The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) announced today that Jennifer Burns, CPA will be joining the organization as Chief Auditor on January 25, 2021. Burns has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, serving and supporting small, medium and large clients. Previously, Burns was a partner in Deloitte’s national office of Audit and Assurance practice. She succeeds Bob Dohrer, CPA, who returned to RSM International as chief operating officer.
The Association combines the strengths of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
In her new role, Burns will serve as the Association’s leading expert on U.S. and international auditing and attestation standards. In addition, Burns will be responsible for delivering high-quality, innovative audit, attest, quality control, review, compilation and preparation standards. She will lead and provide strategic direction to the AICPA U.S. Auditing Standards Board (ASB) and the U.S. Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC), in partnership with their chairs. A large part of her role will be leading the Association’s efforts to identify and develop innovative and transformational standards that encourage the use of technology in audit and in visioning how the audit might change as technology advances. She will also be the Association’s representative to the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) and be responsible for key relationships and coordination with other standards-setters and governmental officials.
“Jennifer brings deep knowledge of public accounting practices, standards and technology’s impacts and benefits on audit and attestation services. She is in a unique position to lead transformation of the standards. Her experience will greatly contribute to the ASB’s ongoing work to modernize private company auditing and attestation standards and advance the profession’s use of technology in providing audit, attestation, review, compilation and preparation services,” said Sue Coffey, CPA, CGMA, Association executive vice president for public practice.
Coffey added, “The Association’s audit, assurance and advisory efforts have been ahead of the curve in many ways. I am confident that Jennifer’s successful track record of working with clients of all sizes and her thought leadership on issues important to the profession, such as blockchain, sustainability and internal controls, will help us keep up that momentum.”
Burns joined Deloitte early in her career and in 2006, became partner of Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy where she engaged with standard-setting, regulatory and policy setting entities such as the PCAOB, SEC, IAASB, COSO and AICPA. In 2018 she transitioned to Deloitte’s Audit and Assurance practice and applied her passion and expertise for audit innovation to oversee the development of tools and methodologies that facilitated the delivery of audit and attestation services. In this role she transformed the firm’s and profession’s approaches to emerging areas in assurance and developed guidance and thought leadership on other critical issues, including internal controls, third-party assessments, sustainability, blockchain and artificial intelligence. From 2004-2006, Burns served as a professional accounting fellow in the SEC’s Office of Chief Accountant where she focused on professional practice matters.
Burns has served the profession in various capacities, contributing to the evolution of professional standards including most recently as a member of the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee.
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