2026 Accounting and Auditing Conference - IN PERSON - BOTH DAYS

Kurt Oestriecher

Kurt G. Oestriecher, CPA is the managing partner of Oestriecher & Company, CPAs of Alexandria, Louisiana and has been with the firm since graduating from The University of Louisiana in 1986 with a BBA in Accounting. He is partner in charge of accounting and auditing services, and is also involved in litigation support and small business consulting engagements. 

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants (LCPA), and served as President of the LCPA in 2002-2003.  He is currently chair of the LCPA Professional Ethics Committee, and has chaired the Louisiana Accounting and Auditing Conference Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Budget Committee, and Nominating Committee.

Kurt served a four-year term on the Accounting and Review Services Committee of the AICPA from 2000-2004, and served a six-year term on the AICPA Joint Trial Board from 2005-2011.  He also served a three-year term as an elected member of AICPA Council and a one year term as Louisiana’s dedicated Council member.

Kurt was the recipient of the 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2018 Outstanding CPE Discussion Leader Award from the LCPA, and was named the Outstanding CPE Discussion Leader for the AICPA for twelve consecutive years.  He has authored many educational courses on accounting and auditing topics, including the AICPA “Annual Update for Accountants and Auditors”.  He has also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Accounting at LSUA and Northwestern State University.

Dean Mead

Dean Mead is a Partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPAs and Advisors (CRI), in the government and public sector industry line. Prior to joining CRI, Dean was a member of the staff of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for 24 years, most recently as Assistant Director of Research and Technical Activities. During that time, he also was Coordinator for the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) and the author of the GASB’s plain-language communications, including its award-winning User Guides. Between 2008 and 2020, Dean was an adjunct member of the Accounting and Information Systems faculty at Rutgers Business School, where he taught governmental accounting, auditing, and financial analysis. He is a member of the AICPA, FICPA, Association of Local Government Auditors, and Association of Government Accountants, among other professional organizations.

Jeremy Thibodeaux

Jeremy Thibodeaux is a partner in Ericksen Krentel's Accounting and Audit Services Section, where he oversees the quality and timeliness of services to many of the firm's audit clients with a focus on nonprofits. During his career, Jeremy has performed audits dealing with a variety of entities in industries such as governmental, construction, retail, hospitality, tourism and professional services. He also has extensive experience in auditing governmental and nonprofit entities in accordance with the Uniform Guidance.

Jeremy Thibodeaux

Jeremy Thibodeaux is a partner in Ericksen Krentel's Accounting and Audit Services Section, where he oversees the quality and timeliness of services to many of the firm's audit clients with a focus on nonprofits. During his career, Jeremy has performed audits dealing with a variety of entities in industries such as governmental, construction, retail, hospitality, tourism and professional services. He also has extensive experience in auditing governmental and nonprofit entities in accordance with the Uniform Guidance.

Ronald Gitz II

Ron Gitz, CPA, CGMA, serves as CEO of the Society of Louisiana CPAs (LCPA), a non-profit membership association representing more than 7000 CPAs and future CPAs. Prior to joining LCPA in 2012, Ron had a diverse career working both in public practice and industry. He owned and operated several businesses, including a successful CPA practice.  

At the national level, Ron currently serves on the Board of Trustees for AICPA’s Benevolent Fund which helps members through temporary periods of financial difficulties. He also serves on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s State Society Relations Committee, the Accountancy Stakeholders Working Group, and is Vice Chair of AICPA’s Interchange Planning Executive Committee. Ron is Past President of the CPA Society Executives Association and remains very active in the organization.

On the state level, Ron serves on the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry’s Taxation & Finance Council and is a member of the Committee of 100, and RESET. Ron also is a member of Louisiana State University’s Accounting Advisory Board. He leads LCPA’s Advocacy Team which works year-round to help create a more favorable economic environment for CPAs and the businesses and individuals they serve.

He holds both the CPA and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designations.

Ron enjoys being outdoors and cooking competitively. He lives in Covington with his wife, Jennifer. Together they have three children, Audrey, Mary Grace, and Harrison.

Lisa Benefield

Lisa Benefield is the Executive Director of the State Board of CPAs of Louisiana. She has been employed by the Board since 2011, first as an Investigator, then as Deputy Director in 2016 and finally as Executive Director since April of 2021. Prior to working for the CPA Board, Ms. Benefield worked as an associate attorney for the Law Firm of Oats & Hudson from 2007-2011 and served as Law Clerk to Judge Lloyd J. Medley, Jr. (Retired) from 2004-2007 at Civil District Court in New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana) in Lafayette, LA with a BA in Political Science, from the University of New Orleans with an MA in Political Science and from Loyola University College of Law with a JD in Civil Law. She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association and currently serves on NASBA’s Executive Directors’ Committee.  If not working, she’s either jogging or hanging out with her husband, two children and their Giant Schnauzer, Atticus.  

David Zoller

David J. Zoller is a seasoned government affairs professional and political strategist with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of public policy, advocacy, and political campaigning in Louisiana. He currently serves as Director of Government and Political Affairs for the Society of Louisiana CPAs, where he represents the interests of the state’s accounting profession before the state legislature and other governing bodies.

Prior to joining the Society of Louisiana CPAs, Zoller served as Director of Government Affairs for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC), where he created and executed the organization’s legislative agenda and lobbied on a wide range of business-critical issues, including tax reform, carbon capture and sequestration, COVID-19 liability protection, and direct appropriations for infrastructure funding. In that role, he also staffed FuturePAC, leading candidate recruitment, fundraising, and the endorsement process, and played a key role in securing approval of a tax incentive package tied to a $250 million corporate investment in the Baton Rouge community.

Zoller also served for nearly seven years as District Director for State Representative Julie Stokes (R-Kenner), where he researched and drafted legislation on tax policy, healthcare, industrial and residential regulation, and human trafficking, while managing constituent engagement and media relations. His work in her office ran in parallel with his role as her campaign strategist, serving as Campaign Manager for her 2013 and 2015 State Representative races and as Political Director for her 2017 State Treasurer campaign.

Through his firm, Zoller Consulting, he has advised political candidates and nonprofit organizations across Louisiana on government affairs, campaign strategy, and events, working on more than 30 campaigns at the local, regional, and state levels.

Zoller holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans.

Justin Headley

Justin Headley joined Warren Averett in 2016 and is a Senior Manager in the firm’s Risk Advisory & Assurance Services Group. He has over a decade of combined experience in public accounting and industry. With a robust background in technology, cybersecurity and risk management, his experience helps business leaders by providing tailored risk management solutions that align with business objectives and regulatory requirements. Justin excels in providing his clients with comprehensive technology and cyber risk assessments, SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports and business process reviews. He also assists his clients with navigating a complex regulatory environment by providing IT internal audit outsourcing and IT control testing for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. In addition to his professional services, Justin is a published author and a speaker on a variety of technology topics. His insights and thought leadership in the field continue to drive his success in an ever-evolving environment.

Marc Katsanis

Mr. Katsanis is Senior Vice President for the Valuation Advisory group. He joined Chaffe & Associates, Inc. in 1996 and has over 20 years of experience in accounting, corporate finance and business valuations.
His extensive range of expertise covers a broad spectrum of industry sectors including assignments in purchase price allocations for business combinations, intellectual property valuations, fairness opinions, employee stock ownership plans, shareholder transactions, valuations of privately held partnerships, limited liability company and corporate ownership interests, restricted stocks, and estate, gift and income tax valuations.
Mr. Katsanis is also an expert in the valuation of employee stock options and non-traded warrants.  He is the creator of the Valrex model for valuing non-traded employee stock options and warrants.

Margaret Perrien

Maggie Perrien is an Assurance Director in PwC’s New Orleans office with nearly 20 years of experience in the assurance practice. She has served clients across a variety of sectors, with recent experience focused on Banking & Capital Markets and introducing broker-dealer clients. For the past nine years, she has been part of PwC’s National Office Professional Practice team, where she develops mandatory assurance curriculum and training content for the firm.

Maggie is especially passionate about developing talent and preparing new professionals for the future of audit. She has helped enhance the new hire curriculum, including developing assurance content for the Firm’s AI Immersion program. Whereby she focuses on helping professionals understand the opportunities AI creates, along with the governance, business rules, and human-in-the-loop expectations needed to use AI responsibly in audit.

Rebecca Hammond

Becky Hammond is an audit partner in the New Orleans practice unit of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC. Becky utilizes more than 23 years of experience to serve clients in the governmental area. Her audit and accounting experience spans a variety of governmental entities, including municipalities, school boards, enterprise funds, special districts, and governmental employee benefit plans. She also has many years of experience serving not-for-profit entities, employee benefit plans, and closely-held businesses. She has issued numerous financial and compliance reports in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and OMB Uniform Guidance (formerly Circular A-133) for governmental, not-for-profit, and for profit entities, including funding from the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and FEMA. She serves as an assistant governmental line leader for her entire firm, currently in the top 25 largest firms in the United States.

Becky earned her Bachelor of Science in Management with an Accounting Major from Tulane University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants (LCPA).  She serves on the LCPA Governmental Accounting & Auditing Committee. She is also a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Accounting and Finance Women's Alliance (AFWA), and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Becky has led numerous internal and external governmental accounting and auditing seminars, including numerous presentations for the LCPA Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Not-for-Profit Workshop, and the annual convention for the AFWA.

As a member of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), Becky is a Certified Instructor and a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Songahm Taekwondo.  She is also a six-time World Champion - 2017 World Champion in Creative Weapons, 2015-2016-2018 World Champion in XMA Weapons, and 2011 & 2013 World Champion in Combat Weapons Sparring. Her family owns Forever Driven Martial Arts, a Taekwondo school in Lakeview New Orleans. She is so very passionate about her students and the families at her school.

Nicolaus Simon

Nicolaus Simon, CPA, CVA, graduated Cum Laude from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He earned his CPA license in 2014. He is a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants.

He joined Darnall Sikes & Frederick in 2012. He has steadily gained knowledge and experience in the areas of individual, business, and multi-state taxation. In 2020, he became head of the Accounting Services Department, which helped to further develop his expertise in payroll taxes, 1099 filing, and QuickBooks. He is committed to simplifying the intricacies of taxation and accounting to help meet his client’s needs.

Nicolaus currently serves as a member of the firm’s Tax Processes & Procedures Committee.

Derek Foret

Derek Foret, CPA, is a partner and leader of the Audit and Assurance department at Hannis T. Bourgeois (HTB), based in HTB’s Baton Rouge office. Derek brings extensive experience serving both public and private companies, including work with capital markets on public offerings and acquisitions. He has extensive expertise in complex accounting issues, including revenue recognition, leasing, and industry-specific challenges. In addition to his client service responsibilities, Derek plays a key role in staff development and training, leading continuing education initiatives and implementing technology solutions within the firm’s assurance service line.?