Track 1: Joseph Higgins, August 1-2 AND August 3-5
Track 2: Deborah Nixon and Robert Craig, August 1-2
Terry Albertson and Joseph Barselona, August 3-5
Track 3: James Weitzel, Jr. and Louis Rosen, August 1-2
Terry Albertson and Louis Rosen, August 3-5
Track 4: Chad Braley, August 1-2
Mike Steen and Darryl Walker, August 3-5
Track 5: R. Scott Butler, Cynthia Dunn, Courtney Edmonson, and Mike Steen, August 1-2
Terry Albertson, Stephen Knight, Karen Manos, Louis Rosen and Mike Steen, August 3-5
COSTS IMMERSION WEEK FACULTY
(in alphabetical order)
Terry Albertson, Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP. Mr. Albertson specializes in government procurement law and has written and lectured frequently on government procurement issues, with special emphasis on cost allowability issues, multiple award Federal Supply Schedule contracts, and issues related to fraud, debarment, and suspension. A member of The Government Contractor Advisory Board, he served as chair of the Committee on Accounting and Cost and Pricing of the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Joseph A. Barsalona, Partner in the Government Contracts practice of the Corporate Finance, Recovery and Disputes Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He provides contractors with assistance on technical issues associated with the pricing, costing, and administering of Government contracts; review and design of systems; preparation of claims and resolution of disputes; design and implementation of self government programs; and litigation support services. Mr. Barsalona holds a B.S. in Accounting from Fordham University. A Certified Public Accountant, he is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the New Jersey State Society of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs.
Chad Braley is a Director with Beason & Nalley, Inc., located in the firm’s Reston, Virginia office. His areas of expertise include cost accounting and indirect rates, proposal development, contracts management and administration, DCAA audit and non-compliance expertise, ERP implementation support, training, Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance support.
Mr. Braley’s experience also includes providing full contract lifecycle support, from acquisition phase identification and proposal development, to contract closeout assistance. While in industry, Chad managed a wide array of contract types, including cost plus fixed fee (CPFF), cost plus award fee (CPAF), firm fixed price (FFP), and time and material (T&M), both at a prime and subcontract level. In addition to managing these contracts, he was responsible for developing proposals, negotiating contracts, and overseeing the invoicing of all contracts. Mr. Braley graduated from the Williams School of Commerce at Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce, with a Business Administration major.Terry has also served as a Staff Finance Consultant for a major defense contractor, where he assisted in proposal preparation, developing divisional budgets, and responding to Defense Contract Audit Agency queries. He also served as an auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency where he was responsible for evaluating contractor submissions to ensure that they were prepared in accordance with applicable regulations and standards.
R. Scott Butler is Owner, Beason & Nalley, Inc. He currently leads the consulting group at Beason & Nalley, which services its government contractor clients. Mr. Butler lectures to commercial lenders in the government contract environment on a regular basis and holds training seminars for government contractors on various compliance regulations. He is currently involved in working on large complex consulting engagements with Fortune 500 contractors.
Robert Craig is a manager in Ernst & Young's Government Contract Services group. He has more than 20 years of industry experience with the Defense, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, and Biotech sectors.
Cynthia Dunn is a Senior Managing Consultant for Beason & Nalley, Inc., resident in the company’s Reston, VA office. Beason & Nalley, Inc. focuses on providing expert assistance to both government contractors and government agencies in budgeting, cost accounting, acquisition and proposal support, Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance, program management, and business process reengineering. Prior to joining Beason & Nalley, Inc., Ms. Dunn has been a Division Vice President/Controller for large Government contractors, where she was responsible for managing the accounting (G/L, A/R, A/P, payroll and financial reporting), contracts, human resources and compliance functions (DCAA and Sarbanes-Oxley). Ms. Dunn also spent four years as the manager of Internal Audit for a large government contractor and six years as an auditor in public accounting. Her areas of expertise include financial accounting, internal controls, cost accounting and indirect rates, government compliance (DCAA, FAR and CAS) and internal audit. Ms. Dunn graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
Courtney Edmonson is a Managing Government Contracts Consultant with Beason & Nalley and specializes in FAR and CAS Compliance services for small and large government contractors. Courtney’s expertise includes establishing and/or evaluating contractor cost accounting systems, evaluation of internal controls, preparation/evaluation of policies and procedures, development of cost allowability evaluation programs, and preparation of corrective action plans for overcoming DCAA audit findings.
Joseph Higgins is a Principal at JTH Consulting in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Mr. Higgins has extensive financial management experience in government contracting, specifically in the development and implementation of cost allocation systems to ensure cost recovery on government contracts. He has assisted clients with completion of CASB Disclosure Statements and related issues with compliance with the Cost Accounting Standards. Mr. Higgins has expertise in all required government contracting management systems, including cost estimating and earned value management systems (EVMS). He has extensive knowledge in the areas of contract claims, particularly claims in connection with terminations for the convenience of the government.
Stephen Knight is a Partner at Smith Pachter McWhorter PLC. Mr. Knight’s practice focuses on counseling and litigation in all aspects of government contracts, with special emphasis on claims and disputes, government contract cost accounting, cost allowability, Cost Accounting Standards, defective pricing, government audits, contract compliance, and procurement fraud. The author of numerous articles on government contracting topics, Mr. Knight is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, National Law Center.
Karen L. Manos is Co-Partner in Charge of the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She has more than twenty-five years experience in government contracts, including complex claims preparation and litigation, civil and criminal fraud investigations and litigation, qui tam suits under the False Claims Act, defective pricing, cost allowability, the Cost Accounting Standards, suspension and debarment, bid protests, and corporate compliance programs. In November 2004, Ms. Manos was named by Legal Times as one of twelve “Leading Lawyers” in government contracts in the Washington, D.C. area. Each year since 2006, Ms. Manos has been nationally ranked by Chambers USA in the Government Contracts category, and is one of only three lawyers in the nation who are “spotlighted” in the category Government Contracts: Costs Disputes.
Karen Manos graduated in the top two percent of her class from the U.S. Air Force Academy (B.S., distinguished graduate, 1981), and first in her class from the Duke University School of Law (J.D., with highest honors, 1986), where she was a Note Editor for the Duke Law Journal. Before entering private practice in 1995, Ms. Manos served as an Air Force judge advocate, and had assignments with the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center, the Defense Information Services Agency, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Karen Manos is the author of the two-volume book, Government Contract Costs & Pricing, which is widely recognized as the definitive text in the area. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of both the Public Contract Law Journal and the Costs, Pricing & Accounting Report. In addition, Ms. Manos currently serves as Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law and Vice-Chair of the National Defense Industrial Association Procurement Planning Committee.
Deborah Nixon is a Partner at Ernst & Young LLP. Ms. Nixon has more than 20 years of experience assisting clients conducting business with the Federal Government. Her experience includes cost accounting, contract pricing actions, expert witness testimony, and determining compliance with Government procurement regulations. Prior to joining EY, she held management positions with Government contractors, where she was responsible for cost proposals and the administration of contracts for both cost and price-based acquisitions. Ms. Nixon is a national presenter and instructor for industry and client forums.
Louis Rosen is the president of Potomac Partners R & M, LLC, and the founder and former national director of Ernst & Young’s Government Contract Services. He is a leading adviser to companies doing business with the government. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Rosen served as associate director of the Cost Accounting Standards Board. In this role, he contributed significantly to Cost Accounting Standard 410, “Allocation of Business Unit General and Administrative Expenses to Final Cost Objectives,” Cost Accounting Standard 418, “Allocation of Direct and Indirect Costs,” and the definitions of “Cost Accounting Practice” and “Change to a Cost Accounting Practice.”
Mr. Rosen has worked closely with government procurement and audit agencies, industry associations, the accounting profession, and legal counsel. A frequent speaker on government contract issues in forums across the country, he is co-author of a widely used handbook, Government Contract Accounting.
Michael E. Steen, Certified Public Accountant, is a Senior Managing Consultant in Beason & Nalley’s Government Contract Consulting Group. Prior to joining Beason & Nalley in 2007, Mr. Steen was employed with DCAA as a senior executive. Mr. Steen was responsible for the management of audits of approximately $25B annually and management of agency resources approximating 800 employees. He was also involved in conducting or managing a variety of compliance audits, to include cost proposals, internal controls and related systems, Cost Accounting Standards, claims, defective pricing, and special programs. He was also actively involved in contract disputes and litigation, and has prepared and presented various lectures and seminars to DCAA staff and business community leaders. Mr. Steen also served as a member of the Executive Steering Committee for DCAA during his tenure as a Regional Director.
Darryl Walker, Owner, Beason & Nalley, Inc., specializes in providing government contract consulting services. He has written several articles for publication, provides training courses to government contractor and business community leaders, and consults with government contractors regarding a vast range of issues including cost proposal and presentations, compliance with FAR and Cost Accounting Standards, litigation consulting, specialized claims, liaison with procurement and DCAA audit officials, and accounting and management systems compliance. His years of experience in dealing with government contractors has enabled him to teach with a high degree of technical competence.
During his tenure with DCAA, Mr. Walker provided audit services to a wide range of government agencies, including the Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Energy, Department of Interior, General Services Administration, and Department of Justice. He audited over 3,000 government contractors throughout the Southeastern United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including airframe manufacturing, industrial construction, engineering and technical services, and specialized research and development companies. His DCAA auditing experience included providing services ranging from evaluations of cost presentations claims, audits for compliance with Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), negotiation support to Government agencies, and participation in internal management reviews.
James M.Weitzel, Jr. is Senior Counsel, at Northrop Grumman Corporation. With over 30 years of experience including Government service, private practice, and in-house counsel, Mr. Weitzel has advised clients in all areas of government contracts, including contract formation and administration, claims preparation, cost allowability, CAS, and TINA compliance. He has represented clients in claims litigation before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and in bid protests before the General Accounting Office.
