Governmental Accounting & Auditing Conference (E1606340)

Mark Bednarz, MS, CPA, CISA, CFE is a Partner in PKF O’Connor Davies Risk Advisory Group. He combines more than twenty years of public accounting and Fortune 500 experience and an expertise in attestation and consulting services for a variety of clients. His experience includes ERM reviews, IT audits (includes cybersecurity, governance, and business continuity, regulations), operational, outsourced and co-source internal audit, internal audit transformation projects and forensic projects.

He is a frequent presenter and training evaluator for several professional organizations, which include Association of College & University Auditors (ACUA), Massachusetts Bank Internal Auditors (MBIA), and MIS Training Institute.

He has also served as an author and contributing editor to articles that appear newsletters and publications as well as conducted webinars. Mark has been awarded Fairleigh Dickinson University’s inaugural “50 Under 50” Business Leaders.

David L. Cotton, CPA, CFE, CGFM is chairman of Cotton & Company LLP, Certified Public Accountants, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Cotton & Company has performed grant and contract, indirect cost rate, financial statement, financial related, and performance audits for more than two dozen Federal inspectors general as well as numerous other Federal and State agencies and programs. Dave received a BS in mechanical engineering (1971) and an MBA in management science and labor relations (1972) from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He also pursued graduate studies in accounting and auditing at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (1977 to 1978).

Dave served on the Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards (the Council advises the United States Comptroller General on promulgation of Government Auditing Standards—GAO’s yellow book) from 2006 to 2009. He served on the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Anti-Fraud Programs and Controls Task Force and co-authored Managing the Business Risk of Fraud: A Practical Guide. He served on the American Institute of CPAs Anti-Fraud Task Force and co-authored Management Override: The Achilles Heel of Fraud Prevention. Dave is the past-chair of the AICPA Federal Accounting and Auditing Subcommittee and has served on the AICPA Governmental Accounting and Auditing Committee and the Government Technical Standards Subcommittee of the AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee. Dave chaired the Fraud Risk Management Task Force, sponsored by COSO and ACFE and is a principal author of the COSO-ACFE Fraud Risk Management Guide.

Dave has testified as an expert in governmental accounting, auditing, and fraud issues before the United States Court of Federal Claims and other administrative and judicial bodies. He has been an instructor for the George Washington University masters of accountancy program (Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting), and has instructed for the George Mason University Small Business Development Center (Fundamentals of Accounting for Government Contracts).

Dave was the recipient of the ACFE 2018 Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year Award (“presented to a CFE who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fraud examination … based on their contributions to the ACFE, to the profession, and to the community”).

Carl Mayes is the Senior Technical Manager – Special Projects on the Public Practice and Global Alliances team at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He is responsible for managing practice quality initiatives for the AICPA including regulator quality studies, practice monitoring and various technical and regulatory-focused projects. He is the project manager for theAICPA’s Enhancing Audit Quality initiative and manages the execution of the AICPA’s 6-Point Plan to Improve Audits.

Prior to joining the Public Practice and Global Alliances team, Mr. Mayes was materially involved in performing market research, developing the business plan and identifying the membership model for the AICPA Not-for-Profit Section.

While working with the AICPA Peer Review team, he served as the liaison to the Education and Communication Task Force of the Peer Review Board. In that capacity, he authored the AICPA’s How to Conduct a Peer Review and How to Conduct an Engagement Review courses; authored the Peer Reviewer Competency Exam; developed numerous webcasts on peer review and practice monitoring; and developed and/or reviewed all technical content presented at the 2012 and 2013 AICPA Peer Review Conferences.

Before joining the AICPA, Mr. Mayes worked as an auditor for regional and local public accounting firms. He is a member of the AICPA and North Carolina Association of CPAs and is licensed in North Carolina.

Mr. Mayes graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duquesne University with a bachelor’s in business administration in 2006.

Dean Mead is GASB Senior Research Manager, and Coordinator for the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council. He oversees the GASB’s research agenda, manages external research, and coordinates stakeholder outreach and communication.

Dean is the author of the GASB’s User Guide Series and other plain-language publications. In 2015, Dean received the Award for Excellence from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts for his efforts to educate analysts about governmental accounting through writing and teaching.

Dean also is an adjunct member of the accounting faculty at Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University, where he teaches governmental accounting & auditing, governmental financial analysis, and advanced topics in governmental accounting. He currently serves on the editorial board of Journal of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting. Prior to joining the GASB, he was assistant director of research at the Citizens Budget Commission in New York and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Edward Miller is a Partner in the Northeast Higher Education Practice. Mr. Miller joined Arthur Andersen LLP in 2001 and served clients in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. He joined Grant Thornton LLP in May 2002 and has since been fully-dedicated to serving clients in the not-for-profit sector.

Mr. Miller's clients have included the Salvation Army; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Robin Hood Foundation, Sarah Lawrence College, Ithaca College, Marist College, Manhattanville College, Molloy College, Seton Hall University, St. Francis College, Adelphi University, Drew University, Iona College, American Museum of Natural History, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Securities Investor Protection Corporation, The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, Fedcap Rehabilitation Services, Inc., United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Suffolk, Inc., Daytop Village, Inc., The National Arthritis Foundation, the ASCPA, AmeriCares Foundation, Lighthouse International, Teach for America and various other not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Miller received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a member of Grant Thornton’s National Not-for-Profit Leadership Team.

Marc Pfeiffer, retired, has worked in New Jersey State and local government policy and administration for 37 years. He also served as the acting executive director of the state’s Government Records Council at the time of its formation in 2002 and served as a municipal administrator for 10 years in several New Jersey municipalities. He has served as an adjunct professor in public administration in the master of public administration program at Kean University from 1988 through 2002. He holds an M.P.A. with a major in labor relations from New York University and a bachelor's in urban affairs from American University.

Joseph D. Zarkowski is the PKF Partner-in-Charge of O'Connor Davies, LLP's Risk Advisory Group. He is responsible for developing, managing and delivering the Group's service lines that include SOC attestations, out-sourced internal audits, internal control risk assessments, integrity monitoring, custody surprise examinations, regulatory and compliance reviews, technology audits and specialized attestation engagements.

Mr. Zarkowski has been recognized by Business News New Jersey as one of New Jersey's Most Successful Young Business People "40 under 40." He is an instructor for the Regulatory Compliance Association (RCA) and has authored their Law and Masters Curriculum course "The Control Environment for Investment Managers." In addition, he is a frequent speaker and instructor for MIS Training Institute on various Governance, Risk and Compliance subject matters.

He also serves as author and contributing editor to articles appearing in newsletters and publications; and conducts ongoing webinars.