GSCPA Recognizes Member Excellence

Public Service Award

The Georgia Society of CPAs recently awarded the 2019 Public Service Award to Rick Bennett, CPA and Ken Thrasher, CPA at the 2019 Annual Convention in Charleston, SC. The award recognizes a GSCPA member or members who have made significant contributions in public service activities at the local, state, regional or national level.

With over 40 years of experience in the accounting profession, Rick and Ken are dedicated and active members of GSCPA who regularly give back to their community. Apart from GSCPA, both Rick and Ken have a long history of continued service.

 

 

Rick is a past president of DFK USA, one of the world’s largest associations of professional accounting firms and business advisors. He serves on the Shepherd Center Advisory Board, the Kennesaw State University Founders Board and the Autonomous Fusion Board. He also teaches an MBA accounting class at Kennesaw State University.

 

 

Ken is a past president of the Lovett Lionbackers and Buckhead Baseball, Inc. and served as a volunteer coach for Buckhead Baseball and Northside Youth Organization from 1987-2001. He is also a past president and chairman of The Southern Federal Tax Institute and serves on its Advisory Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Leadership Ministries, Inc. and the Leadership Ministries Foundation, and serves on the Board of Langham Partnership USA and Habitat for Humanity Atlanta Advisory Board.

 

Rick and Ken, co-founding partners of Bennett Thrasher, are both happily married and enjoy time with their many children and grandchildren.

Distinguished Member Award

The Distinguished Member Award recognizes a GSCPA member who has demonstrated dedicated service to the Society and the accounting profession. The Georgia Society of CPAs recently awarded the 2019 Distinguished Member Award to Kelly Smith, CPA.

As a partner with PwC, Kelly leads a state tax practice in Atlanta that is made up of over forty practitioners who cover all areas of state and local tax. He focuses on corporate income tax, and his client base spans nearly all industries and business types.

The overwhelming majority of Kelly’s work over the past ten years focuses on taxpayer advocacy, and he leads the firm’s State Tax Controversy practice in the southeast. Before his current position, Kelly worked briefly at the Georgia Department of Revenue as a legal assistant while Marcus Collins was commissioner.

As a proud and active CPA, Kelly is a long-standing member of The Georgia Society of CPAs, the AICPA and Georgia, Atlanta, and American Bar Associations. Furthermore, he is a Southeastern Association of Tax Administrators (SEATA) Industry Council Member as well as a member of the Georgia Commissioner of Revenue’s Advisory Council since its inception under Commissioner Bart Graham.

In addition to his many professional accomplishments, Kelly is a devoted husband to wife Ginny and father to son Charlie and daughter Vivian.

Meritorious Service Award

The Georgia Society of CPAs recently presented the 2019 Meritorious Service Award to Paula Mooney, CPA at the 2019 Annual Convention in Charleston, SC. The Meritorious Service Award recognizes individuals who have shown extraordinary dedication to the public or the profession from an accounting perspective.

Those who know Paula Mooney are aware of her passion for all things accounting, devotion to The Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants (GSCPA) and desire to mentor others. Her continuous, sustained and meaningful support for GSCPA sets her apart as a member who goes well above and beyond the call of duty. Paula is recognized as a consummate professional whose expertise, experience and wise counsel are still sought by many, both within the profession and within her community.

Paula graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1983 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and 1985 with a Master of Accountancy in auditing/systems. In college, she was active in Beta Alpha Psi and eventually served as president of the UGA chapter. As a student in UGA’s Master’s program, she was one of only four students asked to teach in the undergraduate accounting program. Paula went on to receive her CPA certification in 1987.

Upon graduation, Paula began her public accounting career as an auditor with Touche Ross & Co., currently known as Deloitte. Missing the interaction with students she had enjoyed so much as a professor, Paula began teaching as an adjunct professor for North DeKalb College, now a unit of Georgia State University. With over 35 years of accounting experience, Paula’s impressive resume includes work in public accounting, education, government, industry and consulting. In 2016, she left her position as the CFO of a nonprofit to return to the classroom and her first love – teaching and mentoring. Regardless of where she found herself as a CPA, Paula has never lost the personal touch, friendly smile and positive can-do attitude that her coworkers, fellow CPAs and now students, value most about her.

Paula’s passion for The Georgia Society of CPAs extends throughout her entire professional career. She joined The Society in 1987, the same year she became a CPA, as a member of the Southeast Georgia Chapter. Over the years, she has served on various GSCPA committees and task forces including Budget, Nominating, Investment, Management, Financial Literacy and the Boards for both GSCPA and The Educational Foundation. Paula’s service with The GSCPA Educational Foundation led to several leadership positions, including a year as Foundation president from 1997-1998.

Paula continued her service to GSCPA by serving on the Society’s Board of Directors and went on to serve as GSCPA president from 2007-2008. As president, she diligently worked to build support for the Uniform Accountancy Act in Georgia. While the State did not adopt the entire Act, one of her proudest accomplishments is the State’s passage of CPA mobility legislation. Other accomplishments during her year as president included maintaining GSCPA’s financial literacy initiative and expanding the concept of work/life balance, which led to GSCPA’s first Work/Life Balance Conference. Today, Paula is still actively involved at the state and chapter level and continues to serve on The Educational Foundation Scholarship Committee as well as the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.

Apart from GSCPA, Paula is also active in other professional organizations such as the AICPA, ACFE, and the GAAE.

Paula is an active member of her church, serving on committees, working in both the children and youth ministries and teaching in a unique program she founded for sixth-grade students. Additionally, Paula serves on several not-for-profit boards, including Luke’s Project 11 and The Hearts and Hands Clinic, where she was granted emeritus status.

Paula’s huge heart is built around her family. She models the message, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Both Paula and her husband, Lowell have had successful careers in the accounting profession and have the distinction of being the first husband and wife to serve as a president and a chair of The Georgia Society of CPAs. They are blessed with three children, Jessica, Sarah and Christopher.

For more information on nominating a member for any of GSCPA’s awards, please visit http://www.gscpa.org/ content/Membership/Awards.aspx.