Twenty-fifteen (2015) was a watershed year in Cloud Accounting in North America – truly amazing. At the beginning of the year, we announced the Top 50 Cloud Accountants of 2014. Such a great group of people, charging into the future and evangelizing the benefits of the cloud. This year, we’re been overwhelmed with the number of leaders jumping in head first.
We’re so fortunate to have met and engaged with such a passionate community. This is our small way of giving back. Without further ado, let’s jump in…
Rafael Alvarez, ATAX Franchise
With over 50 ATAX locations across the United States, Rafael is #CrushingIt with Cloud Accounting. He’s not only a member of XPAC, Xero’s Advisory Council; ATAX also won the Emerging Partner of the Year award at XeronCon Denver!
Keith Mueller, Bookkeeping Express
Keith knows first hand the pain businesses face to get their books in order from his many years at Accenture. And, as one of the largest cloud bookkeeping practices in the U.S., Keith and his team are clearly succeeding at solving that pain point. Keep rocking it Keith!
Bruce Philips, Blake Oliver & Shelly Lingor, HPC Accounting & Tax
Bruce, seeing an evolving landscape, has taken the great Jim Collins’ advice to heart: Get the right people on the bus and the rest takes care of itself. That’s what he’s done by partnering with Blake and hiring talented folks like Shelly Lingor. Talk about a Cloud Accounting powerhouse!
Jennifer Moore, Moore Details
Jennifer has taken the cloud accounting world by storm with her infectious enthusiasm and passion for the profession. She’s a social media maven, a regular bloginista, and a genuinely helpful person.
Cindy Henderson Magner, BBK | beyond bookkeeping
24 months ago, after seeing Hubdoc in action, Cindy gathered her team and made it clear that BBK had to choose. They needed to move aggressively into the future (move to the cloud) and choose to be Netflix, or they would become Blockbuster. As a result of her move, Beyond Bookkeeping’s cost of servicing their clients decreased from $600 per month to $60 per month & her team’s morale is way up.
Cristina Garza, AccountingProse
Cristina is focused on Scale with a capital ‘S’ and is doing it with style. She won the Living the Dream award at XeroCon Denver and knows the importance of operational toolsets in setting her team up for success. Needless to say, Cristina is our favourite superhero accounting professional!
Chad Davis & Josh Zweig, LiveCA
Easily one of the most thoughtful cloud accountants in the ecosystem, Chad and Josh are guys doing it their way. They’ve built a cohesive team that works remotely, from Nova Scotia to Columbia. They might also have the best story about raising their prices of any cloud accounting practice we’ve spoken to – it was pivotal to their business. Congrats guys!
Scott & Patti Scharf, Catching Clouds
When we think of thought leadership, Scott and Patti immediately come to mind! They’re active on Social Media and regularly posting fantastic articles on Sleeter (link). They’re fantastic people who love technology and helping e-commerce business owners understand their finances.
Nick Pasquarosa, Bookkeeper360
Nick is probably the youngest cloud leader on this list. He’s built an amazing culture at BK360 that’s tech-focused and all about getting results for their clients. To top it off, Nick and his team won Xero’s Bookkeeper of the Year – what a year!
Chad Ridner & Joe Carufe, Two Roads
After an epic year, from growing dramatically to winning Intuit’s Firm of the Future award, it’s no surprise that they’ve made the Top 50 Cloud Accountants of 2015. Chad and Joe take a customer-first approach to winning business & are two of the nicest guys!
Leslie Jorgensen & Stephen Schultz, Supporting Strategies
Leslie and Stephen have scaled Supporting Strategies from 3 franchises to 30 in less than 24 months – talk about hyper-growth! These two know how to build strong operational support for small businesses and replicate that support structure quickly and effectively. Such a powerhouse!
Rachel Fisch, FischBooks
Rachel is straight outta the ‘Peg (Winnipeg, that is). She’s the Lead QuickBooks trainer in Canada and knows how to build an audience. Her social following has grown from 100 to 1,300 in pretty short order and she’s only getting warmed up. Most importantly, Rachel knows her stuff when it comes to the cloud & Bookkeeping.
Judie McCarthy, Think Beyond the Desktop
Bill.com Guru, author, afficionado and all around awesome person, Judie has been in the profession and the Cloud Accounting space longer than most. She also has a special place in Hubdoc’s heart for her brilliant comparison of the Hubdoc and Bill.com integration to peanut butter and chocolate.
Hector Garcia, Quick Bookkeeping & Accounting
Hector shouldn’t require any introduction. He’s one of the powerful duo that runs the QB Power Hour. An accountant by trade and a hilarious co-host by nature, Hector is always there to help others.
Jody Padar, New Vision CPA
Jody is the truly Radical CPA. She’s delivered an awesome book on how to build a future-ready firm and constantly engages her audience with new and profound ideas. We’re big Jody fans!
Bill Gerber, AccountingDepartment.com
Bill has helped build AccountingDepartment.com into a virtual accounting behemoth in North America. With high energy & a passion for helping business owners understand their finances, he’s rocking it & isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Ingrid Edstrom, Polymath Bookkeeping
Ingrid and her team have been on a roll! Polymath was named third in Intuit’s Firms of the Future contest. They continually push out awesome and helpful video content and are quite the dynamic trio (and growing!).
Steve Chaney, Chaney & Associates
Steve is building a practice to envy and continues to support the awesome Xero community. He’s a Platinum Xero Partner and loves helping small business.
Jay Kimelman, The Digital CPA
From his leadership on Xero’s Partner Advisory Council (XPAC) to webinars, Jay is the ultimate “Digital” CPA. He clearly cares about innovation, technology, and the part the Cloud plays in transforming the lives of advisors and businesses everywhere. Kudos Jay!
Marvin and Jenny Galang, Double Rule
After winning Xero’s Partner of the Year, there’s no question that Marvin and Jenny are on a hot streak. They’re in the Cloud, building their practice & loving it!
Elaine Orr, BalanceSheets.ca
Elaine is an Intuit VIP, a social media guru, and a true Cloud advocate. Those that know Elaine, know that she doesn’t mince words. She does this because she cares and that’s why her clients love her!
Nancy Moore, Anchor Bay Accounting
Nancy might be the Friendliest number cruncher around. She believes that being accessible to her clients means more than availability. It means getting the job done with smarts and warmth. She’s leveraged this approach to building an awesome practice. Congrats Nancy!
David T. Miller, Armanino LLP
Previously, David was GM of RBZ’s Client Accounting Services team. Today, RBZ and Armanino merged to form the largest independent accounting and consulting firm in California. Talk about going for it! They are now one of the largest firms in the United States. Props to David and team for swinging for the fences!
David Emmerman, Emmerman, Boyle & Associates
From being an XPAC member to his association with H&R Block, David Emmerman is building his practice for the long term. Clearly a leader and all-around awesome dude!
Marilyn Parham CPA, The Bottom Line
Marilyn is not only a CPA; her Operations partner, Jessica, is a marketer extraordinaire. Whether they're passively collecting leads via the awesomely helpful content on their website or delivering a webinar to 1,500 e-commerce merchants, you know they're out and about telling The Bottom Line’s story to win the hearts and minds of online entrepreneurs and retailers everywhere.
Vanessa Kruze, Kruze Consulting
Vanessa is the Frank Sinatra of Accounting. And I didn’t just make that up: it says it right there on her website. Not only has she built a fantastic cloud practice, it was also strongly suggested by a “Friend of Franks” that she should be on this list. She’s also an amazing Cloud Accountant by the by!
Holly Devito, Sum of All Numbers
Delivering against the motto ‘Be helpful’, Holly and team are building a practice with excellent content. As we said last year, she’s quietly scaling a sizable and impressive accounting practice. Holy and team are ones to watch in 2016!
Laura Redmond, Redmond Accounting
Laura knows software. She’s a QuickBooks Online expert, and she authors Intuit’s official QuickBooks Online Certification training and exams for accountants. On top of that, she founded Aero Workflow to her fellow advisors deliver awesome experiences for clients!
Cindy Schroeder, Bright Bookkeeping
Professional, knowledgeable and dependable – that’s Cindy! Her clients love her. She’s a QB Expert and one of our Top 50!
Sabrina Covington, Covington+ CPAs
Sabrina is rocking it! She’s super proactive at winning business and is creative at identifying opportunities for low-touch engagements. She’s built these financial toolboxes that help clients get going with their bookkeeping. An awesome way to start a relationship and upsell!
Andrew Wall, WallCPA
This was the year Andrew stepped out on his own and what a year it’s been! He’s been at the forefront of the accounting world and as always is passionate about bringing the cloud and all of its benefits to Canadian small business.
Thomas Gabbert, mAccounting
Thomas and his team strategically moved to the cloud a few years ago and have done it on a national scale – that’s Huge! They’ve been recognized as one of Intuit’s Top 20 Firms of the Future and are committed to building a future that’s awesome for clients and advisors alike!
Greg & DeeDee Barton, Gregory D Barton CPA & Associates
Greg and DeeDee ‘get it’. They know adopting the Cloud makes their clients’ lives better as well as their own. One of Intuit’s Top 20 Firms of the Future, they know that Cloud vendors are essentially like their own IT department available at their fingertips to alleviate issues. No more storing a server in a closet at the offices of Barton CPA & Associates!
Diana McDonough, BridgeView CFO
Focus is powerful. That’s why Diana and her team are bringing awesome cloud services to the Hedge Fund industry. She’s excellent and knows her stuff!
Steve Ellard, Steven M. Ellard CPA
Steve and his team have designed their practice around the principle that small business owners value business insights above all else. It’s no surprise their firm was named one of Intuit’s Firms of the Future – they’re focused on delivering value!
Jason Lawhorn, Lawhorn CPA
From the Client Oasis to the Ideal Horizon, Jason and his team have the accounting package that is right for your business. They leverage the cloud to deliver world-class experiences for their clients. As they say, “It’s people you love, time spent, what you give & the legacy you leave”.
David Hall, Flaim Wolsey Hall
The riches are in the niches – that’s why David and his team are hyper-focused on delivering great accounting and bookkeeping services for physicians across Canada. Go get ‘em David!
Ryan Oltman, Kahuna Accounting
Kahuna has many arms and their investment in accounting is a testament to the power of cloud accounting. Ryan and team use best-in-class solutions to deliver game-changing financial insights for law firms. They’re the Big Kahuna of Cloud Accounting!
Mark Howes, Howes Tax & Accounting
Mark is awesome. He’s a Gold Xero Partner who loves automation and San Francisco. He gets the cloud and the power of automating everything. Kudos Mark!
Will Slade, Slade & Co.
Hailing from the Bay area, Will and his team know that workflow is everything. And, they know that working with awesome software makes that entire process significantly easier. Here’s to True Automation and the Cloud Will!
Cindy Hovig, Beyond Balanced Books
Cindy is BFFLs (Best Friends For Life!) with Skeeter Sleeter, has been cleaning up books for many years and is a true community builder!
Mariette Martinez, Mariette F. Martinez EA
Mariette might be one of the most passionate advisors we’ve come across. She loves the Cloud, great apps, Swag with a capital ‘S’ and hanging out with awesome people. She gets it and knows how to leverage apps to make her practice (and her life!) better.
Mathew Heggem, SUM Innovation
Mathew and his team have been focused on the small business market in NYC since 2001. They get the Cloud and recently launched a bigger, better more software-focused offering.
Ryan Baker & Ryan Watson, Upsourced Accounting
Modern solutions that make tons of sense: that’s what the two Ryans are all about. They’re a Xero Gold Partner, have an awesome website and offer cloud-based solutions that make sense.
Jennifer Green, Jade Consulting
Jennifer is leading the way with Startup Finance events co-hosted with Intuit. She’s bringing small businesses to the cloud and is having fun doing it!
Meghan Blair-Valero, Fogged In Bookkeeping
Meghan and her team might be the most stylish, 1920s dressed group of bookkeepers we’ve ever met. They’re doing it their way and enjoying every second!
Debra Kilsheimer, Behind the Scenes Financial Services
Debra is all about inspiration. She’s built her practice by helping clients see their future through their financials and by working with them to improve their businesses. Thanks for inspiring us Debra and congrats on making the Top 20 of Intuit’s Firms of the Future!
Jelena Arkula, BooksLA
Jelena spends half her time working at home in the U.S. and the other half traveling across Europe. That’s why she loves the cloud! It gives her the flexibility to work with her clients the way she wants without being tied down to a desk.
Jim Bourke, WithumSmith+Brown
Jim is a man of many talents. He lives at the intersection of Technology and Accounting and leverages this deep wealth of knowledge to help increase efficiency across Withum. He also speaks to many State CPA Societies advising fellow practitioners on how to leverage technology to increase revenue and make their firms more profitable.
Shelley Johnson, Allman Johnson
Shelley and her team at Allman Johnson are focused on one thing – helping their clients succeed. She’s an Obamacare expert and knows the benefits of automation in her practice. They also know how to have fun!
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