2024 Tax Summit

Kevin Bell joined Cochran Bell Wealth and Tax Strategy in 2015 and became an owner in 2020. He came to the practice to help clients plan and pursue their financial goals. He sums up his passion for financial services this way, ” In my years of corporate wellness, when talking with clients, I always brought up a question to gauge their willingness to change. “People can spend their entire lives sacrificing their health to gain money. Then, when they get to retirement years, they sacrifice all of their money to try and regain their health. Does that remind you of anyone?”

Inevitably, my health clients could name a tragic case off the top of their head of someone who made it to retirement, only to pass away shortly after and not being able to enjoy those years of hard work. I know how important a financial plan is for the future of my own family. My years in the wellness field helped crystallize, just as it’s important to have a wellness plan, it is equally as important to have a financial plan for your future. After much thought, prayer and consideration, it was obvious to me that helping people come to peace with Financial Health was where I wanted to transition my professional goals.

Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services℠, Member FINRA, SIPC (finra.org, sipc.org). Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services℠. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency.

Jim Buffington is the Advisory Services Leader for Intuit. Jim’s passion is helping Accounting Professionals lead with planning and advisory services to help power prosperity for businesses. He leads the Intuit Tax Customer Council where he learns best practices from leading firms to share with the profession.

“Making Accounting a Little Less Taxing”® is Nayo Carter-Gray’s goal as owner and founder of 1st Step Accounting, a virtual accounting practice located in Baltimore, MD. Nayo is an Enrolled Agent, a Gusto Ambassador, and a QuickBooks Online Advanced Certified Pro-Advisor. She was also named one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting and Forbes Top 100 Tax Twitter accounts to follow two years in a row.

Matt Jagst is a seasoned tax and accounting technology product executive with over twenty-five years of experience in the profession. As Vice President and Head of Product Management at TaxAct, Matt connects with customers and prospects to identify pain points, track key trends and opportunities in their professions, and updates and releases products to market that solve those problems.

Elizabeth “Liz” Kolar brings more than 35 years of accounting industry and professional education experience to her role at Surgent Accounting & Financial Education. As executive vice president leading the division, Liz oversees the ongoing expansion of accounting and financial services exam prep and continuing professional education offerings. She began her career in public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand, where she served as a senior auditor working with investment banks. Tapping into her passion for teaching, Liz returned to her alma mater, Pace University, to become an assistant professor of accounting. In the years that followed, she continued to work at the college level while also teaching CPA review courses for Fox Gearty, Gross Monette and Becker. Liz saw an opportunity to become an entrepreneur in 2006 and co-founded Philadelphia CPA Review. In 2011, she broke out on her own and started Pinnacle CPA Review, which was later acquired by Surgent. A believer in the importance of career-long learning, Liz pushes her team to stay ahead of industry changes and deliver learning experiences that enable professionals to make a bigger impact.  

Clarice Landreth, EA is an enrolled agent with over 20 years of expertise in advanced tax resolution. She is the Quality Assurance Analyst at Omni in Broomfield, Colorado.  Since 2014, Clarice has been teaching continuing education classes focused on tax resolution. She is an NTPI Fellow, currently serves as the Chair of the NTPI Planning Committee, and was awarded the NAEA Excellence in Education Award in 2021.

Coltin Lash joined CPACharge two years ago, and his mission is to help accounting professionals streamline their payment processes. CPACharge’s platform provides an end-to-end billing and payment solution for better performance, higher productivity, and more profits. Coltin is from Colorado and has been in Austin, Texas, for two years. On weekends, he likes to be active and spend his time outside at the lake.

Bringing 48 years of experience in tax consulting, estate planning, and employee benefits to his work as an independent consultant, Michael is the owner of MIRANDA CPA & Consulting LLC in Sioux Falls, SD. His tax practice focuses on corporate, individual, estate and gift, and tax accounting. He also provides employee benefit planning and consultation services for qualified, non-qualified, and health and welfare benefit plans. As part of his IRS representation practice, Michael has worked with the National Office to obtain private letter rulings for clients, in addition to numerous EPCRS submissions and audits. As a nationally recognized tax speaker, he maintains an active schedule presenting webinars and seminars on tax law, employee benefit planning, and estate planning.

Michael spent much of his career as a CPA with a regional CPA firm located in Northwestern Iowa, retiring after 27 years as a senior manager-shareholder with this firm. His career started as a Tax Specialist with a Big 8 accounting firm in their South Bend and Minneapolis offices, providing tax and estate planning for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. He has earned professional designations including CPA, QKA, NQPC and AEP. Michael maintains professional memberships with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the American Society of Pension and Professional Actuaries (ASPPA), National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), and the National Association of Estate Planning Councils (NAEPC).

Michael resides in Sioux Falls, SD with his wife Jeanette. Outside of his professional practice, Michael is a cellist with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. When he is not working, his time is spent with various activities, including traveling with his wife and playing golf.

Alan Pinck is an Enrolled Agent with over 30 years of tax preparation experience in the Silicon Valley. Alan has built a practice specializing in individual, small business tax preparation and audit representation. Alan, a nationally recognized presenter you have seen him as, the moderator of Tax Talk Today, NTPI events CSEA Super Seminar, Spidell Publishing as well as a variety of other presentations for tax groups and small business associations. Having represented thousands of tax returns in examination, Alan has obtained tremendous insight of the exam process as well as knowledge on a wide variety of tax issues. His real-world approach and stories bring his sessions to life!

Geoff is an enrolled agent, attorney, and certified public accountant who specializes in resolving complex tax issues. He is an active member of the California Society of Enrolled Agents (currently state director) and the National Association of Enrolled Agents. He was named a Fellow of the National Tax Practice Institute in 2015 after completing a rigorous program of advanced study in tax problem resolution. He has an MST from Golden Gate University and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Geoff is currently a Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Accounting at California Lutheran University’s School of Management and has his own law practice specializing in business, tax controversy, and estate planning, in California. Geoff was previously Director of Resolution for a national tax resolution company. Before that, he was part of one of the largest tax resolution firms in the United States, where he directly represented businesses and high-net-worth individuals during his tenure with the firm in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities.

A.J. Reynolds, EA has over thirty years of experience encompassing various areas of taxation. Though his practice centers on Individual, Business, and Estate Tax preparation, A.J. focuses a portion of his practice to IRS Representations. As diverse as his specializations, A.J.’s clientele, too, ranges from average workers to Fortune 500 executives. Additionally, A.J volunteers his time with the Iowa Legal Aid’s Managing Attorney assisting in Tax Court cases and assorted income tax issues.

A.J. brings his everyday “in the trenches” experience to seminars and webinars for multiple organizations to assist attendees with real issues affecting tax professionals. A.J. started his tax career with a national CPA firm in San Diego, CA after proudly serving for five years in the United States Navy onboard the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Callaghan. While onboard the destroyer, the ship executed many missions in the Straits of Hormuz off the coast of Iran.

Outside of his tax practice, A.J. is a member of the Diocese of Sioux City Priests’ Pension & Welfare Board and the Investment Advisory Board for the Diocese. When not working, his time is spent in various activities, including traveling with his wife and their two children.

Chelsea is an Enrolled Agent, working in the taxation field since 2014, with a concentrated focus on individual and small business tax preparation. She graduated from Saint Leo University with her bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Chelsea is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and the Florida Association of Enrolled Agents. She is also a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor and Florida Notary. Chelsea’s background includes stock option compensation ranging from mergers &  acquisitions, Restricted Stock Options, Incentive Stock Options, Employee Stock Purchase Plans and Non-Qualified Stock Options. In addition, she is familiar with IPOs for many companies and can help clients plan for these large tax events. Her advanced knowledge of these topics help clients with their tax preparation and planning. Working hand and hand with the financial advisors to mitigate tax risks and burdens.

Amanda Watson, EA, is the Customer Success Manager at Drake Software, where she leads a team to drive customer success. As an industry veteran with two decades of experience at Drake, Amanda is an expert when it comes to assisting other tax preparers with everyday challenges, whether software or tax code related. She is a lead customer advocate at Drake and is passionate about helping tax preparers understand complex tax code. Amanda is a favorite speaker and trainer, known for making tax topics accessible and relevant.

Jeremy Wells, EA, CPA, is COO and Head of Tax at Steadfast Bookkeeping. He became an enrolled agent in 2018 and a Florida certified public accountant in 2022. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), and the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA). He helps tax professionals with educational and thought-provoking content at JWellsTax. Contact Jeremy at jeremy@steadfastbookkeeping.com and follow him on X/Twitter @jwellstax.
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