Greater Philadelphia Chapter Annual Tax Conference

Sean J. Brennan, CPA, MBA
President, Brennan and Company CPA PC

EDUCATION
West Chester University, MBA Economics and Finance, 1996
St. Joseph’s University, BS Accounting, Minor in Politics, 1987

AFFILIATIONS
Chairman: Pennsylvania Institute of CPA’s Federal Taxation Committee (2017 – Present)
Board Member: PICPA State and Local Chapters of Federal Tax Committee (2015-Present)
Member: IRS’ Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee –    ETAAC commissioner appointment (2011-2013)
Past President: PA Chapter (NATP) National Association of Tax Professionals (2007 2009)
Director: PA Chapter (NATP) National Association of Tax Professionals (1999-2010)
Member: State of Pennsylvania IRS/Practitioner Liaison (2009-2014)
Member: American Institute of CPA’s
Member: Pennsylvania Institute of CPA’s
Member: AICPA Tax and Forensic and Valuation Services Section
Member: American Society of Tax Problem Solutions
Member: Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
Member: Letip Business Network

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS & HONOR
2010 IRS Award of Excellence in Partnering
2009 PA-NATP Chapter Person of the Year
2009 IRS Award of Excellence in Partnering
2008 IRS Award of Excellence in Partnering

COMPANY AWARDS & HONORS
2018 “Best Accounting Firm in Philadelphia” WPHL17 Top Spots
2018 “3 Best Rated Accounting Firm in Philadelphia” 3bestrated.com
2018 20 Best Accountants in Philadelphia” Expertise.com
2017 “3 Best Rated Accounting Firm in Philadelphia” 3bestrated.com
2017 “20 Best Accountants in Philadelphia” Expertise.com
2016 “3 Best Rated Accounting Firm in Philadelphia” 3bestrated.com
2016 “20 Best Accountants in Philadelphia” Expertise.com
2007 “Best of the Northwest”
2006 “Best of the Northwest”
2005 “Best of the Northwest”
2004 “Best of the Northwest”

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
Chestnut Hill College, Adjunct Professor, (part-time) 2006-2012
Temple University, Dean’s Appointed Faculty, (Fixed 7 year term) 1998 – 2005
Montgomery County Community College, 1997 – 1998

COMMERCIAL EMPLOYMENT
Germantown Day School Founder and Headmaster 2017 – Present
Brennan and Company CPA, PC President 1996 – Present
Insignia/ESG Accounting Controller, 1991 – 1996
KPMG, Supervising Senior Accountant, 1987 – 1991

James M. Brower Jr., CPA, MST
Partner, State & Local Tax Leader
CBIZ Marks Paneth

Jay Brower, CPA, is a Partner of corporate and individual tax compliance and research services at Marks Paneth, LLP. He has more than 20 years of professional experience at the federal, state, and local levels.

Mr. Brower's duties also include the development of tax planning and implementation strategies, as well as education and development of the firm's professionals. Mr. Brower provides tax planning and compliance services to clients in the manufacturing, commercial fishing, telecommunications, professional services, retail and transportation industries.

Mr. Brower was recognized by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants as one of the “40 Under 40: PICPA Members to Watch.” He is a frequent speaker on subjects concerning federal and state tax issues including electronic filing; the domestic production activities deduction; State and Local income taxes and ASC 740/Fin 48.

January 2023

Michael D. Colgan, CAE
CEO & Executive Director
PICPA

Mike is CEO and executive director of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), a professional association of more than 22,000 CPAs in Pennsylvania. He also is CEO of the PICPA Foundation for Education & Research, which provides continuing professional education to more than 20,000 CPAs annually.

Mike’s key goal is to enhance the PICPA’s already stellar reputation as the premiere CPA association in Pennsylvania. He accomplishes this by fostering communications and personal relationships with PICPA members and leaders in the accounting profession, government, legislative and regulatory agencies, and other related organization. He works closely with PICPA leadership to propose new and challenging programs to the state and chapter officers, and takes a lead role in developing strategic plans and objectives with the senior management team.

Mike is on the board of directors of the Certified Public Accountants Society Executives Association (CPA-SEA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Future of Learning Task Force. He also serves on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) State Society Relation Committee and on the Advisory Board of PA Forward, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Library Association. He is a past president of the Delaware Valley Society of Association Executives and has served as a member of the finance and administration section council of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

Mike is a graduate of Drexel University and received the certified association executive (CAE) designation from the ASAE in 1990. Mike is the varsity girls’ basketball coach at Marple Newtown High School in Newtown Square, Pa.

Mike joined the PICPA in 1979 as manager on the professional education team, assumed the role of COO in 1988, and was named CEO in 2012. You can follow his activity on the blog CPA Now at www.cpanow.picpa.org.

Richard G. Furlong, Jr.
Senior Stakeholder Liaison
Internal Revenue Service

Mr. Furlong is a Senior Stakeholder Liaison in the Mid-Atlantic Area Stakeholder Liaison office of the Internal Revenue Service Small Business/Self-Employed Division. Stakeholder Liaison serves as the primary IRS liaison office to tax practitioner organizations throughout the country. He is currently on a detail assignment to the IRS Affordable Care Act office.

Mr. Furlong coordinates IRS participation at the annual Eastern Pennsylvania “Working Together” Conference. “Working Together” is a joint effort of public and private tax professionals to enhance the level of communication, education, and trust between these organizations and individuals. Mr. Furlong is also a member of the PA IRS/Practitioner Liaison Council which provides a structured forum for Pennsylvania accounting and tax professional organizations to meet twice each year with IRS managers and employees to discuss current IRS program issues. He also meets periodically with the PICPA Federal Tax Committee to discuss IRS programs and policies.

Each year, Mr. Furlong represents IRS at practitioner CPE sessions throughout Pennsylvania where he discusses IRS policies and procedures, tax law updates, Affordable Care Act tax issues, and IRS electronic tax administration.

Mr. Furlong is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics.

2023

Robert A. Lavenberg, CPA, JD, LL.M
President
ERISAworks LLC

Bob Lavenberg has more than thirty years of experience with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and related business advisory services. His expertise spans reporting, government compliance, and assessment of tax implications for plans, including qualified retirement, health, welfare, and fringe benefit plans. As a National Assurance Partner for an international accounting firm, Bob focused on employee benefit plan (EBP) audit quality for his clients and the firm's 1,900+ plans.

Bob is a past chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) EBP Audit Quality Center and the two annual AICPA National EBP Conferences. Bob was also an active member of the AICPA's EBP Expert Panel. Bob has written articles for professional journals, contributed to internal employee benefit plan audit trainings, and is a frequent speaker on various technical issues for industry and professional organizations.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
 - Member, Council
 - Chair/Member, Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center Executive Committee (2008 – 2013, 2016 - 2017)
 - Chair, Joint 403(b) Plan Audit Task Force
 - Member, Employee Benefit Plans Expert Panel (2005 – 2008)
 - Chair, National Conference on Employee Benefit Plans (2010 – 2011)
 - Chair, Employee Benefit Plans Accounting, Auditing, and Regulatory Update Conference (2009 – 2011)
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants
 - Member, Audit and Accounting Interest Group
 - Vice-Chair, Employee Benefits Conference Committee (2017)
Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants
 - Member, Ethics Committee (2006 – 2009)
 - Member, Employee Benefits Conference Committee
Society for Human Resource Management
US Department of Labor – EBSA - ERISA Advisory Council

EDUCATION
LL.M. in Taxation, Boston University
J.D., New England School of Law
B.S., Northeastern University

March 2018

Kathleen McColgan

Tax Deputy Revenue Commissioner

Kathleen McColgan was appointed Tax Deputy Revenue Commissioner in June 2018. She oversees the Department’s tax collections and compliance programs, including processing returns and payments, enforcing regulations, and supporting taxpayer services.

Mrs. McColgan joined the Department of Revenue in 1998, initially working in the intake, and then account analysis units of the Water Revenue Bureau. In 2004 she became a supervisor in the newly-created tax discovery unit, and in 2007, the assistant manager of payment processing. She was later promoted to revenue collection manager, and led efforts to modernize the Department’s payment processing systems.

As the Director of Continuous Improvements between 2017-2018, Mrs. McColgan was in charge of increasing efficiency across several key areas of the Department. She has a BA in Business Administration and Management from Pierce College.

James J. Newhard, CPA, CGMA
Proprietor, Speaker for Loscalzo Associates

In public practice since 1979, Jim established the firm JAMES J. NEWHARD, CPA in December, 1986 focused on small business entrepreneurs and individuals, to provide a wide variety of tax (preparation and planning), accounting & reporting (review, compilation, preparation, AUP, and QuickBooks Advisor), and advisory services to individuals, small-to-medium sized businesses (including start-up businesses), not-for-profit entities, estates, and trusts. Jim is also a CPE discussion leader, teaching practitioner A&A, professional ethics and tax CPE programs for Loscalzo Associates.

Jim is a member of the AICPA (including PCPS and Taxation Member) and the PICPA. As Greater Philadelphia Chapter past-president (2006-07) and recipient of both the Volunteer Service Award (2009) and the Champion Service Award (2012), Jim serves on several PICPA committees at the state level (PICPA Council, Accounting and Auditing Procedures, State & Local Taxation, Legislation, The Act 32 Task Force, CPA Image Enhancement, and Member Services,) and the Philadelphia Chapter level (Accounting and Auditing, Local Taxation & Legislation Committee, and Federal Tax). Additionally, Jim serves as the editor of the Accounting & Auditing column for the Pennsylvania CPA Journal, and has authored several columns and features, principally on CPA practitioner matters in A&A and Pennsylvania local tax matters (earned income taxes and business privilege taxes).

Jim developed/co-developed many Act 32 resources for members and users, as well as several other reference informational resources for practitioners (including brochures on PA business privilege taxes, and attest & non-attest financial reporting services) and consumers (including brochures on managing debt, CPA-client privacy matters, and questions to ask in choosing a CPA).

Joseph F. Procopio Jr., MS, CPA
Manager, Technical Staff
City of Philadelphia, Department of Revenue

Mr. Procopio is a Tax & Revenue Conferee Supervisor responsible for the management of the Technical Advisory Staff of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Revenue. Mr. Procopio has served in the Technical Staff since May 1993. Prior to his joining the Technical Staff, Mr. Procopio was attached to the Department’s Executive Office where he worked on several special projects. He had also spent several years in the Audit Division as an office and field auditor.

In addition to membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Mr. Procopio is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and presently serves on the Greater Philadelphia Chapter’s Committee on Legislation and Local Taxation and has served two previous terms on the Executive Committee. Mr. Procopio earned his Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) from La Salle University and his Master of Science degree (Taxation) from Philadelphia University.

Jed Silversmith is a counsel to Blank Rome LLP in the Philadelphia office. Jed represents individuals in civil and criminal tax controversy matters, particularly those arising in federal court. Prior to joining Blank Rome LLP, he was a trial attorney at the Department of Justice, Tax Division.

William J. Stickney, CPA
Partner
Grant Thornton LLP

Bill serves as a Tax Partner and the CIP Industry Practice Leader in Grant Thornton’s Philadelphia office. He has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting and possesses significant expertise in the retail, manufacturing/distribution, and services sectors. He has been responsible for the delivery of a broad range of tax planning services to his clients, including the structuring of new business ventures, the implementation of state and local tax minimization strategies; international taxation; IRS dispute resolution; and individual, trust, and estate taxation.

He has particular expertise advising middle-market private and public companies on the tax and business issues impacting them. Bill has extensive experience helping middle-market companies address the myriad issues involved in the sale or purchase of a business. Among the services that Bill has delivered to his clients in connection with the sale of a business are buyer’s and seller’s due diligence, structuring of sale transactions, modeling of the tax consequences of multiple potential sale scenarios, and assistance in establishing and running family office functions to manage post-sale liquidity.

Bill has been a frequent speaker on topics including estate and succession planning, merger and acquisition issues, tax accounting methods, and the taxation of S corporations.  Bill currently serves on Drexel University’s Accounting Department Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of Achieveability and is co-chair of the Federal Tax Committee of the Philadelphia Chapter of the PICPA.

Bill holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Neumann College, and a M.S. in Taxation from Villanova University. 

Jonathan S. Ziss, Esq.
Partner
Goldberg Segalla LLP

Jonathan S. Ziss, Esq., is chair of the firm’s Management and Professional Liability Practice Group, chair of its Aviation Litigation Practice Group, and a member of its Commercial Litigation and Cybersecurity practices. He devotes much of his practice to the representation of professionals, including accountants, attorneys, bankers, design professionals, insurance agents/brokers, directors and officers, and fiduciaries, in administrative and civil proceedings. He counsels and defends not-for-profit entities such as homeowners’ associations, faith-based organizations, and others, in management liability litigation as well as non-litigated disputes. Jonathan counsels clients and litigates, arbitrates, and mediates commercial disputes in a wide range of industries, from healthcare to hospitality. In addition, as a member of the firm’s cyber incident response team, he manages compliance and loss mitigation campaigns in the aftermath of data breaches.