Internal Control Systems

Trent Gazzaway, CPA is an audit partner and the partner-in-charge of corporate governance for Grant Thornton LLP. Trent’s experience includes auditing public and private companies and assisting an array of companies in the improvement and documentation of effective systems of internal control. He has also assisted large public companies in the development and execution of plans to restate their financial statements in the wake of internal control failures. 

In addition to managing the Firm’s corporate governance practice, Trent serves as a key resource in training Grant Thornton personnel to audit internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with newly established auditing standards. He is one of four steering committee chairmen assisting in the development of the Open Compliance and Ethics Group’s framework for integrating governance, compliance, risk management and integrity into all business processes (www.oceg.org). Trent is also a member of the advisory board of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative (www.mgt.ncsu.edu/erm) at NC State University’s College of Management. 

Most recently, Trent was appointed by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) board to lead a project to develop guidance regarding the effective monitoring of internal control in accordance with COSO’s Internal Control—Integrated Framework. 

Trent is a frequent speaker at seminars, has authored several nationally and internationally published articles related to Sarbanes-Oxley and corporate governance, and publishes Grant Thornton’s award-winning quarterly CorporateGovernor newsletter. 

Education
Trent has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Masters of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Certifications/Affiliations/Awards
Trent is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the American Accounting Association and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Trent was recognized by Treasury & Risk Management magazine in 2005 as one of the “100 most influential people in finance” and by Business Finance magazine in 2006 as one of 60 top “Influencers” in finance and accounting.

Dave is the President of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) which is a global association of over 155,000 internal auditors in over 160 countries. He oversees the establishment of the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, training in the form of conferences, seminars, web based learning, research on emerging issues, benchmarking services, The IIA’s Certification Programs for the CIA, CGAP, CCSA and CFSA, Quality Assessment Program, plus representation of the profession around the world. 

Dave is the former Director of the Internal Auditing Department, for FirstEnergy Corp. where he served over 33 years in various capacities including Chief Audit Executive (24 years), supervisor, Accounts Payable (8 years) and accountant in general accounting (3 years). FirstEnergy is an electric utility serving over 4 million customers in the Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey areas with assets of $38 billion and annual revenue of $12 billion. 

Dave is the 2004 winner of the Victor Z. Brink award for distinguished service to The IIA. 

Education:
Baldwin Wallace College; M.B.A.
John Carroll University; Undergraduate degree in Accounting;
He has also served as a part-time instructor of accounting at John Carroll University. Dave has given numerous presentations for conferences, seminars, and IIA chapters’ programs. 

Positions with the IIA:
Chairman of the Board (2001-2002)
Senior Vice Chairman of the Board (2000-2001)
Vice Chairman of the Board for Professional Development (1999-2000) 
Vice Chairman of the Board for Professional Practices (1998-99)
IIA Champion for the Global Governance Project 
Chairman of the IIA Headquarters Building Committee
IIA Ohio chapter as: Board of Governors, President, Vice President, and Secretary for the Northeast Ohio Chapter
IIA District Representative and Regional Director 

Dave and his wife, Marilyn have three children and four grandchildren.

Patrick Taylor is an industry leader in the convergence of controls monitoring, information security and the implementation of technology to boost corporate governance. With an in-depth understanding of customer requirements for operational governance, Mr. Taylor launched Oversight Systems to pioneer the concepts and technology for transaction integrity monitoring. 

As a thought leader in continuous monitoring, Mr. Taylor has been asked to speak at compliance and audit industry conferences hosted by organizations such as the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and is frequently consulted as a subject matter expert by writers and editors of leading financial industry publications. 

Mr. Taylor has held leadership positions with Internet Security Systems, Oracle, Red Brick Systems, GO, Air2Web and Fast-Talk. He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Debbie Lambert is a co-founder of Johnson Lambert & Co. and is located in our Raleigh, North Carolina office. As the Managing Partner, she is responsible for the conduct of our overall practice. 

Debbie has served as a member of the Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), as Chair of the Auditing Standards Board of the AICPA, as Chair of a COSO task force developing small business implementation guidance for the COSO Internal Control Integrated Framework and as a member of the SEC advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies. 

Debbie graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from Wake Forest University in 1978. She is a member of Wake Forest University's Board of Trustees and has chaired its Audit and Compliance Committee, Athletic Committee and Graduate and Professional Schools Committee. Debbie holds leadership positions in numerous professional and service organizations. In addition to being a CPA, Debbie has attained the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. 

In 1998,1999 and 2000, Debbie was named to Accounting Today's list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. In 2005, she was named to CPA Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners.