Since 2010, Melissa has owned and operated a niche firm located in Charlotte, North Carolina that concentrates on auditing employee benefit plans, consulting with CPA firms and plan sponsors, and providing continuing professional education and training. She has more than 28 years of experience working with employee benefit plans. Throughout the course of her career, she has had the opportunity to provide services to a wide variety of clients including numerous employee benefit plans, public accounting firms, public and private industry corporations, and state CPA societies. She has extensive experience in auditing and accounting with a specialization in employee benefit plans. Melissa provides continuing education, training and consulting services for the AICPA, NC Association of CPA's, Surgent McCoy, CPA firms, as well as, public and privately held entities. She has been repeatedly recognized as an outstanding discussion leader by the AICPA and NCACPA. Melissa has also authored courses on topics ranging from employee benefit plans, internal controls, and SSARS engagements. During her career, Melissa has served in various roles with both the NCACPA and AICPA. These positions include serving as a member of the NCACPA Board of Directors, committee member for the NCACPA Accounting and Attestation Committee, Employee Benefit Plan Committee Member, as well as, local chapter positions for the NCACPA. Since 2013, Melissa has also served as a volunteer on the AICPA Ethics Enforcement Committee-EBP subcommittee, which is responsible for evaluating referrals from the Department of Labor and other regulatory bodies for deficient audits and making recommendations for disciplinary actions. Prior to establishing her niche firm, Melissa worked with local and regional public accounting firms across North Carolina. Melissa attended Appalachian State University where she received a bachelor of science degree in Accounting.