David R. Bean, CPA, is the chief executive officer of
Governmental Accounting Research, LLC, a consulting and training firm dedicated
to public sector accounting and financial reporting activities. Prior to his retirement from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board
(GASB), David served as the GASB director of research and technical
activities for over 30 years. Prior to joining the GASB,
David worked in public accounting and government. He also has served
as Deputy Chairman of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). He
was the lead author on the 1988 Governmental Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting
(Blue Book) and was the founder of the GAAFR Review
newsletter. He was the last director of the National Council on Governmental
Accounting before the formation of the GASB in 1984. David is a
licensed CPA in Illinois and member of the Government Finance Officers Association, the Illinois
Government Finance Officers Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois
CPA Society, the AGA, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, and
the Municipal Analysts Group of New York. David was
inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 2025 and the
National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) Hall of
Fame in 2001.
Meet John Higgins, CPA.CITP, the visionary founder of
Higgins Advisory, LLC, specializing in guiding accounting, finance and tax
professionals through digital transformation. By blending strategic advice,
education, and coaching, John empowers these professionals to master today’s
rapidly evolving digital landscape. He began his career with a local CPA firm,
then founded and sold two successful technology advisory startups, and served as
a national technology practice partner at a top ten firm. Today, John is
dedicated to helping professional firms navigate the disruptive application of artificial intelligence technologies. He
has been recognized as a Top 25 Thought Leader by
the CPA Practice Advisor magazine for the past 15 years.
Professor Nugent received his Bachelor of Science in
Agribusiness, Farm, and Financial Management and Master of Accounting Science
from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Juris Doctorate from
the John Marshall Law School, now the University of Illinois at Chicago School
of Law. Before coming to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Mr. Nugent
spent over 14 years working for the Auditor General of the State of Illinois
performing complex financial audits, Single Audits, and compliance attestation
examinations of the State's agencies, bonding authorities, universities, and
retirement systems. He quickly rose from a staff auditor to the individual
responsible for personally signing opinions, including rendering the various
opinions within the State's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). At the
end of his tenure, he served as the Auditor General's Technical Specialist,
responsible for advising the
Auditor General on the intersection of technical accounting, legal,
and auditing matters encountered by his staff auditors and public accounting firms
working under his authority. At the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Mr. Nugent
teaches Intermediate Accounting, Auditing, Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, and Business Law and
is the faculty advisor to the Accounting and Finance
Club. He researches and develops case studies, including recent case studies on
§ 280A of the Internal Revenue Code and non-profit
frauds.
Marty Green serves as Senior Vice President and
Legislative Counsel for the Illinois CPA Society. His responsibilities include
working with the Society’s CEO and Board of Directors to launch initiatives
related to state legislative and regulatory actions affecting accounting and
financial professionals. Mr. Green also works with state & federal
legislators on issues and proposed legislation to best serve the Society’s more
than 23,00 members. Previously, he served in state government and worked on
public policy issues as an Executive Assistant Attorney General on the staffs of
former Illinois Attorneys General, Lisa Madigan, and Jim Ryan. Mr. Green also
worked in the administration of former Illinois Governor, Jim Edgar, as Director of the Governor’s Office of Citizens
Assistance and as an Assistant to Governor Edgar. Mr. Green is
also a Brigadier General in the Air National Guard–serving as the Air
National Guard Assistant to the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force. A
graduate of Western Illinois University and Saint Louis University Law School,
Mr. Green was also selected for a White House internship. He served in
the administration of Vice President George H.W. Bush assisting the
Vice President’s Press Secretary. Mr. Green is admitted to practice in the
state and federal courts and is a member of the Illinois Bar
Association. He is the recipient of the Western Illinois University Alumni Achievement Award,
is a Past President of the WIU Alumni Association and served as
an adjunct instructor for the university’s Department of Health Sciences. In addition, Mr. Green
also serves on the Board for the Illinois Governor’s Mansion Association and
is a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission.
Hollis Hanson-Pollock, CPA is a senior manager at Crowe
LLP, where she focuses on providing audit and consulting services to
municipalities, community colleges, school districts, and transportation
agencies. In 2020 she completed a two-year fellowship with the Governmental
Accounting Standards Board (GASB), where she worked primarily on projects
related to revenue and expense recognition, leases, and the replacement of
interbank offered rates. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society and is a licensed CPA in the
state of Illinois.
Kent Oliven
is a CPA and CPFO who has been the Finance Director and Treasurer of five
municipalities. He was elected President of the Illinois Municipal Treasurers
Association (IMTA) three times and is in his sixth year serving as an appointed
member of the Government Finance Officers Association's (GFOA's) Committee on
Retirement and Benefits Administration (CORBA) standing committee. He now works
as President of CGMA Consulting helping municipalities with their financial
projects.
Richard Ciccarone is President Emeritus of Merritt
Research Services, an Investortools company. With nearly 50 years in the
institutional financial industry, he is widely recognized as an expert in
municipal bond credit analysis, research leadership, and fixed-income
management. He played a foundational role in developing Merritt’s municipal bond
credit database, now owned and integrated into Investortools’ CreditScope, used
by institutional investors at more than 100 firms nationwide. Before Merritt,
Mr. Ciccarone held senior roles at major firms, including Van Kampen/Morgan
Stanley, McDonnell Investment Management, EVEREN Securities, and Harris Bank,
serving as Chief Research Officer, Research Director, and Co-Head of Municipal
and Fixed Income Departments. He co-founded and chaired the National Federation
of Municipal Analysts, served as President of the Society of Municipal Analysts,
and was a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council
during the development of GASB 34. His contributions have earned numerous
honors, including Institutional Investor’s All-American Fixed Income Analyst,
multiple first-team awards from Smith’s Research & Grading, and lifetime
achievement awards from NFMA, Smith’s, and the Civic Federation of Chicago.
Active in civic affairs, Mr. Ciccarone served as a trustee for the Village of
Hinsdale, Illinois, and later the Hinsdale Firefighters Pension Fund and on
boards that include the Hinsdale Hospital Foundation, Walsh Jesuit High School,
and the Civic Federation of Chicago.. He holds an AB from Miami University and
an MA in Public Administration and Urban Studies from the University of Akron.
Michael Nielsen is Director of Government Fixed Asset
Services, Inc.in Chicago, Illinois. He has served State and Local Governments
for over 35 years. His areas of activity have included capital asset policy
development, capital asset implementation assistance, and the annual updating of
capital asset information for financial reporting purposes, Mike is a past
advisor to the GFOA Standing Committee on Accounting, Auditing, and Financial
Reporting and has worked on numerous Recommended Practices related to capital
assets. He served as an Instructor for the GFOA and conducted the National
Capital Asset Reporting Seminar across the United States for 30 years He
provided input for the Following Task Forces: GASB Statement No. 34 - Capital
Assets GASB Statement No. 42 - Asset Impairment GASB Statement No. 51 -
Intangible Assets Mike received a BA degree from DePaul University of Chicago
and an advanced degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
Bill is a Partner in the governmental services practice at RSM US LLP. Bill
provides financial and compliance audit and consulting services to a variety of
public sector entities. His focus is on state and local governments, primarily
governmental pension systems and benefit plans, state agencies, villages,
cities, counties and special-purpose districts. Bill started his professional
career at RSM over 18 years ago working primarily on state and local governments
and gaining a wide range of experience in the industry. In his current role, he
is the audit leader or manager on several state and local government
engagements. Bill leads engagement teams performing audits and is responsible
for ensuring that the engagements are performing the audits in accordance with
firm policy and professional standards. In addition to directly serving clients,
Bill serves as an independent report reviewer for governmental engagements
throughout the firm and is also responsible for providing training both
internally and externally at training conferences locally and nationally.
Finally, Bill is a subject matter expert in government auditing and has
specialized in employee benefit plans, specifically public employee retirement
systems, which includes specific audit experience with complex investments,
pension benefits and retirement health benefits.
Professional affiliations and credentials
• Certified public
accountant, IL and IN
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Government Finance Officers Association, former member and Special Review
Committee
• Illinois Government Finance Officers Association, member, and
former Executive Board Member as chair of the IGFOA Partner Forum
• Illinois
CPA Society