Spence A Shumway, CPA, CIRA

Over 37 years of Accounting and Business Advisory experience

Emphasis:  Bankruptcy, Investigations, Operational Reorganizations, Debt Restructuring, and Insolvency Taxation

Has been engaged by business owners, trustees, debtors, creditors, creditors' committees, courts, examiners, plaintiffs, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Involved in over 5,000 bankruptcy engagements – from complex multi-billion dollar companies to small personal property liquidations.

Work history

• Founder of Stonebridge in 1987 (Atlanta).
• President of an international financial planning firm (Peterson - Atlanta).
• Senior Manager, international CPA firm (KPMG/Peat Marwick – New Orleans).

Teaching

• Adjunct Professor – John Marshall Law School.  Developed and taught seminar on business concepts.  Guest lecturer on bankruptcy tax matters.
• Taught bankruptcy tax concepts to the Internal Revenue Service's Special Procedures Group.
• Frequent presenter and panel member at conferences with the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees and with the Georgia Society of CPAs.
• Top rated instructor in the nation for the Becker CPA Review.
• National instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Education

BYU, Summa Cum Laude, B.S. Accounting with a composite minor in Economics/Management.  BYU's accounting program is consistently ranked #1 nationally among programs not offering a PhD and in the top five (typically third) overall.

Other items of interest

• Passed CPA examination on first sitting. 
• National Gold Medal - Zolfo Cooper/Randy Waits Award for the highest score on the CIRA (Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors) examination.
• Covered college costs with academic and leadership scholarships and by working as a hod carrier and truck driver.  By graduation was married, had a 1½ year old son, and was debt free - but penniless.
• Grew up working in the family owned drug store and started covering shifts at age 6.
• Financed social life and car in high school by working in the hay and oil fields while continuing to work  shifts at the drug store as an unpaid family service.
• Earned varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball.
• Picked pineapples on the night shift for a summer in Hawaii for Dole Pineapple Company.
• Lived in France for two years.  Was fluent in French (since lost).
• Co-founded the Krewe of Little Rascals in 1983 while living in New Orleans.  Little Rascals is a full range Mardi Gras Parade and Ball organization for children and is still going strong despite Hurricane Katrina.  This non-profit organization broke ground by offering participation sponsorships to underprivileged children without restriction to race or religion.
• Blessed (or cursed) with an intense intellectual curiosity.
• A family guy – enjoys spending time with his wife, their children, and their grandchildren. 

 
               Direct Number:  +1 (770) 995-8102

Robert C. Albretsen, CPA/CFF, CFE

Over 34 years of Accounting and Financial Forensics Experience

Emphasis:  Forensic accounting (including,  bankruptcy and insolvency matters, fraud, financial investigations, litigation and disputes, expert witness), and taxation.

Has provided services to attorneys, bankruptcy trustees and examiners, creditors and creditors' committees, companies and individuals in matters involving  fraud, embezzlement and mismanagement, shareholder and partnership disputes, troubled or bankrupt companies, financial statement manipulation, business disputes, economic damages, and concealed or stolen assets.

Selected in 2010 as a member of the team that is developing the national Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) examination for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Served as a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee and examiner. 

Work History

• Member, Stonebridge (Atlanta).
• Managing Director of Albretsen Consulting LLC (Seattle).
• Director, Grant Thornton, LLP - international CPA and consulting firm (Seattle). 
• Partner, Albretsen, Lancaster & Associates, LLC, and predecessor firms (Salt Lake City) .
• Partner, Neilson, Elggren, Durkin & Company - regional boutique bankruptcy and litigation services CPA firm (Los Angeles) .
• Manager, KPMG - international CPA and consulting firm (New Orleans and Salt Lake City) .

Presentations and articles

• Journal of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees NABTALK - Personal Injury Settlements - Taxable or Nontaxable - An Overview
• Northwest Chapter of Turnaround Management Association - Fraud in Management.
• Puget Sound Construction Financial Management Association - Forensic Accounting, White Collar Crime, Construction Fraud.
• Washington Bankers Association Issues & Answers magazine - Don't Let Your Lending Activities Borrow Trouble.
• Miller Nash Law Firm "From the Ground Up" Group - Fraud and Abuse in Construction Projects.
• Seminar for Clients - Income Tax Planning Tips.
• Northwest Construction Consumer Council - Top Ten Construction Fraud Schemes.
• In-house Training Seminars - various bankruptcy related topics.
• QuickBooks training seminars (beginning, advanced, construction and for lawyers).
• Taxation for Accountants and Taxation for Lawyers magazines - The Risks and Rewards of Limited Liability Companies.

Education

University of Utah, B.S. Accounting (December 1980)

Other items of interest

• Passed CPA examination on first sitting.
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).
• Member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) .
• Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF).
• Member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
• Learning Disabilities Association of Utah Executive Board Member for six years.
• Boy Scouts of America volunteer leader.

 
                  Direct Number:  +1 (470) 299-4648