Wipfli LLP elects four associates to partner
Press Contact
Jennifer Hacker Olsen
952.548.3389
jolsen@wipfli.com
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (July 25, 2013) — Wipfli LLP, a national consulting and accounting firm based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently elected Kevin Cherney, Lee Christensen, Vicki Johnson and Larry Lester to the partnership. With the addition of these four partners, the firm has a total of 142 partners.
With more than 20 years of accounting experience, Cherney specializes in serving the auto dealership industry, a practice that serves approximately 250 retail rooftops across 25 states. Cherney also serves numerous small to mid-sized businesses in other industries. With his expertise in both taxation and operational consulting, he regularly assists clients with such services as tax planning and compliance, strategic entity restructuring, IRS audit defense, dealership performance analyses, and LIFO inventory elections and computations. A certified public accountant, Cherney is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a past president of the Allouez Optimist Club. Cherney holds a bachelor of business administration degree from St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin.
Christensen has over 27 years of experience in public accounting specializing in serving financial institutions and has provided a wide range of audit and accounting services to banks and credit unions in the Midwest. In his position, he primarily manages financial statement audits, reviews, and compilations, but also provides consulting services to the clients in areas such as allowance for loan and lease loss methodology, due diligence and accounting for business acquisitions, and regulatory issues. Due to his depth of technical experience, Christensen is a member of the firm’s Financial Institutions Technical Issues Committee. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Christensen is also treasurer of the Oregon School Board of Education and president of the Oregon Soccer Association. He holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
Drawing from over 30 years of combined experience in public accounting and private industry, Johnson is the leader of the business advisory services group and the financial accounting outsourcing (FAO) services team for the firm’s Minnesota Region. In her position, she works with small and medium-sized businesses and their owners, providing proactive business consulting, tax compliance services and tax planning. Her experience includes more than 11 years in private industry working with accounting processes, payroll, retirement plans, and general business matters. She also has over 19 years of experience in public accounting. A certified public accountant, Johnson is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Augsburg College.
With more than 20 years of experience, Lester is a member of the firm’s health care industry practice, where he specializes in serving the senior living industry. In his current position, Lester provides a wide range of services to senior living facilities from helping monitor and evaluate their financial performance to preparing financial feasibility studies and consulting with providers on Medicaid reimbursement issues. Prior to joining Wipfli in 1997, Lester worked in the finance and the reimbursement areas of GranCare, Inc. He also worked for several years with another large public accounting firm. Lester is a member of the Wisconsin Health Care Association and Leading Age Wisconsin. He is also an adjunct professor in the Health Care Administration program at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Lester holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Mankato State University.
About Wipfli LLP
With more than 1,100 associates, 21 offices in the United States, and two offices in India, Wipfli LLP (Wipfli) ranks among the top 23 accounting and business consulting firms in the nation. For over 83 years, Wipfli has provided private and publicly held companies with industry-focused assurance, accounting, tax and consulting services to help clients overcome their business challenges today and plan for tomorrow. The firm’s clients include health care organizations, construction companies, contractors and developers, real estate companies, manufacturing companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, nonprofit organizations, units of government, dealerships, and individuals. Through the firm’s membership in PKF North America, Wipfli can draw upon the resources of 264 firms in 120 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.wipfli.com.
