Laura Ward CPA

Laura Ward, CPA
SENIOR MANAGER

Laura has practiced public accounting since 1998. She provides auditing, assurance, and transaction services to a variety of clients. Laura has worked on various projects involving financial services audits and has performed due diligence and pre-due diligence work on behalf of private equity investor groups. She has experience managing audits of small and large privately owned companies with annual revenue ranging from $5 million to $4 billion in the life sciences, manufacturing & consumer products, transportation & logistics, and professional services industries.

Laura also has extensive experience with audits of defined contribution plans including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, for both privately and publicly held companies. Laura has audited plans that range from 100 to 20,000 participants, with plan assets ranging from $500,000 to over $500 million. She works closely with clients who have not had the expertise to properly oversee their plan and provides guidance and best practices as needed. She also works closely with legal counsel to ensure proper resolution to the plan’s deficiencies. Laura oversees the Phoenix office employee benefit plan practice and helps to conduct employee benefit plan training in the region.

Professional Affiliations:

• Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  
• Member, Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants
  
• Audit and Accounting Committee Chairperson, Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants,
  
• Conference Committee Member, Western Pension & Benefits Council, Phoenix Chapter

Education:

• BSBA, accounting, Youngstown State University