Allan Koltin is a seasoned business advisor and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the accounting and consulting industries. As CEO of the Koltin Consulting Group, he leads a team of professionals who provide strategic guidance and support to accounting firms and their leaders.

Throughout his career, Allan has worked with hundreds of accounting firms, ranging from small local firms to large international organizations. He has helped these firms navigate complex business challenges, develop growth strategies, and improve operational efficiency.

An esteemed thought leader in the industry, Allan is a frequent speaker at industry events and has authored numerous articles and publications on topics related to accounting firm management and leadership. He is passionate about helping firms grow and succeed, and his insights and expertise have proven invaluable to countless clients throughout his career.

Prior to founding the Koltin Consulting Group, Allan was the CEO of PDI Global, a leading provider of consulting and training services to accounting firms. He also spent several years as a Partner with Deloitte, providing strategic consulting services to clients in a variety of industries.

Allan holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society.

With his extensive knowledge and experience, Allan has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor and mentor to accounting firm leaders across the country. He works closely with his clients to understand their unique challenges and goals, and develops customized solutions that drive growth and success.

Gary Shamis is a highly experienced and accomplished business advisor, entrepreneur, and Certified Public Accountant with over 40 years of experience in the accounting and consulting industries. As the Managing Director of Winding River Consulting, Gary provides strategic guidance and support to accounting firms, helping them navigate the complex challenges of the modern business landscape.

Throughout his career, Gary has worked with hundreds of accounting firms across the United States, ranging from small local practices to large international organizations. He has a deep understanding of the challenges facing the industry, and has helped countless firms overcome those challenges and achieve long-term success.

Gary is a recognized thought leader in the industry and a frequent speaker at industry events. He has authored numerous articles and publications on topics related to accounting firm management, leadership, and growth. He is passionate about helping accounting firms achieve their full potential and has dedicated his career to this mission.

Prior to founding Winding River Consulting, Gary was a co-founder of SS&G, a top 50 accounting and consulting firm, where he served as Managing Partner for over 30 years. Under his leadership, the firm grew from a small local practice to a regional powerhouse with multiple offices and a diverse portfolio of clients.

Gary is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Akron.

With his extensive knowledge, experience, and passion for the industry, Gary has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor and mentor to accounting firm leaders across the country. He works closely with his clients to develop customized strategies that drive growth and profitability, and he is committed to helping accounting firms thrive in the face of the challenges and opportunities of the modern business world.

Russell Shapiro is a member of the firm’s Corporate Group, an area in which he has practiced for his entire career, focusing in particular on mergers and acquisitions. Russell's industry insight and his clients' diverse business objectives have shown him that every transaction demands its own solutions. As a result, he is committed to listening to his clients, understanding their business, and designing transactions to meet their specific strategic goals. Russell’s more than three decades of successful practice in this area have allowed him to serve as an expert witness in merger disputes.

Russell's insight on tax and finance issues is deepened considerably by his status as a certified public accountant, giving him a nuanced understanding of his clients' needs and the ability to craft the most effective tax and finance strategies. Russell’s background has led him to develop especially deep experience representing accounting firms, where he regularly assists with partnership agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and the enforcement of restrictive covenants. He performs similar work for other professional services firms, including law firms, consulting firms and investment banks.

In the last several years, Russell has worked on a number of nationally recognized accounting firm mergers, including Marks Paneth and CBIZ; Berdon and Citrin Cooperman; Lurie and EisnerAmper; Baker Tilly and Henry+Horne; and Aprio and Aronson, and many others. Russell has compiled a list of resources for accounting firms here.

Founder and President Allan Fisher has been the recruiter of choice to elite local, regional, and national accounting firms for 24 years. Leveraging his extensive industry expertise, Allan is driven to facilitate transformative change for organizations and candidates, alike. With a mission to further client strategic visions and goals, Allan has keen insight into accounting talent market trends and forces, enabling him to make placements that surpass industry averages for engagement and retention.

Allan originally began his career in accounting, spending two years with a professional services firm. From there, he moved to a division of a $500 million publicly traded software manufacturer. In January 1998, seeking to utilize his accounting background in service to others, Allan made the jump to recruiting, joining Accounting Principals, a national staffing firm. In his three and a half years with Accounting Principals, he was ranked as one of the top executive recruiters nationwide, winning the “Consultant Of The Year” award by the California Staffing Professionals Association (CSP) in 2000.

Knowing his unparalleled integrity could deliver an elevated client experience and his industry-specific insight could provide more effective talent solutions, Allan decided to strike out on his own, founding Premier Financial Search in June of 2001. In the 20 years since PFS’ inception, Allan has cultivated lasting relationships with many of the industry’s most innovative and respected firms. With a reputation for unqualified integrity and the climate of candor and unmitigated confidentiality Allan brings to each engagement, many of his clients now call on his decades’ worth of industry expertise to function in a capacity as strategic advisor for his talent recruitment, engagement, and retention expertise – a role he considers his greatest success.

Mark Burnette is the Advisory Services Practice Leader and Shareholder-in-Charge of LBMC’s Information Security practice. He possesses 18 years of experience in information security and risk management. Mark’s background includes extensive experience in security program strategy and development, regulatory compliance, security policies and procedures, risk assessment and management, penetration testing, and security function design, development, and staffing. Mark is particularly passionate about cybersecurity leadership and growing the profession.

During his decorated career, Mark has served as the President and Global Practice Leader for a national information security consulting company and built and led information security functions for two major publicly-traded corporations. He worked for several years in key leadership roles with two of the Big 6 (now Big 4) accounting firms where he specialized in developing, implementing, assessing, and securing information technology solutions for companies in the healthcare, retail, manufacturing, banking, and insurance industries. In 2005, while serving as the Global Information Security Officer for international insurance broker The Willis Group, Mark was named the Information Security Executive of the Year at the ISE Southeast Awards. In 2008, while serving as the Executive Director of IT Operations and Security for hotelier Gaylord Entertainment Company, he was named one of Information Security Magazine’s “Security 7” top seven security leaders and was chosen by ComputerWorld Magazine as one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2009. In January 2011, the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), the international trade association for information security professionals, named Mark a Fellow. This prestigious honor, which has only been granted to a handful of individuals worldwide, is bestowed by the ISSA Fellow Program for distinguished accomplishments in the field of information security, leadership, and future service to the association and profession. Mark’s unique background allows him to bring a “walk a mile in the shoes” perspective to all of LBMC’s security engagements. His experience building and running information security functions allows him to develop solutions that are relevant, practical, and actionable.

Recognized as an IT security expert by technology think-tank Gartner, Mark has repeatedly been featured as a subject matter expert on ABC and CBS television affiliates been published in print media such as CSO, Secure Enterprise, Information Security, and ComputerWorld magazines, and quoted by ABCnews.com, among many media appearances. Mark’s engaging style has made him a popular and highly-requested speaker for international conferences and specialty groups around the world.

Mark currently serves on the American Institute of CPAs’ national Cybersecurity Working Group. That group of cybersecurity experts has worked on behalf of the AICPA to update existing cybersecurity control descriptions for the CPA profession and to develop a new cybersecurity risk management attestation standard that was published during 2017. The AICPA also tapped Mark to develop a cybersecurity toolkit for its member firms that provides guidance on how CPA firms can develop and staff a cybersecurity consulting function that will allow them to offer cybersecurity services to their clients. Mark also led the development of the AICPA’s official training curriculum on cybersecurity risk assessment and consulting services. These new training courses, delivered for the first time in 2017, are training the next generation of cybersecurity auditors and assessors in the proper scoping, evaluation, execution, review, and reporting of an entity’s cybersecurity posture. In January 2019, Mark was recognized as one of the cybersecurity industry’s 75 “Pioneers”, having been one of the first enterprise CISOs, and, in so doing, laying the groundwork for today’s CISO role. In March 2019, Mark delivered a wildly-popular TED talk at TEDxNashville titled “The Humanity Behind Cybersecurity Attacks”.

For his cumulative efforts as a security leader serving his community and his State, on September 11, 2008 Mark was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in recognition of outstanding service in the best interests and highest traditions of the State of Tennessee.

David Toth built his marketing expertise around a strong digital comprehension. Understanding the importance of data, he reasoned, should guide each step of the process, using informed decision making to adapt when and where necessary. Armed with the evidence, David challenges the status quo to drive results.

He is a strategic-thinker and believes the path to successful outcomes includes integrating technology with tried-and-true practices. As David sees it, when it comes to digital transformation there will always be new dots to connect. The challenge is having the discipline to make the connections that close the gap between marketing dollars and sales revenue.

David has served as an outsourced CMO, agency executive, and change agent for organizations in sectors from fast-growing start-ups to well established Fortune 500 companies. He has a knack for building meaningful relationships. David has found that while each business and industry is unique, the foundation to success is always the same — know your audience.