Speakers

As the leader of Stern Cohen’s Not-for-Profit Practice, Stern Cohen partner Laura Gay works exclusively with nonprofit and charitable organizations and associations in Ontario. Laura is passionate about the not-for-profit industry and it shows. She has presented at several industry-leading conferences on hot topics with the goal of helping Canadian nonprofits succeed and thrive. A not-for-profit board member, Laura is currently the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee of ALS Canada, a national charity. Laura received her CPA and CA in 2010 after graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She has held positions at a large public accounting firm and then at her alma mater St. FX in their Finance Department. Laura has a distinct talent for guiding clients on accounting and assurance best practices.

Tanis Young is the founder of Maven Bookkeeping Inc located in Okotoks, AB where she journeys alongside her clients to bring life to their finances. Her credentials include Certified Professional Bookkeeper (CPB), Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Pro Advisor for both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online.

Tanis has a passion for education, proudly wearing the “trainer” hat for Quickbooks Online and coaches accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners across the country on the power of clouding accounting.

Work / life balance is of top priority so if she’s not in her tourquoise office, Tanis can be found on her road bike, hiking in the mountains or walking her fur-baby Skoki.

Erin is an entrepreneur, speaker, startup advisor, and former technology journalist. She is the co-founder and CEO at Willful, an online estate planning platform that makes it easy for Canadians to create a will in less than 20 minutes.

At Willful she’s responsible for driving the company’s mission to make it easier for Canadians to prepare for and deal with death in a digital age. She previously spent 6 years as Managing Director at Eighty-Eight, a Toronto-based creative communications agency that works with clients including Lyft, Telus, and Sony Pictures Television. She has also held senior roles at startup publication BetaKit and startup Sprouter, which was acquired by Postmedia in 2011.

Erin is a frequent speaker, writes a monthly column for the Financial Post, and is a tech commentator on CTV News. She has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Forbes, and CNN, and was named one of Marketing Magazine's top 30 Under 30 marketers.

She is a board member at Save the Children Canada, and a member of the #Tech4SickKids advisory council for SickKids. She is also an advisor to startups including Quill, Pawzy, and Pressed News. Her claim to fame is being retweeted by Oprah - twice.

Martha Banner has been in the cloud accounting services space since 2015. She is currently the National Manager, Cloud Practice Development with Grant Thornton LLP and holds her CPA designation. As part of a smaller CPA firm of about 20 people to now one of the largest firms in Canada, she has a broad range of experience in implementing cloud accounting services. She is a firm believer that cloud accounting is the future of how bookkeepers, accountants and CPAs will service and interact with their clients.

My accounting career began with a co-op program, using leather bound ledgers, now as COO of one of the fastest growing companies in Ottawa I am on the leading edge of cloud accounting. I attended BCIT focusing on Accounting in Financial Management and earned the Advanced Certificate in Accounting from the ICABC. I have worked in industry, public practice and worked and volunteered with NFP organizations, in Canada, the UK & the US. I have a passion for processes that may be a little obsessive but is crucial to my ability to work remotely and manage my team.

Darian Kovacs brings over 15 years of experience in marketing, communications and public relations. Throughout his career, he has also been a founder and board member of various foundations and charitable organizations.

Through his award-winning company, Jelly Marketing, Darian has worked with various local, national and global brands. He has helped to build and execute their digital & PR strategies. Additionally, he co-founded the Canadian Internet Marketing Conference. Darian has been featured in BC Business magazine, Business in Vancouver and on the Canada Post training circuit. He is a contributor with Small Business BC, Entrepreneur, and both Rogers and Shaw’s Business Resource Centre on topics of Social Media and PR.

As both an educator and practitioner, Darian’s mix of stories, practical examples and takeaways leaves audiences feeling inspired. They will leave equipped to implement social media and PR strategies into their organizations.

Named one of Forbes “Top Networkers to Watch,” Jayson Gaignard runs one of the world’s most exclusive communities for entrepreneurs. With just shy of 19,500 applications since their inception in 2013, his invite-only event MastermindTalks has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University, and brings together brilliant minds from various industries. Jayson’s work has been featured by Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, Life Hacker, Business Insider, and most recently the Tim Ferriss's #1 NYT's Best Selling Book, Tools of Titans. He also hosts a top rated business podcast on iTunes and is the author of Mastermind Dinners: How to Build Lifelong Relationships by Connecting Experts, Influencers and Linchpins.

Helina Patience, CPA, CMA is CEO of Entreflow Consulting Group, a Finance, HR and Marketing consulting firm. She has nearly 15 years experience in finance and HR in the UK, Ireland, India and Canada. Helina managed HR and compensation for multi-national corporations before working as a Financial Analyst at Lululemon. She runs a team of 15 consultants dedicated to innovative, tech-focused and goal-crushing consulting.

Kellie is a relentless organizer and believes cloud financial technology is key to organization. She adopted cloud financial technology for her own business in 2012 and has migrated all her clients to it now. Kellie loves introducing QBO and it’s app partner programs to accountants and their clients. She now spends much of her day educating accounting firms and SMBs, but keeps her head firmly in her bookkeeping client’s day to day accounting needs as well.

Brian is of the Partners at Blueprint Accounting, a cloud bookkeeping and vCFO service firm. Brian's team is completely remote, utilizing the best technology possible to work together and with their clients. Brian and his team work with their clients to alleviate their pain points by implementing technology solutions that are customized to their needs. Brian has completed his MBA and CPA and use this knowledge to guide his clients towards their business goals.

Sean is one of the co-founders behind Blueprint Accounting, one of Canada’s fastest growing cloud accounting firms. Starting from zero monthly recurring revenue in January 2018 - to now six figure yearly business in under two years, Sean excels in the online space. Client empowerment is important to Sean and he has made this into the main mission of Blueprint Accounting.

Dianna Thorne, president of Targeted Accounting, is a CPA, CA with more than 25 years of accounting experience. Targeted Accounting is a 19 year old company with about 20 staff across the country. They provide day to day bookkeeping and accounting consulting, as well as streamlining accounting and administrative tasks for entrepreneurial companies. After “creating the wheel” to establish workflow and automated processes internally they also share their findings with other entrepreneurs.

A graduate in accounting from Cégep de Saint-Jérôme, he has since 1994 become a reference in the implementation of accounting software. From college teacher to business consultant, he explored the universe of implementation and training in all forms. His training expertise is a major asset for his clients. Having acquired advanced certification on Quickbooks online, he will guide you and make you discover this solution and management software that can be added with ease.

Michael Di Lauro is a CPA, CMA with a strong background in training and technology. Over the years Michael has written dozens of training materials and has taught QuickBooks, ProFile, Microsoft Office and other software applications to thousands of individuals.

When not teaching or training you’ll often find Michael in various coffee shops, in both Ottawa and Montreal, discussing business and technology with friends, clients, entrepreneurs and, even, perfect strangers.

Esther Friedberg Karp is an internationally-renowned trainer, writer, & speaker from Toronto, where she runs her QuickBooks consulting practice, EFK CompuBooks Inc. Consistently in Insightful Accountant's Top 100 ProAdvisors, she's been in the Top 10 - twice! In 2015, she was named Top International ProAdvisor, and in 2019, she was named Top Trainer/Writer, the first non-American to receive that accolade.

A ProAdvisor in 3 countries, she’s traveled the world with Intuit, spoken at QuickBooks Connect in San Jose & Toronto among others, and written countless articles for Intuit Global.

Esther has been named one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting, a Top 10 Influencer in the Canadian Bookkeeping World, and is a repeat nominee for the RBC Canadian Women’s Entrepreneur Awards. She counts among her clients many international companies, as well as accounting professionals seeking her out on behalf of their own clients for her expertise in multicurrency and various countries’ editions of QuickBooks Desktop and Online.

Melika Hope is a passionate and dynamic member of the Canadian accounting community. She began her professional career at RSM Richter LLP where she earned her Chartered Accountant designation. She then pivoted to the software industry, gaining experience with desktop accounting products before moving to Intuit where she has been managing the QuickBooks Online and Self Employed products for the past several years. Melika is a self-employed personal trainer on the side and is a passionate advocate for the success of the small business and self-employed industries in Canada, leveraging the partnership of accounting and bookkeeping professionals and the power of cloud technology.

Steve Loates is a veteran of the small business world having owned businesses in bookkeeping, online training, digital marketing, website development, ecommerce & retail. Currently, he is the co-owner of AIS Solutions, winner of Intuit’s 2017 Global Firm of the Future contest and the Co-Founder of Kninja Knetwork, an Educational Community designed to help Accounting Professionals take their practices to the next level. He is also the author of several books, including his most recent “The Kninja Way – Our Journey to Firm of the Future” available on Amazon, and was recognized in 2018 as one of the top 10 Influencers in the Canadian Bookkeeping industry.

Steven Van Alstine is the Vice-President, Education for the Canadian Payroll Association and is considered one of Canada's foremost subject matter experts in Canadian payroll legislation, training and education.

Currently, Steven oversees the Association’s Certification, Compliance Services and Programs, and Events and Regional Programs teams. In his over 22 years with the CPA he has lead teams and initiatives that have resulted in highly respected professional development and innovative payroll certification learning through a state-of-the-art learning management platform and in-person and online program delivery. His oversight also includes the delivery of the CPA’s highly regarded Payroll InfoLine, Certification Recognition Events, National Payroll Week and National Conference and Regional Symposiums.

Past contributions have included leading the CPA’s advocacy and government relations Councils, supporting research leading to the redevelopment and ongoing augmentations to payroll certification programs and participating in governance development and enhancements for the payroll profession.

Steven received his undergraduate degree in Political Science and History from Wilfrid Laurier University, holds the CPA’s CPM certification, and the CAE certification from the Canadian Society of Association Executives.

Intuit Canada’s country leader, Martin M. Fecko makes things happen. For more than 20 years, he has continuously pushed boundaries, driving evolution and exceeding business results in the fast-paced, high-pressure worlds of fintech and banking/payment.

Martin joined Intuit in 2016 following a long tenure at American Express and, before that, CIBC. Most recently, he served as director of marketing for Intuit’s Small Business, Self-employed and Accountant Group, where he led customer innovation for QuickBooks, overseeing more than 45 marketing professionals, and cultivating substantial subscriber growth.

Fresh into the industry (and working world) back in 1999, Carrie began a bookkeeping sole prop. Quickly realizing the importance (and in some cases consequence lol) of bookkeeping and all its related facets, Carrie set out to help local businesses get and stay on track.

GnarlyBooks is a full cloud company offering bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, tax, and other expanding service categories to customers across Canada.

Carrie holds several designations including certifications through the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (IPBC), and the Canadian Institute of Bookkeeping (CIB). Her company has received numerous industry awards over the years including 2017 Bookkeeping Firm of the Year (IPBC).

Andrew Wall is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Management Accountant with over 19 years in accounting and IT development. He is the managing partner at CPA4it.ca a cloud based accounting firm focused on helping small businesses. Andrew is a global thought leader and has been recognized as the top 100 Accounting influencers (Avalara.com).

Andrew is passionate about the cloud. His Firm CPA4it.ca has been ranked as one of the top 100 cloud brands in the world (a href="https://onalytica.com/" target="_blank">onalytica.com) and Andrew has been recognized as one of the top 50 cloud accountants in North America four years in a row (hubdoc.com).

Andrew’s first experience with cloud accounting was as a developer on a cloud based accounting applications. In 1999 Andrew and a team of developers applied for a patent on web based software that enabled accountants to work with offshore resources. As a result of his work on this software, Andrew has appeared on the CBC television show “Venture”, and was invited to speak at the International Trade Centers executive forum on global outsourcing.

Janeen is a Partner for MNP LLP, one of the largest accounting firms in Canada, and is one of the leaders for the National CAS ( Client Accounting/Advisory Practice).

She has more than 30 years in diverse tax, financial, and business consulting experience that she brings to the table. Her diverse accounting and technology background allows her to provide outside the box strategies and solutions for clients.

Tania Madarasz is a managing partner at LeadingLedgers. She is passionate about creating a welcoming experience for all in her firm and has implemented a "spa-firm" culture including aroma therapy, inspirational quotes and images, feng shui and even a massage chair for client and staff use! Tania has a varied background in Hospitality, Tourism, & Retail and implemented the client-facing aspects of that industry into her bookkeeping practice. She'll be on the road this year in her "new" 1978 GMC Motorhome a.k.a "Trixie the Taxmobile" so be on the lookout for her in a city near you!

Asma is an experienced trainer and speaker with a genuine desire to help others shine. Having worked in different industries and fields in both Canada and the UK, she came across a lot of brilliant people who faded when they faced a crowd. Now she teaches people how to present their ideas – and themselves – in full glory. Asma brings to Soapbox over 15 years of experience combined with her passion and creativity. By sharing her lessons from drama, the human psyche and the mind-body connection, she offers a unique perspective on public speaking.

Damien is the Vice President of Partner Marketing & Global Accountants’ Programs at Receipt Bank. That's a fancy way for saying he helps accountants and bookkeepers better understand, and realize the benefits of Receipt Bank in their firm. Damien started out as a customer of Receipt Bank, and now helps firms of all sizes leverage cloud technology. Previously, Damien was a Director at 2020 Group USA, a membership and consulting organization specifically for accountants, which was acquired by Panalitix in 2016.

Jason Hastie, CPA, CA is originally from Sask and has called Calgary home for the past 17 years. After obtaining his Masters Degree in Accounting (UofS) and becoming a Chartered Accountant, Jason started his own consulting practice with a focus on small business tax and accounting. Three years ago, having observed the trend of technology in accounting, Jason launched a cloud-based bookkeeping and accounting practice, “TenjaGo” which has grown rapidly in Canada and recently expanded to the U.S. Jason is a technology geek and spoken on accounting and technology across Canada.

Dawne started her journey over 25 years ago after discovering her love of numbers and business in high school. She has worked in several industries and accounting departments of various sizes, from a department of one, to a staff of 20. She currently works remotely from her home in Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Dawne is Vice President of Marabirch Inc. and an administrator of two Facebook groups; QB-HQ and QuickBooks HQ for Business Owners.

Tiffany J Stewart is co-administrator of the vibrant Facebook community, QB-HQ, and President of Marabirch Inc. She received her CPA accreditation in 1996 while living and studying abroad in the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Tiffany is a member of the Intuit Canada Accountant’s Council, Intuit Canada’s Trainer/Writer Network, and is passionate about accounting, technology, and empowering clients.

Marnie is an Advanced Certified ProAdvisor, member of the Intuit Trainer Writer Network, and all-around QuickBooks geek. She's a frequent presenter at conferences and webinars, and Intuit has her email at the ready for product feedback and input. Students and customers love Marnie's energetic teaching style, impressive QuickBooks knowledge, and modern approach to bookkeeping. Marnie was named an Insightful Accountant 2019 Top 100 ProAdvisor. Things that keep her centered include disco, photography, and endless adventures with her fiancé, who's trying to teach her French.

Susan Watkin is a recognized and sought-after accounting educator and business advisor. Working closely with owners in all phases of their business’ lifecycle, Susan strives to help them take their businesses to whatever level they want to reach. In her approachable style, she’s upfront and pulls no punches when it comes to the reality of small business finance and all that it entails so that those, she works with, are given the tools for their future success. Susan is proud to be recognized as a leader in digital accounting technology, as well as a trainer and writer for Intuit Canada.

Jennifer Bauldic is a Certified Profit First Professional, Certified Professional Bookkeeper, member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network and was named the 2019 Top International ProAdvisor: Americas by Insightful Accountant. Through Jetstream Administration Inc. she provides technology-based bookkeeping and cash flow coaching for small businesses. In addition, Jennifer is the founder of QBO Connector, a community group focused on assisting accounting professionals as they navigate cloud technology and the paperless systems that have become vital tools today.

Bob Wang started Legacy Advantage, a CPA firm focused solely on bookkeeping. In three years, he had built Legacy Advantage to 20 employees and just under $2M in sales – one of the largest bookkeeping firms in Canada.

In 2018, Legacy Advantage was acquired by Deloitte to expand on ctrl – a cloud-based financial collaboration platform where bookkeeping services are also delivered. Bob Wang is now a senior advisor with Deloitte and the ctrl Leader in British Columbia. Bob Wang won the Inspire Award in 2017 for being one of the most influential bookkeepers in Canada.

Teresa Slack is one of the two owners of Financly Bookkeeping Solutions. A 100% virtual bookkeeping firm that specializes in e-commerce bookkeeping for Shopify and Amazon. Teresa has a passion for helping e-commerce sellers and the accounting professionals that love them, have the financial data they need to make good business decisions. She specializes in helping clients to get their e-commerce stores to play nicely with QuickBooks Online. Teresa offers her clients the benefits of over 30 years of experience. She is not only knowledgeable in bookkeeping but in account system set up, business management, sales and marketing, customer service, staff training, leadership and mentorship. Teresa is a Certified Professional Bookkeeper, a proud member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network, Advanced Certified in QuickBooks Online as well as a host of other certifications.

When Teresa isn't training or mentoring her clients, she can be found running Paint Nights, Tye Dye T-Shirt workshops, kids crafts or hanging out with her friends around the campfire enjoying our beautiful Canadian summers. Teresa believes that our world is changing and that we have the power to embrace the change and the freedom it provides to create our own best life and business.

Mike Potter is a serial entrepreneur and currently the co-founder of Rewind, a backup and recovery service for Shopify, BigCommerce, Quickbooks Online, and other cloud-based applications. His second full-time job is Hockey Dad. Based on years of personal experience with data loss and in talking to hundreds of business owners about their own data disasters, Mike teaches others the importance of backups, online data security, and the simple ways they can make sure their business is safe.

Suzanne Haynes is the owner of Bookkeeping Solutions, a virtual bookkeeping firm that recently celebrated it’s ten year anniversary. Prioritizing, identifying efficiencies and building systems led to not only her own success but also her team’s, clients and colleagues. As a busy mom with four hockey playing kids, Suzanne has developed exceptional time management skills simply to survive. A strong belief in overarching business concepts is the bedrock that Bookkeeping Solutions builds upon, driving it to continually thrive while adapting to industry changes.

Tania is a ProAdvisor and has been bookkeeping for approximately 20 years. She has her own practice with a niche in lawyers. Tania joined Intuit as a Service Delivery Manager in 2018 because she wanted to share the knowledge she acquired from her own journey with her colleagues.

Guy is an entrepreneurial accountant that is passionate on removing bottlenecks from business processes in order to achieve scalability. I'm a big believer in technology over outsourcing where possible and suitable.

Guy is the founder of Interactive Accounting, which was one of the first cloud-only Xero Practice's in the world in 2009 and has won multiple Xero partner of the year awards. His firm scaled out to over A$4M in fees in just over a 4 year period and his story has been showcased by NAB, one of the major banks in Australia as well as the CPA, CAANZ and ACCA.

With a background in accounting in public practice and a self-taught knowledge of technology, Guy believes that any business can achieve a single point of truth for their ownership in dashboard form in order to make decisions on which levers to pull and push.

He is currently 100% focused on turning Practice Ignition into the single point of collaboration for small business owners and their advisors.

Jade Simmons is a one-of-a-kind artist who has garnered diverse recognition from unlikely places. Ms. Simmons has played renowned halls, including the White House and the US Supreme Court. Her genre-bending concert adventures span Rachmaninoff to Rap and attracts diverse audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Off the stage, Essence magazine featured Ms. Simmons alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama as a part of their Style & Substance List. As one of the rare classical artists invited to perform at the taste-making South by Southwest Festival, her show was ultimately branded one of the "Best of SXSW 2014.” Beyond her career as a pianist, Ms. Simmons hosts two radio shows on American Public Media and NYC’s WQXR.

Dominic Allon is SVP and General Manager of Intuit’s QuickBooks international business, covering all markets outside the US. He is focused on helping businesses and accountants get the most out of the internet.

Dominic joined Intuit in August 2016 having spent three years as Managing Director of Google Hong Kong. Before Hong Kong, he spent seven years working for Google UK where he managed the media agency channel and also worked closely with the government and trade bodies to pioneer digital advertising self-regulation. Earlier in his career, Dominic spent seven years at The Economist in commercial roles and three years in a successful publishing start-up.

Ariege Misherghi is Accountant Product Leader for the Accountant Segment within Intuit’s Small Business Self-Employed Group. She is a customer-focused, creative leader who is committed to the customer experience and has a passion for solving the tough and unique challenges accountants face. Her team serves the more than 700,000 accountants globally that use QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) to help grow their firms and better manage their practices, allowing them to focus on being strategic advisors to their clients.

Matt Basile believes that food should be fun, and that in the food business you have to do things differently to be memorable. The creator of the Toronto-based street food brand Fidel Gastro’s, Matt started his career in advertising as a copywriter, but when he was just 26 years old he left it all to host his first underground popup in Toronto. In under four years, Fidel Gastro’s has grown from a fold-up table to a food empire receiving national and international attention. Matt and his partner, Kyla Zanardi, are the bestselling authors of two cookbooks, Street Food Diaries and, most recently, Brunch Life. He is also the host of the reality television show Rebel Without a Kitchen on Travel and Escape Channel, the Cooking Channel, and the Asian Food Channel.

Michael McQueen is a multi-award winning speaker, trend forecaster and bestselling author of eight books.
With clients including KPMG, Pepsi and Cisco, he has helped some of the world’s most successful brands navigate disruption and maintain momentum.

Michael is a regular commentator on TV and radio and his work has featured in publications ranging from the UK Daily Mail to Medium.com and the Huffington Post. In addition, Michael is a familiar face on the international conference circuit having shared the stage with the likes of Bill Gates, Dr. John Maxwell and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

For over 15 years, Canadians from coast to coast woke up every morning to Marci Ien’s friendly, familiar face as the co-host and news anchor of the national morning program, Canada AM. Today, Ien is seen across the country as a co-host of one of television’s most popular daytime programs, The Social. On-stage Ien also shines as an emcee, interviewer, moderator, and speaker.

Ien’s career in television spans over three decades, and has taken her from Halifax, where she joined CTV National News as a reporter in 1997, to Vancouver, where she was the News Anchor for CTV’s Olympic Morning at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. In 2016, Ien was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in the category of Best Talk Show Host for her work on Canada AM.

Referred to as “the most famous astronaut since Neil Armstrong,” Colonel Chris Hadfield is a worldwide sensation whose video of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” — seen by over 75 million people — was called “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created”, by Bowie himself. Acclaimed for making outer space accessible to millions, and for infusing a sense of wonder into our collective consciousness not felt since humanity first walked on the Moon, Colonel Hadfield continues to bring the marvels of science and space travel to everyone he encounters.

Ingrid Himmelman is a Senior Manager with ctrl by Deloitte Private. For over a decade, her professional focus has been on implementing new technology in the workplace. Most recently, with ctrl by Deloitte, her focus has been on transitioning clients to cloud accounting, and she wants to share strategies that will help make these transitions smoother and more successful.

Juliet Aurora is the co-founder of Kninja Knetwork and founder of AIS Solutions. Her personal mission is to Educate and Empower. In 2017, her firm was named Intuit's Global Firm of the Future and she has been named in the Top 50 Women in Accounting, Top 50 Cloud Accountants and one of the Top 10 Canadian Influencers in the Industry. Her passion for education is channeled through the Intuit Trainer Writer Network, hosting Kninja Wine and Whiskey Wednesdays and most recently, developing the Kninja90 Employee Training Program for the next generation of Cloud Bookkeepers.