CPEA Professional Staff and Fellows

Thomas J. Groskopf, CPA, CVA, MBA

Named by Accounting Today as one of the top 100 most influential people in accounting, Tom is the Technical Director of the CPEA and a Director (owner) of Barnes, Dennig & Co. Ltd., a regional CPA firm with offices in Ohio and Kentucky. In his role at Barnes, Dennig, Tom serves clients and is the service line leader for the firm’s accounting and audit practice. He is a nationally recognized authority on accounting and auditing (A&A) topics and has served on numerous national and international standard-setting committees. Tom is a member of the Private Company Council, which works with the FASB to determine if and how U.S. GAAP should be adapted for private companies. 

Tom brings to the CPEA a comprehensive list of achievements, along with his experience as a practicing CPA. His technical A&A expertise and long-time involvement in the financial issues relevant to private companies are an invaluable asset to the CPEA. Moreover, as an auditor, Tom has gained extensive experience reviewing financial statements of private and public companies.

Tom also serves on the International Financial Reporting Standards' Small- and Medium-sized Entity Implementation Group and is a member of the Xavier University Accounting Department’s Board of Executive Advisors. Tom served as a member of the FASB’s Private Company Financial Reporting Committee (PCFRC), where he led efforts to reduce costs for private entities testing goodwill for impairment. In addition, he has served on the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section Technical Issues Committee, including one year as chair of its accounting subcommittee and on the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountant’s Audit and Accounting Committee.

Robert Durak, CPA, CGMA

As Director of Private Company Financial Reporting and the CPEA, Bob is the AICPA’s lead staff person on accounting and attest matters affecting private companies. Bob led the AICPA's development of the Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-sized Entities and speaks frequently across the country about private company financial reporting. From 2007-2012 Bob staffed the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, a joint effort by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the AICPA to improve accounting standard setting for private companies. Related to that work, Bob helped staff the Blue Ribbon Panel on Private Company Financial Reporting, which ultimately led to the formation of the Private Company Council.

Earlier in Bob’s career at the AICPA, he was the Director of the Accounting and Auditing Publications group, responsible for the development and publishing of the AICPA’s audit and accounting guides, audit risk alerts and practice aids. In that role, Bob authored numerous publications aimed at helping practitioners understand and implement accounting, auditing, attest, review, compilation and other technical standards.

Prior to joining the AICPA, Bob was a manager in the audit practice of Deloitte & Touche where he served large and small clients primarily in the manufacturing industry. He received his B.S. in Accounting from Rutgers University and holds CPA licenses in New Jersey and New York.

Susanne C. Richards - CPEA Senior Advisor

As Senior Advisor of the CPEA, Susanne has a strong member service mindset that enables her to manage the member services of the CPEA and to offer members the quality service they have grown to expect. She has many years of customer service experience and is the “go to” person for questions related to any, and all, CPEA services and benefits.

Susanne also was the “right-hand” to the founder of the CPEA, Tom Ratcliffe.  She worked with Tom for many years before his passing in 2014.  So, she has the experience and knowledge related to the foundation of the CPEA. And, she continues with Tom’s efforts in striving to meet the needs of the smaller-medium size CPA firms.

Thomas A. Ratcliffe Ph.D., CPA, CGMA (May 20, 1952 - March 23, 2014)
Our Founder

Dr. Tom’s spirit and legacy lives on at CPEA. The CPEA continues to build upon the foundation that he built with great member service, quality you can trust, communicating complicated principles in clear and concise terms , and a spirit of innovation. Tom Ratcliffe was Technical Director of the Center for Plain English Accounting and an accounting and auditing thought leader, writer, and advisor helping CPAs throughout the country understand and appropriately-implement the accounting and attest engagement technical literature.

In 2012 and 2013, Tom worked with the AICPA staff in drafting the new Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities, and he served on the Task Force that worked toward finalizing that Framework. He served as a member of the Auditing Standards Board [ASB], the AICPA senior technical committee responsible for developing auditing, attestation, and quality control standards, during the development of the clarified and converged auditing and quality control standards. During his tenure with the ASB, Tom also served as a member of the Audit Issues Task Force [AITF].

Prior to joining the ASB, Tom served as Chair and as a member of the AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee [ARSC], and he served on the AICPA Council. He also was the primary contributing author to the original AICPA Guide for Compilation and Review Engagements. He served as a founding member of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee [PCFRC].

Tom served as an accounting and auditing technical advisor to six different associations of CPA firms. For 25 years, he authored the Bisk Education monthly Accounting and Auditing Report, the widely-used monthly update of accounting and auditing issues that is distributed nationally to CPAs in public practice and industry. Also, Tom was a regularly-featured speaker through web-based programs, including those offered through the Center for Plain English Accounting.

Tom earned his Ph.D. at The University of Alabama. He published more than 100 technical works in accounting and auditing, including several books and other documents that are widely-utilized in practice. In 2004, based on both the quality and the quantity of his publications, Tom was recognized as one of the most prolific authors in the accounting profession.

Tom received numerous research and teaching awards throughout his career, including the Alabama Society of CPAs Outstanding Professional Educator award. After winning that award for seven consecutive years, the Alabama Society of CPAs renamed the award in his honor.

Tom was Director Emeritus of the School of Accountancy at Troy University, and he was the Senior Accounting and Auditing Technical Advisor for Warren Averett, LLC.

Charles E. Landes, CPA
Distinguished Fellow

A nationally-known auditing thought leader, Chuck has been an important contributor and advisor to the CPEA, as well as one of our founders in conjunction with his colleague and good friend, the late Dr. Thomas A. Ratcliffe.

In his previous role as a vice president with the AICPA, Chuck directed the AICPA’s Audit and Attest Standards Team, which is responsible for the technical activities of the Auditing Standards Board and the Accounting and Review Services Committee. Chuck served as a member and is the former Deputy Chair of the International Audit & Assurance Standards Board and was the AICPA’s member to the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Prior to joining the AICPA in October 2002, Chuck served as partner in charge of the accounting and auditing practices of Spaeth & Batterberry and its successor Barnes, Dennig & Co. from 1986 – 2002. During this time, he chaired the AICPA’s Peer Review Committee and was a member of the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board and Audit Issues Task Force. Chuck is also a past member of the board of directors of the Ohio Society of CPAs. His clients included private entities and SEC filers, nonprofit as well as commercial businesses.

Chuck began his public accounting experience with Ernst & Ernst (now known as Ernst & Young) in 1978. In 1981 Chuck joined KMG Main Hurdman (Now part of KPMG). From 1984 – 1986, he was assigned to Main Hurdman’s National Office in NY where his responsibilities included audit methodology, training and interoffice inspection and quality.

Chuck is a graduate of Miami University with a B.S. in accounting. He received his M.B.A. from Bowling Green State University.

Lawrence S. Gray, CPA
Fellow

Larry is a retired partner with EisnerAmper LLP. He has deep experience serving a variety of industries in both the public and private sectors. Larry has frequently spoken before various professional organizations and has been quoted and published in a variety of professional media on topics related to internal controls, responsibilities of audit committee members, international financial reporting standards and expensing stock options.

Larry is a former member of the Financial Reporting Executive Committee, which is the senior technical committee of the AICPA for financial reporting. He is also a former member of the AICPA’s National Peer Review Committee. He was previously a vice president for the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants and prior member of the board of trustees and its Audit Committee. Larry received his M.B.A. in accounting from New York University after majoring in economics from the State University of New York at Buffalo.