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Common Interest Realty Associations Conference (CIRA)

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Renaissance Orlando Resort @ SeaWorld

6677 Sea Harbor Dr
Orlando, FL 32821

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Member Price $695.00

Price will increase by $150 on 10/14

Non-Member Price $895.00

Price will increase by $150 on 10/14

Overview

 

Now in its 24th year, the FICPA’s Common Interest Realty Associations (CIRA) Conference continues to move the needle on keeping CPAs in the know about the ever-growing and complex issues faced by highly regulated common interest realty associations. 

The thousands of CIRAs in Florida encounter tough financial decisions as they strive to keep dues low amidst rising maintenance and utility costs. You’ll better understand the complexities of CIRAs and the challenges when you engage with our lineup of regulators, attorneys, reserve specialists, and CPAs who specialize in this industry.

Earn 16 CPE hours while learning about major topics such as accounting and auditing updates related to CIRA, new and changing standards, DBPR, financial issues and deficiencies, legislative and legal updates, audits in the virtual world, state and federal taxes, developer turnover, and peer review in the CIRA industry.

It’s in your best “interest” to attend!


CPE Credit:

This conference qualifies for up to 16 hours of CPE credit and is subject to change. CPE credit is subject to approval by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.


Stack the $avings!

In addition to FICPA member and early registration discounts, you can save up to 15% when registering groups of five or more from the same organization. Contact FICPA Member Services at MSC@ficpa.org or 850-224-2727, ext. 1 for details.

FICPA Members save even more. Not a member? Join today at ficpa.org/JoinToday.


Cancellation Policy

We love to see you commit to the annual CIRA conference early, but know sometimes life forces schedules to change. If that happens, you have options. Please let our member services team know which option you select below:

  • Receive a full refund to your original payment method, transfer your balance to a future event, or place money on account by canceling before October 13th, 2025. Call or email MSC at msc@ficpa.org or call 850-224-2727.
  • Receive a partial refund to your original payment method, transfer your balance to a future event, or place money on account, minus the event cancellation fee of $150 by canceling on or after October 13th, 2025. Call or email MSC at msc@ficpa.org or call 850-224-2727.

Please review the FICPA CPE Policies for additional information: CPE Policies


Social Media

Follow the FICPA on Linked in, Facebook, Instagram and X and share news about this conference using the hashtag #FICPACIRA.

Highlights

  • Accounting and Auditing
  • Legislative and Legal
  • 2025 Updates Related to the CIRA Industry


Prerequisites

None


Designed For

CPAs and accountants practicing in the Common Interest Realty Association industry


Preparation

None


Notice

Accommodations:

Conference and Hotel Location

Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
6677 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, FL 32821

FICPA Room Rate: $189++

Hotel Cutoff Deadline: Wednesday, October 22, 2025*

*Reservations made after the cutoff date will be subject to availability and current room rate. Please note that the conference accommodation rate is subject to sell out prior to the advertised reservation cut off date.

*** Upon completion of your registration for the conference, you will receive an email confirmation with the hotel link to book your accommodations***


Thursday, November 13th

General Session

- Registration & Breakfast

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- State of the Profession

Shelly Weir, President & CEO, Florida Institute of CPAs

Shelly Weir

Shelly Weir is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA), the statewide professional association for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Florida. In this role, Weir serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the FICPA and FICPA Scholarship Foundation and works in partnership with the FICPA Council to develop and execute the Institute's strategic vision. Weir leads a staff of 40 professionals responsible for carrying out the missions of the FICPA and FICPA Scholarship Foundation.  

 

Weir is actively engaged in legislative and advocacy efforts representing the CPA profession at the state and national level, serving as a Trustee for Florida TaxWatch As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Florida Chamber Foundation, she advocates for the business and tax interests of CPAs. As President & CEO, Weir represents all Florida CPAs with the state's Board of Accountancy and the Department of Business & Professional Regulation. As a member of the CPA Society of Association Executives, she collaborates with other association leaders to address regulatory and legislative agendas affecting CPAs across the nation.  

 

An association executive with nearly 20 years of experience, Shelly has the unique ability to foster excitement, commitment and vision in others to the benefit of the organization and its goals.   

 

Weir began her tenure as President & CEO of FICPA in April 2021. Prior to joining FICPA, she spent 10 years with the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), where she was most recently the Senior Vice President of Career Development. In this role, she designed and executed programs that delivered career advancement opportunities and competency attainment for professionals in the hotel industry.

 

Throughout her time at AHLA, Weir represented the hotel industry on multiple task forces with the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor under Presidents Obama and Trump. She was appointed Co-Chair of the Presidential Task Force on Expanding Apprenticeship in the United States from 2017-2018.  In 2020, her work was recognized by the White House with the Pledge to America's Worker Presidential Award for outstanding career development. 

 

Weir earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University. She resides in Orlando with her husband and two sons and is an avid college sports fan.  

This session is available to registrants only.

Breakout Session

- Legislative and Legal Update

Jason Harrell, Chief External Affairs Officer, Florida Institute of CPAs

Jason Harrell

Jason Harrell is the FICPA Chief External Affairs Officer responsible for leading all aspects of the Institute’s public policy, advocacy, governmental affairs and regulatory affairs. He serves as the liaison to the DBPR and Board of Accountancy and is responsible for all advocacy-related external communications and campaigns to increase the value of the CPA license. Jason brings numerous years of experience to this role, previously serving as director of government relations for Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Association and budget and communications director for the Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, serving in key roles under two Speakers in the Florida House, and serving in the Executive Office of the Governor in the Office of Policy and Budget and Chief Inspector General’s Office.

Guy Strum, Owner/President, Gladstone, Strum & Company, CPAs

Guy Strum

Guy has been a practicing CPA for the past 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami and worked on his MBA at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. His practice is located in Plantation, Florida and concentrates on providing audit, review and compilation services to CIRAs.

He has been an active member of the FICPA, serving on the Common Interest Realty Associations Committee since 2000 including Chair in 2007. Since then, has chaired this committee’s Legislative Sub-Committee. He also currently serves as Chair of the State Legislative Policy Committee. Guy is also a past FICPA Council member.

Jennifer Green, President & Owner, Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, LLC

Jennifer Green

Jennifer Green is President and owner of Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, LLC and founded the firm in early 2007 with former U.S. Senator Connie Mack. With over 24 years of experience in political, lobbying and grassroots activities in the State of Florida she consults primarily on state Legislative and Executive branch issues affecting corporations, trade associations, local governments and not-for-profits. Jennifer is the Past Chairman of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists (FAPL) and still serves on the board and in numerous capacities within the organization including as a trustee of the FAPL Educational Foundation. She helped develop the DPL credentialing program. 

Prior to Liberty Partners, Jennifer served as the Deputy Executive Director and lead lobbyist for the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA). Jennifer headed up the legislative, communications, regulatory, political committee and membership functions of the 18,000-plus member organization with a $13 million annual budget. Jennifer’s direct staff reports consisted of more than 20 management and director-level employees. She represented the CPA profession as a registered lobbyist before the Florida Legislature and Cabinet for more than a decade. 

Jennifer was responsible for the administration and fundraising efforts of five political action committees totaling more than $350,000 in contributions per election cycle and a statewide grassroots network with more than 400 individual CPAs. Previous to her tenure with the FICPA, she lobbied the Florida Legislature on behalf of the Florida Bankers Association and a private lobbying firm. In addition, Jennifer participated in several statewide Florida political campaigns including the 1992 Bush-Quayle Presidential campaign and former Governor Jeb Bush’s 1994 and 1998 campaigns. 

In addition to lobbying, Jennifer’s background includes experience in many aspects of advocacy including political action committee fundraising, grassroots activities, coalition building, strategic management, communications, member relations and marketing. Jennifer has a wide range of business-related expertise, but has focused recently on professional regulatory issues, state and local taxation, local government auditing issues, not-for-profit and for-profit accounting and auditing issues, legal liability reform, constitutional amendment reform and common interest realty association regulation. Jennifer has worked with several successful business coalitions and directed the efforts of a group of 27 organizations that successfully defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have created a services tax in Florida. 

Jennifer earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executive (ASAE) after graduating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce four-year association management program. Jennifer also earned the Designated Professional Lobbyist (DPL) title from the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists (FAPL). Jennifer is a member of ASAE, the Florida Society Association Executives (FSAE) and serves on the boards of FAPL, Florida Chamber Political Institute, Florida Chamber CCE and is a past member of FSAE’s Board and Foundation. Jennifer received her Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Florida State University. She and her husband reside in Tallahassee, Florida.

This session is available to registrants only.

- Open Exhibition

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Accounting & Auditing Update Part 1

Bruce Nunnally, Partner Emeritus, Retired, Inactive or Other

Bruce Nunnally

Bruce Nunnally was a founding partner of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC in 1997. He entered semi-retirement in 2019. He has 40 years of public accounting experience, including 9 years with the international public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, LLP. Bruce is a national instructor of accounting and auditing issues. He has presented accounting and auditing continuing education classes for a quarter of the top 30 CPA firms in the U.S. Some of the courses he has led include:

• Annual Update for Accountants and Auditors
• Audits of 401K Plans
• Fair Value Accounting
• FASB Update for Industry

In 2016 and 2022, Bruce was recognized as an “Outstanding Discussion Leader” by the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Other
Certified Public Accountant since 1981.
Past member of the AICPA Accounting & Review Services Committee (ARSC)
Past member of the AICPA PCPS Technical Issues Committee
Past member of the AICPA Auditing & Attestation Subcommittee

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Accounting & Auditing Update Part 2

Bruce Nunnally, Partner Emeritus, Retired, Inactive or Other

Bruce Nunnally

Bruce Nunnally was a founding partner of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC in 1997. He entered semi-retirement in 2019. He has 40 years of public accounting experience, including 9 years with the international public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, LLP. Bruce is a national instructor of accounting and auditing issues. He has presented accounting and auditing continuing education classes for a quarter of the top 30 CPA firms in the U.S. Some of the courses he has led include:

• Annual Update for Accountants and Auditors
• Audits of 401K Plans
• Fair Value Accounting
• FASB Update for Industry

In 2016 and 2022, Bruce was recognized as an “Outstanding Discussion Leader” by the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Other
Certified Public Accountant since 1981.
Past member of the AICPA Accounting & Review Services Committee (ARSC)
Past member of the AICPA PCPS Technical Issues Committee
Past member of the AICPA Auditing & Attestation Subcommittee

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Lunch

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- SIRS Update / Accounting

Gabriel Mendoza, Senior Director - Assurance Services, Sokol & Sokol, CPA

Gabriel Mendoza

Gabe Mendoza joined our audit department in September 2016. He performs audits, reviews, and compilations for our condominium and homeowner association clients and manages our quality control process. He supervises field audit engagements, designs audit plans and supervises audit staff.  He manages preliminary testing and documentation, turnover audits and agreed-upon procedure engagements.  Further, he leads our external training program geared towards property management company accounting departments and property managers looking to increase their technical skills, financial literacy, and expand their ability to communicate financial results to users of the financial statements. Prior to joining Sokol & Sokol, he spent five years working as an auditor at Grant Thornton, LLP in their South Florida offices.
He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida and a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He also serves on the Common Interest Realty Association (CIRA) Committee of the FICPA, which plans and presents the annual FICPA Common Interest Realty Association Conference and assists members in becoming more technically proficient in accounting, tax, consultation and certain operational matters related to Florida’s CIRA industry. He graduated from Florida International University with a BS degree in Accounting and a Master of Accounting degree in 2012.

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Legal Issues in CIRA / Attorney Panel

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Open Exhibition

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- The SIRS is done, now what?

Matthew Kuisle, Regional Executive Director, Reserve Advisors, Inc.

Matthew Kuisle

Matthew C. Kuisle is a Director and Shareholder of Reserve Advisors. Mr. Kuisle is responsible for the overall management and administration of the firm’s Southeast regional team. Reserve Advisors is a leading provider of reserve study consulting services, having conducted over 30,000 reserve studies.

Mr. Kuisle is a frequent speaker and author and a Florida-licensed Continuing Education Provider for Community Association Managers. He serves on the Community Associations Institute (CAI) National Business Partner Council, CAI National Board of Trustees and as a council member with the Florida Legislative Alliance (CAI-FLA). 

Mr. Kuisle is a Professional Engineer, licensed in Florida since 2006 and also holds both the Reserve Specialist (RS) and Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) Designations. He is also the Treasurer of his condominium association in Tampa, Florida where he has served on the board for 15 years. He enjoys fishing, camping and spending time with his wife and their two young children.

Participants will gain an understanding of Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS) and the specific requirements in 718 and 719. The course will also cover who needs a SIRS, who is qualified to conduct, nuances of what is included, timelines for completion/implementation. This course has a heavy focus on what communities and managers are to do with the reports, once they are complete including reporting to DBPR, providing to owners, buyers and other third parties. We will also cover budget implications, allocating existing reserves, the various funding goals and likely pitfalls that will arise over time given the required frequency of studies and likelihood of market or internal changes between studies. Last, we will discuss how boards may look to incorporate financial or special assessments into their capital reserve planning.

Objectives.
1 - Learn What, Who, How, Why and When to conduct a SIRS and what are the reporting requirements
2 - Identity how to incorporate SIRS into budgets and financial statements
3 - Explore funding goals and report nuances

Credits: 1 - Technical Business

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Ask the Experts

This session is available to registrants only.

Optional Session

- I Have Dietary Restrictions or Special Needs

This session is available to registrants only.

Friday, November 14th

General Session

- Registration & Breakfast

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Governance Procedues / How to prep for an audit

Shayne Ellman, Auditor, Sokol & Sokol, CPA

Shayne Ellman

Shayne has over 10 years of experience in public accounting. Her focus is on providing audit and other assurance services for condominium and homeowner associations. Shayne holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami and an accounting degree from Florida Atlantic University. 

Shayne is also a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She serves on the Common Interest Realty Association (CIRA) Committee, which plans and presents the annual FICPA Common Interest Realty Association Conference. She also serves on the Young CPA committee which identifies services and benefits valuable to young CPAs and develops opportunities to engage in professional development and networking socials. 

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Income Tax Considerations / Top 10

Gary Porter

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Open Exhibition

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Technology

Kevin McElgunn, Senior Manager, WithumSmith+Brown, PC

Kevin McElgunn

Over 10 years of public accounting experience specializing in auditing, financial statement preparation and analysis as well as business consulting, with a focus on private and publicly-held entities. Withum’s team leader for implementing cloud based audit technologies tools such as the Dynamic Audit Solutions (DAS), OnPoint Employee Benefit Plans and Preps, Compilations and reviews, which utilizes WithumAI to ingest data on these various engagements. Leading member of the Firm’s Central Analytics team, responsible for implementing and executing computer-assisted audit techniques for the analysis of data using programs such as ACL, CAAT and data mining software.

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- QMS / Peer Review

Paul Brown, Vice President, Professional and Technical Standards, Florida Institute of CPAs

Paul Brown

Paul Brown joined the FICPA in November 1992 and is the VP of Professional and Technical Standards for the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA). One of Paul's main duties is to serve as the technical reviewer in Florida for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Peer Review Program.  The program administers approximately 350 reviews annually in Florida and oversees approximately 90 peer reviewers.  Paul also assists members in the areas of professional ethics and professional standards. As part of his role in the peer review program Paul has previously been an instructor and author of continuing education programs for the AICPA and FICPA, for which he had received several outstanding discussion leader and author awards.  Paul serves on the AICPA's Peer Review Standards Task Force, Technical Reviewers Advisory Task Force to the Peer Review Board and serves as staff liaison to two committees of the FICPA.

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Lunch

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Fraud / Forensic Concerns

Elan Sternberg, Director of Forensic and Litigation Services, Kaufman, Rossin & Co, PA

Elan Sternberg

Elan is a director in the Forensic, Advisory, and Valuation Services group at Kaufman Rossin, specializing in providing forensic accounting and litigation consulting services.

Before joining Kaufman Rossin in 2016, Elan worked as an auditor at a national public accounting firm in Philadelphia for more than three years. He executed various client engagements, including planning, budgeting, directing, and completing integrated audit tasks (including financial statements and internal controls).

Currently, Elan works closely with trial attorneys, in-house counsel, corporate boards, and management teams in the context of complex commercial litigation, fraud, financial investigations, and business and partnership disputes.

Elan provides dispute consulting and investigative services for various types of engagements, including those that involve economic damages such as lost profits analysis, business interruption calculations, intellectual property infringement damages, and construction claims.

Russell Landy, Damian Valori Culmo DVLLP

Russell Landy

Russell Landy is a Partner at Damian Valori Cuomo and focuses his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation, business torts, receiverships, contract disputes, class actions, and employment litigation. He represents businesses and individuals in litigation involving business disputes, shareholder issues, and employment matters. Mr. Landy has an AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ and frequently handles defense and prosecution in class and collective actions. He also represents federal and state court-appointed fiduciaries in corporate control disputes and government enforcement actions by the SEC, CFTC, and FTC, particularly in asset recovery litigation.
Mr. Landy earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2007, where he was a member of the Business Law Review and received honors in the Litigation Skills program. He also holds a B.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the University of Miami, where he was both Athletic and Academic Captain of the Men's Track and Field team.
Active in pro bono work, Mr. Landy has chaired the Business Litigation Committee of the Florida Bar's Business Law Section and frequently speaks on complex commercial and employment litigation topics.

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Investment Accounting

Maria Thompkins CPA, Hafer & Company Certified Public Accountants and Consultants

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Open Exhibition

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Senator Session - TBD

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Loan Accounting

Michael Marcusky, Juda, Eskew & Associates, LLC

Michael Marcusky



Michael T. Marcusky joined the firm in 1997 and is the firm’s audit and tax partner. Michael is a South Florida native and a graduate of the University of Florida.

Prior to joining the firm he worked for a local CPA firm as audit manager in charge of condominium and homeowners associations, as well as a controller of a large South Florida management company.

Since joining the firm his focus is on servicing clients in monthly accounting write-up, consulting and auditing. Responsibilities currently include overseeing a portfolio of monthly accounting clients and supervision of the audit department. In addition to these duties he has performed other consulting services that include litigation support for a large Insurance defense firm, receivership services for multiple condominium and homeowners associations and preparation and review of Association turnovers from Developer control. In addition, he has played a key role in several accounting software conversions and upgrades. With his longevity and dedication Mike plays a vital role in the management and future of our firm.

Mike is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and the Communities Association Institute (CAI). His outside interests include coaching youth sports including travel baseball. He also partakes in numerous water sports including, fishing, diving and jet-skiing.

This session is available to registrants only.

Leader(s):

Leader Bios

Bruce Nunnally, Partner Emeritus, Retired, Inactive or Other

Bruce Nunnally was a founding partner of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC in 1997. He entered semi-retirement in 2019. He has 40 years of public accounting experience, including 9 years with the international public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, LLP. Bruce is a national instructor of accounting and auditing issues. He has presented accounting and auditing continuing education classes for a quarter of the top 30 CPA firms in the U.S. Some of the courses he has led include:

• Annual Update for Accountants and Auditors
• Audits of 401K Plans
• Fair Value Accounting
• FASB Update for Industry

In 2016 and 2022, Bruce was recognized as an “Outstanding Discussion Leader” by the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Other
Certified Public Accountant since 1981.
Past member of the AICPA Accounting & Review Services Committee (ARSC)
Past member of the AICPA PCPS Technical Issues Committee
Past member of the AICPA Auditing & Attestation Subcommittee

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Elan Sternberg, Director of Forensic and Litigation Services, Kaufman, Rossin & Co, PA

Elan is a director in the Forensic, Advisory, and Valuation Services group at Kaufman Rossin, specializing in providing forensic accounting and litigation consulting services.

Before joining Kaufman Rossin in 2016, Elan worked as an auditor at a national public accounting firm in Philadelphia for more than three years. He executed various client engagements, including planning, budgeting, directing, and completing integrated audit tasks (including financial statements and internal controls).

Currently, Elan works closely with trial attorneys, in-house counsel, corporate boards, and management teams in the context of complex commercial litigation, fraud, financial investigations, and business and partnership disputes.

Elan provides dispute consulting and investigative services for various types of engagements, including those that involve economic damages such as lost profits analysis, business interruption calculations, intellectual property infringement damages, and construction claims.

Return to Top

Gabriel Mendoza, Senior Director - Assurance Services, Sokol & Sokol, CPA

Gabe Mendoza joined our audit department in September 2016. He performs audits, reviews, and compilations for our condominium and homeowner association clients and manages our quality control process. He supervises field audit engagements, designs audit plans and supervises audit staff.  He manages preliminary testing and documentation, turnover audits and agreed-upon procedure engagements.  Further, he leads our external training program geared towards property management company accounting departments and property managers looking to increase their technical skills, financial literacy, and expand their ability to communicate financial results to users of the financial statements. Prior to joining Sokol & Sokol, he spent five years working as an auditor at Grant Thornton, LLP in their South Florida offices.
He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida and a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He also serves on the Common Interest Realty Association (CIRA) Committee of the FICPA, which plans and presents the annual FICPA Common Interest Realty Association Conference and assists members in becoming more technically proficient in accounting, tax, consultation and certain operational matters related to Florida’s CIRA industry. He graduated from Florida International University with a BS degree in Accounting and a Master of Accounting degree in 2012.

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Guy Strum, Owner/President, Gladstone, Strum & Company, CPAs

Guy has been a practicing CPA for the past 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami and worked on his MBA at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. His practice is located in Plantation, Florida and concentrates on providing audit, review and compilation services to CIRAs.

He has been an active member of the FICPA, serving on the Common Interest Realty Associations Committee since 2000 including Chair in 2007. Since then, has chaired this committee’s Legislative Sub-Committee. He also currently serves as Chair of the State Legislative Policy Committee. Guy is also a past FICPA Council member.

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Jason Harrell, Chief External Affairs Officer, Florida Institute of CPAs

Jason Harrell is the FICPA Chief External Affairs Officer responsible for leading all aspects of the Institute’s public policy, advocacy, governmental affairs and regulatory affairs. He serves as the liaison to the DBPR and Board of Accountancy and is responsible for all advocacy-related external communications and campaigns to increase the value of the CPA license. Jason brings numerous years of experience to this role, previously serving as director of government relations for Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Association and budget and communications director for the Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, serving in key roles under two Speakers in the Florida House, and serving in the Executive Office of the Governor in the Office of Policy and Budget and Chief Inspector General’s Office.

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Jennifer Green, President & Owner, Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, LLC

Jennifer Green is President and owner of Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, LLC and founded the firm in early 2007 with former U.S. Senator Connie Mack. With over 24 years of experience in political, lobbying and grassroots activities in the State of Florida she consults primarily on state Legislative and Executive branch issues affecting corporations, trade associations, local governments and not-for-profits. Jennifer is the Past Chairman of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists (FAPL) and still serves on the board and in numerous capacities within the organization including as a trustee of the FAPL Educational Foundation. She helped develop the DPL credentialing program. 

Prior to Liberty Partners, Jennifer served as the Deputy Executive Director and lead lobbyist for the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA). Jennifer headed up the legislative, communications, regulatory, political committee and membership functions of the 18,000-plus member organization with a $13 million annual budget. Jennifer’s direct staff reports consisted of more than 20 management and director-level employees. She represented the CPA profession as a registered lobbyist before the Florida Legislature and Cabinet for more than a decade. 

Jennifer was responsible for the administration and fundraising efforts of five political action committees totaling more than $350,000 in contributions per election cycle and a statewide grassroots network with more than 400 individual CPAs. Previous to her tenure with the FICPA, she lobbied the Florida Legislature on behalf of the Florida Bankers Association and a private lobbying firm. In addition, Jennifer participated in several statewide Florida political campaigns including the 1992 Bush-Quayle Presidential campaign and former Governor Jeb Bush’s 1994 and 1998 campaigns. 

In addition to lobbying, Jennifer’s background includes experience in many aspects of advocacy including political action committee fundraising, grassroots activities, coalition building, strategic management, communications, member relations and marketing. Jennifer has a wide range of business-related expertise, but has focused recently on professional regulatory issues, state and local taxation, local government auditing issues, not-for-profit and for-profit accounting and auditing issues, legal liability reform, constitutional amendment reform and common interest realty association regulation. Jennifer has worked with several successful business coalitions and directed the efforts of a group of 27 organizations that successfully defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have created a services tax in Florida. 

Jennifer earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executive (ASAE) after graduating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce four-year association management program. Jennifer also earned the Designated Professional Lobbyist (DPL) title from the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists (FAPL). Jennifer is a member of ASAE, the Florida Society Association Executives (FSAE) and serves on the boards of FAPL, Florida Chamber Political Institute, Florida Chamber CCE and is a past member of FSAE’s Board and Foundation. Jennifer received her Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Florida State University. She and her husband reside in Tallahassee, Florida.

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Kevin McElgunn, Senior Manager, WithumSmith+Brown, PC

Over 10 years of public accounting experience specializing in auditing, financial statement preparation and analysis as well as business consulting, with a focus on private and publicly-held entities. Withum’s team leader for implementing cloud based audit technologies tools such as the Dynamic Audit Solutions (DAS), OnPoint Employee Benefit Plans and Preps, Compilations and reviews, which utilizes WithumAI to ingest data on these various engagements. Leading member of the Firm’s Central Analytics team, responsible for implementing and executing computer-assisted audit techniques for the analysis of data using programs such as ACL, CAAT and data mining software.

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Matthew Kuisle, Regional Executive Director, Reserve Advisors, Inc.

Matthew C. Kuisle is a Director and Shareholder of Reserve Advisors. Mr. Kuisle is responsible for the overall management and administration of the firm’s Southeast regional team. Reserve Advisors is a leading provider of reserve study consulting services, having conducted over 30,000 reserve studies.

Mr. Kuisle is a frequent speaker and author and a Florida-licensed Continuing Education Provider for Community Association Managers. He serves on the Community Associations Institute (CAI) National Business Partner Council, CAI National Board of Trustees and as a council member with the Florida Legislative Alliance (CAI-FLA). 

Mr. Kuisle is a Professional Engineer, licensed in Florida since 2006 and also holds both the Reserve Specialist (RS) and Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) Designations. He is also the Treasurer of his condominium association in Tampa, Florida where he has served on the board for 15 years. He enjoys fishing, camping and spending time with his wife and their two young children.

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Michael Marcusky, Juda, Eskew & Associates, LLC



Michael T. Marcusky joined the firm in 1997 and is the firm’s audit and tax partner. Michael is a South Florida native and a graduate of the University of Florida.

Prior to joining the firm he worked for a local CPA firm as audit manager in charge of condominium and homeowners associations, as well as a controller of a large South Florida management company.

Since joining the firm his focus is on servicing clients in monthly accounting write-up, consulting and auditing. Responsibilities currently include overseeing a portfolio of monthly accounting clients and supervision of the audit department. In addition to these duties he has performed other consulting services that include litigation support for a large Insurance defense firm, receivership services for multiple condominium and homeowners associations and preparation and review of Association turnovers from Developer control. In addition, he has played a key role in several accounting software conversions and upgrades. With his longevity and dedication Mike plays a vital role in the management and future of our firm.

Mike is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and the Communities Association Institute (CAI). His outside interests include coaching youth sports including travel baseball. He also partakes in numerous water sports including, fishing, diving and jet-skiing.

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Paul Brown, Vice President, Professional and Technical Standards, Florida Institute of CPAs

Paul Brown joined the FICPA in November 1992 and is the VP of Professional and Technical Standards for the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA). One of Paul's main duties is to serve as the technical reviewer in Florida for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Peer Review Program.  The program administers approximately 350 reviews annually in Florida and oversees approximately 90 peer reviewers.  Paul also assists members in the areas of professional ethics and professional standards. As part of his role in the peer review program Paul has previously been an instructor and author of continuing education programs for the AICPA and FICPA, for which he had received several outstanding discussion leader and author awards.  Paul serves on the AICPA's Peer Review Standards Task Force, Technical Reviewers Advisory Task Force to the Peer Review Board and serves as staff liaison to two committees of the FICPA.

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Russell Landy, Damian Valori Culmo DVLLP

Russell Landy is a Partner at Damian Valori Cuomo and focuses his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation, business torts, receiverships, contract disputes, class actions, and employment litigation. He represents businesses and individuals in litigation involving business disputes, shareholder issues, and employment matters. Mr. Landy has an AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ and frequently handles defense and prosecution in class and collective actions. He also represents federal and state court-appointed fiduciaries in corporate control disputes and government enforcement actions by the SEC, CFTC, and FTC, particularly in asset recovery litigation.
Mr. Landy earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2007, where he was a member of the Business Law Review and received honors in the Litigation Skills program. He also holds a B.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the University of Miami, where he was both Athletic and Academic Captain of the Men's Track and Field team.
Active in pro bono work, Mr. Landy has chaired the Business Litigation Committee of the Florida Bar's Business Law Section and frequently speaks on complex commercial and employment litigation topics.

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Shayne Ellman, Auditor, Sokol & Sokol, CPA

Shayne has over 10 years of experience in public accounting. Her focus is on providing audit and other assurance services for condominium and homeowner associations. Shayne holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami and an accounting degree from Florida Atlantic University. 

Shayne is also a member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She serves on the Common Interest Realty Association (CIRA) Committee, which plans and presents the annual FICPA Common Interest Realty Association Conference. She also serves on the Young CPA committee which identifies services and benefits valuable to young CPAs and develops opportunities to engage in professional development and networking socials. 

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Shelly Weir, President & CEO, Florida Institute of CPAs

Shelly Weir is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA), the statewide professional association for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Florida. In this role, Weir serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the FICPA and FICPA Scholarship Foundation and works in partnership with the FICPA Council to develop and execute the Institute's strategic vision. Weir leads a staff of 40 professionals responsible for carrying out the missions of the FICPA and FICPA Scholarship Foundation.  

 

Weir is actively engaged in legislative and advocacy efforts representing the CPA profession at the state and national level, serving as a Trustee for Florida TaxWatch As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Florida Chamber Foundation, she advocates for the business and tax interests of CPAs. As President & CEO, Weir represents all Florida CPAs with the state's Board of Accountancy and the Department of Business & Professional Regulation. As a member of the CPA Society of Association Executives, she collaborates with other association leaders to address regulatory and legislative agendas affecting CPAs across the nation.  

 

An association executive with nearly 20 years of experience, Shelly has the unique ability to foster excitement, commitment and vision in others to the benefit of the organization and its goals.   

 

Weir began her tenure as President & CEO of FICPA in April 2021. Prior to joining FICPA, she spent 10 years with the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), where she was most recently the Senior Vice President of Career Development. In this role, she designed and executed programs that delivered career advancement opportunities and competency attainment for professionals in the hotel industry.

 

Throughout her time at AHLA, Weir represented the hotel industry on multiple task forces with the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor under Presidents Obama and Trump. She was appointed Co-Chair of the Presidential Task Force on Expanding Apprenticeship in the United States from 2017-2018.  In 2020, her work was recognized by the White House with the Pledge to America's Worker Presidential Award for outstanding career development. 

 

Weir earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University. She resides in Orlando with her husband and two sons and is an avid college sports fan.  

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Non-Member Price $895.00

Member Price $695.00