechnician and works on major firework displays around the country. He lives in Claremont, California.

Mark Sellner

Mark A. Sellner, CPA, JD, LLM (taxation), owner of Sellner Tax Consulting, LLC, consults with other CPAs and their clients on tax matters, including S corporation and partnership taxation and the tax consequences of buying and selling a business. Previously, he served as director of graduate studies in taxation at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Sellner is a recipient of the MNCPA’s R. Glen Berryman Excellence in Teaching and Distinguished Service awards.

Christina Moffat

A baker since she could hold a measuring spoon, Christina combined her culinary skills with her management and marketing experience to create Creme Cupcake + Dessert, which expanded from a home-operated bakery to a commercial kitchen in less than a year. From a dozen cupcakes for a single order to 2,100 desserts for the Vice President of China, or 4000 for a marathon race, more and more people around the world are turning to Creme Cupcake and Dessert to find a way to satisfy their sweet tooth...and find their own joy.

A graduate of DMACC, Iowa State University and University of Toledo CBA Program, Christina not only owns and operates Crème Cupcake + Dessert and serves as the Director of Small Business Resources for the Greater Des Moines Partnership.  Christina has won several awards for her business including DSM Top List for Best Bakery, Cityview’s Best Dessert, Sweet Equality Best Dessert, Runner up for the Iowa Mixology Competition and runner up on The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. Christina has also been featured in Pastry & Baking North America in the Regional Showcase and Baker in Focus.

John Higgins

John is the co-founder of CPA Crossings, LLC, established in 2001. John serves as a strategic technology advisor to accounting firms and other business organizations on how to leverage the power of cloud-based technology tools. There has never been a more turbulent time in the evolution of business technology. John helps business leaders to understand the nature of rapidly evolving technologies and how to harness them to remain ahead of the curve competitively and avoid the risk of obsolete business processes.

John shares his expertise as a nationally recognized speaker on business technology at educational conferences, through online webcasts and strategic planning retreats. He has many  accomplishments including bein an AICPA Business & Industry CPA Hall of Fame inductee. 

Cindy Solberg

Cindy Solberg is an experienced BSC facilitator who provides professional education and training in multiple scopes--from software and technology to leadership and professional development. She holds a Microsoft Master certification for Microsoft Office and is a certified facilitator for DDI Learning Systems and Franklin Covey. Cindy pairs her practical know-how with over 25 years of facilitation experience, guaranteeing a comfortable, “user-friendly” environment for learning.

Larry Morgan

Larry is the owner of Orion HR Group, LLC, an independent consulting organization specializing in the alignment of compensation and benefit programs with business strategies. This work includes advising organizations on leadership development, staff assessment, organization structure, performance management and staff accountabilities. He holds the Senior Professional and Global Professional in Human Resources (SPHR and GPHR) and the SHRM – SCP (Senior Certified Professional) designations and has over 35 years of HR experience with a broad range of industries including consulting, professional services, retail, engineering, high tech, medical device, health care, manufacturing, transportation, insurance, financial services, public sector and not for profit organizations.  

Dr. Michael Monroe Kiefer

In his late twenties, he was struck down and nearly overcome by a genetic disease and almost died, yet made a startling full recovery. After the amazing recovery, Michael left Northrup King and founded POWERMIND Systems Inc. to study human potential. After twelve years of diligent study by Michael and his team; Michael published the research results in the form of a book series titled, The POWERMIND System. Michael then focused on developing more workshops and keynotes that he delivers around the country to: corporations, schools, colleges, prisons, sports teams, military, government, and law enforcement agencies.

Celebrating more than twenty years as a top ranked national professional motivational speaker, author, radio talk show guest, and subconscious core reprogrammer, Michael has delivered well over 3,000 presentations and has spoken in nearly every state in the U.S.A. His MP3 audiobooks, e-books, and paperbacks sell to a worldwide audience. Michael has well developed skills and natural talent in teaching techniques. He is a master storyteller and an adjunct professor at 9 colleges.

Karen McCullough

Karen McCullough is called a Branding Expert, a Social Media Enthusiast, and a Gen Y Evangelist, and she’s on a mission to get you excited about change. She’s an award-winning speaker who inspires and empowers organizations and individuals to evolve, grow, and realize their true potential for excellence. Karen has a 20 year background in sales, marketing, branding, and as a retail CEO. She has worked with two great branding and retail giants Leslie Wexner, founder of the Limited Stores and with fashion brand guru Ralph Lauren.

For the last 14 years, Karen has been developing creative solutions and implementing innovative methods for motivating people to embrace and thrive with CHANGE. She believes that enduring success is the combination of talent, attitude, relationship building, and the ability to adapt and change. Achieving your goals requires honesty to identify what it is that is getting in your way and the courage to change it. 

Dr. Chris Kuehl

Dr. Chris Kuehl is a conference favorite! His informative sessions generally include a good dose of dry humor. Dr. Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence.  He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. He is the chief economist for several national and international organizations –Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, National Association of Credit Management, Finance, Credit and International Business and the Business Information Industry Association. He is also the economic analyst for several state CPA societies.

Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Top rated speaker who has made presentations for 48 state CPA societies, as well as many similar Canadian organizations.

• Accomplished author, with over 200 product reviews written and experience as the technology editor of a major accounting industry publication. Over 25 years of professional experience in accounting, technology, and education.

John Lokhorst, CPA, ACC

Jon Lokhorst, CPA, ACC, is a leadership coach, corporate trainer, keynote speaker and author of Mission-Critical Leadership: How Smart Managers Lead Well in All Directions. He works with organizations to develop leaders everyone wants to follow, build teams no one wants to leave, and deliver exceptional results. Before launching Lokhorst Consulting LLC, Jon enjoyed a 30-plus year career as a CPA, CFO, and organizational leader. He has a Master’s in Organizational Leadership and is recognized by the International Coach Federation as an Associate Certified Coach. He also serves as adjunct faculty in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University. Jon is member of the National Speakers Association and serves as Vice President of the Minnesota chapter.

Jackie Brooks

Working as an Outsources Accounting Manager at Eide Bailly, Jackie helps our clients with strategic solutions to reach their goals. She does this by matching clients with new technology specific to their strategic business goals. She provides business leaders with accurate, timely, and easy to understand financial information so leaders can do what they do best: develop their business. Overall, Jackie is known among the team as someone who takes the time to understand her clients’ business, their drivers and processes---really digging deep into what makes an organization tick.

Dustin Wheeler

As a National BOS Senior Manager at Eide Bailly, Dustin specializes in helping clients implement technologies that automate and enhance their accounting systems, including expense management, accounts payable, workflow, reporting, business intelligence and cash flow forecasting. His broad experience in tax, audit and consulting helps him to identify innovative opportunities across service lines through collaboration with the right people.

Reid Mattson

Reid works with nonprofits to help them better understand and accurately report their financials as a Senior Manager at Eide Bailly. He manages and leads teams performing audit, review, compilation and other assurance engagements. Reid goes above and beyond to help his clients achieve their financial objectives. With his understanding of accounting principles and financial reporting, he will ensure his clients understand the "why" aspect to their finances to better help them make the important decisions needed in their business.

Lisa Chaffee

Lisa is a Partner at Eide Bailly, with over 25 years of experience Lisa serves nonprofit, small business and individual clients through not only compliance work, but also consulting projects. As a client-focused professional, she gets to know her clients and works to meet your goals. 

Barimore S. Maring

Mr. Maring is a successful entrepreneur with management experience in several diverse industries. He graduated Cum Laude from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN with a BA in Business Administration and Accounting with a minor in Spanish.  Barry developed his financial skills as an auditor with KPMG International in Minneapolis, MN and he passed the CPA exam the fall after graduation.  Subsequently, Barry joined the North Dakota Department of Banking as a Bank Examiner.  During his six years as an Examiner, he attended numerous training schools and gained an in-depth knowledge of banking and analyzing bank credits in numerous industries.  Barry began following his entrepreneurial spirit early in his career when he developed a quick-serve Italian restaurant and purchased three Subway restaurants with a partner. 

Barry has been involved in many successful land transactions, restaurants, hotels, and other commercial real estate deals during the next decade before joining Sonmar Management in Fargo, ND.  In addition to the above, Mr. Maring joined Archer Real Estate Services in 2016 as a commercial real estate agent and most recently purchased the Right at Home franchise, a home healthcare company.

BRIAN SMITH

Brian Smith is a Senior Finance Manager on the Center of Innovation team within Finance Operations at Microsoft. He specializes in creating automation solutions utilizing Microsoft Azure and the Power Platform helping the organization to digitally transform. Brian is Microsoft certified in Data Science, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Cloud administration.

CLARENCE SITTER

Clarence Sitter is the CFO of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation (TRMF). He received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Mary, Bismarck. Prior to his role at TRMF, Sitter spent 11+ years working in public accounting with Eide Bailly LLP. Sitter currently serves on the board of Faith Revealed and as the President of the Medora Chamber of Commerce – both of which are non-profit organizations. He has previously served on the boards of the ND CPA Society and the ND 4-H Foundation and is active in his community and church. He is married to Jennifer and has five children.

John Williams

John uses his educational background, experiences working with families and work ethic learned on his family’s farm to assist clients with estate planning, business succession, and probate and trust administration. John specializes in issues pertaining to family business succession, asset protection and tax issues as an Attorney for Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. He and his team provide legal services to business owners, farmers, ranchers, mineral owners, executives and professionals in a comprehensive, organized and timely manner. They do this by listening to his client’s needs and providing solutions that not only provide positive financial outcomes but also emotionally satisfying results.

Jennifer Louis

Jennifer has over 25 years experience in designing and instructing high-quality training programs in a wide variety of technical and “soft skills” topics needed for professional and organization success. In 2003 she founded Emergent Solutions Group, which is dedicated to meeting organization’s professional training needs on a project or part-time basis. Jennifer serves a wide variety of clients, including public accounting firms, state CPA societies, private industry corporations, and public sector agencies. Previously Jennifer served as the Director of Audit Product Development at Surgent Professional Education for three years.

Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Marymount University with a BBA-Accounting. She is currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and is licensed to practice accounting in the Commonwealth of Virginia and North Carolina.

James T. Lindell, CPA, CSP, CGMA, MBA Thorsten Consulting Group, Inc.

James (Jim) T. Lindell is the President of a Wisconsin based provider of strategic & financial consulting, professional speaking, training, and executive coaching. Jim has an extensive background in senior management including positions as Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Controller and Corporate Assistant Controller. Jim has worked with a variety of industries including: manufacturing, health care, not for profit, distribution and food processing. He has been involved in more than 50 M & A projects. James Lindell is a Certified Public Accountant with public accounting experience at several local and regional accounting firms. He is a TEC Chairman (The Executive Committee). He is a member (and instructor) of the American Institute of CPAs and the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs and a member of the National Speakers Association.

Jim is the author of “Controller as Business Manager”, “AICPA’s Annual Update for Controllers”, “Strategic Planning: A Simplified and Workable Approach for Private Companies” and “AICPA's Controllership: 25 Critical Lessons from the Trenches.” Jim also authored and was part of the AICPA video and course, “Minimizing the Effects of a Recession on Your Business”. He is a contributing author of the AICPA course “The Fast Close, Soft Close, Virtual Close? Now Days not Weeks”. Jim is a 5-time recipient of the AICPA’s Outstanding Discussion Leader Award.

Peter Katz

Peter Katz is a JUNO Award & Canadian Screen Award-nominated singer-songwriter who has spent the past 15 years touring internationally. He has been described by many of his fans and speaking clients as “a thunderbolt for the soul”. To Date, his music has been streamed over 4.5 million times and his music videos have over 16 million views on YouTube. Peter’s music has laso been featured on several TV shows and movies like Lethal Weapon, Reign, Sing Sealed and Delivered, Felicity, For Your Consideration, Hello Goodbye, Alias, Heartland and more, as well as on CBC Television’s 2016 Rio Olympics/Paralympics coverage.

As a speaker, Peter is a 4-time TEDx fellow being called on to vive his highly customized ‘Keynote Concerts’ to countless companies and organizations across various industries like Bell, Xerox, Royal Lepage, SITE Global, Trillium Health, The Canadian Society of Association Executives, and the Government of Canada, to name a few. Peter uses his work to inspire people to create their own path, overcome obstacles, and find success in whatever they desire.

Anoop Mehta 

Mr. Anoop N. Mehta, CPA, CGMA is SSAI’s President, leading the executive management team and overseeing the overall performance of the company. Mr. Mehta has the day-to-day responsibility for managing, planning, and implementing strategic goals of the company. He has more than 35 years of experience in government contracting, and has actively supported NASA and NOAA programs in an executive management capacity for SSAI. Mr. Mehta joined SSAI in 1980 and has helped the company to grow from a one-person company to its current staff level of more than 750. The company has also achieved profitability above target levels for the past 36 years. The company has never taken on debt during his tenure.

Mr. Mehta has a B.S. degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of Maryland. He is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Mr. Mehta was the Chair (2012-2103) of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). He serves on the Government Contractors Committee for the MACPA, and chaired the committee for two years (2001-2003). Mr. Mehta is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Transamerica Retirement Services, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, currently serving on the Council. Mr. Mehta is also a seventh-degree Master Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and has been teaching martial arts and operating a karate school for the past 35 years.