Employee Benefit Plans and Not-for-Profit Update (E1604109)

Ken Bagner, CPA, MST is a Member of Sobel & Co., LLC. He is in charge of Employee Benefit Plan Audits at the Firm. His career with Sobel began in 1999 and over the years he has served diverse niches including commercial real estate, waste management, manufacturing, wholesale, not-for-profit organizations, and employee benefit plans. Clients value both his technical abilities and his “hand-on” approach to addressing the unique aspects of each client’s business as well as his ability to combine an expertise in both accounting and tax to provide them with the business advice they need. In his spare time, Mr. Bagner served as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University where he taught both taxation for the undergraduate level and the Certified Financial Planners Program. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA). Currently, Mr. Bagner serves on the Board Trustee for the NJSCPA Scholarship Fund. He is a past member of the NJSCPA Board of Directors serving a 2-year term (2008-2010). Mr. Bagner is a 1999 graduate of Montclair State University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting. In 2003 he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University where he earned his Masters in Taxation. He is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma, the highest honor society for collegiate schools of business.

Kristen E. Crouchelli, a Senior Audit Manager in the SobelCo Nonprofit & Social Services Practice, having earned additional credentials as a Public School Accountant, brings a depth of experience in the nonprofit community to complement her role on this specialized niche team. Since she began her career in 2006, Kristen has had a passion for working with nonprofit organizations. She began by serving in a regional CPA firm’s nonprofit group and then transitioned to a role as Controller for a large, multi-program social services agency in the state where she managed the daily accounting functions, budgets and annual audit of the financial statements as well as the employee benefit plan audit.

With dual perspectives gained from having had significant responsibilities as a CPA serving nonprofit clients as well as from assuming the prestigious position as Controller working from within a nonprofit, Kristen has been able to apply her insights and real-world experiences, adding significant value to our team and our clients. Her current engagements primarily involve working with small clients, charter schools, schools for the disabled, and large organizations that are subject to Uniform Grant Guidance audits.

Kristen’s commitment to the firm’s culture goes beyond her external client-centric philosophy to also include her internal focus on being an effective mentor and role model for her colleagues. She specifically enjoys having the opportunity to assist in strengthening the nonprofit practice by taking charge of the team’s in-house technical training program.

Elizabeth Harper (Liz), Member of the Firm, joined SobelCo in the fall of 2009 to assume the role of Quality Control Senior Manager. In 2014 she was promoted to Director with responsibility for reviewing all of the financial statements and service organization control (SOC) reports issued by the firm along with client correspondences ensuring that the highest quality standards are met and that the reports are in accordance with the established authoritative standards. Liz is dedicated to ensuring that the firm complies with its internal quality standards. This includes involvement with the engagement teams during all phases of the work, personnel training and development, and monitoring of engagement quality. Liz is also responsible for client service of SOC, employment benefit plan (EBP) engagements and other audits.

In 2016 Liz was given the additional role as Director of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Group and in 2017 was elected as a Member of the Firm. Liz brings insights gained based on her previous experiences at a "Big Four" firm and a local CPA firm to all of the roles she plays at SobelCo.

While at a local firm, Liz had a wide variety of responsibilities across a range of industries, which she draws on daily at SobelCo. From her years at KPMG, Liz is able to leverage the knowledge she gained managing financial and internal control audits, quarterly reviews and agreed upon procedures, with well-known clients ranging from Philips Lighting to Ricoh Corporation. This global exposure adds value to the current SobelCo regional environment and it will be a critical component of future growth as the firm continues to expand, serving national and international clients in the coming years. By combining her perspectives from private industry and public accounting, she can provide meaningful solutions to SobelCo's clients.

Julie Helman serves as an Audit Manager for Sobel & Co.’s Nonprofit and Social Services Practice. She has more than twenty years of experience in nonprofit accounting, including ten years in public accounting for multiple firms (including a “Big 4” firm) and ten years with two different nonprofit organizations. This experience of serving nonprofit clients from both the audit/consulting perspective and the client perspective enables her to provide clients with unique insights.

At Sobel & Co., she actively participates in our internal training program, ensuring that our staff receives appropriate nonprofit training to allow us to meet Government Auditing Standards for audits of federal and state grants. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and serves on the Nonprofit Interest Group of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. She also volunteers with her son’s Troop 8, Boy Scouts of America.

Ms. Helman is a graduate of the University of Richmond, Virginia, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.