7th Annual Best Practices Workshop - Las Vegas - June 2022

7th Annual Construction Audit & Cost Control
Best Practices Roundtable Workshop

Nov. 13-14, 2018 New Orleans, LA Earn 16 CPE

This two day interactive workshop builds upon and further develops concepts introduced in our core courses. Anyone responsible for auditing construction activity and/or managing construction projects will benefit from this workshop.

Course Level: Advanced
CPE Hours: 16

Workshop Facilitators:

Mr. Courtenay M. Thompson - Courtenay Thompson & Associates
Mr. Rich Townsend - R. L. Townsend & Associates, LLC

Please join us for a dynamic two-day program which will center around the presentations of 12 experienced and successful professionals recognized for their leadership and expertise in construction audit and cost control. Don’t miss out on the interactive exchange of ideas and solutions to current issues and future concerns, and get your questions answered by these industry professionals. Following every presentation, all attendees will be given ample opportunity to be a part of this impactful, collaborative, round table discussion.

We have asked each speaker to include the following points in their presentation:

Current best practices used in their organization related to construction audit and/or construction cost control.
Lessons learned by giving specific examples of the recent results they have achieved using their best practices and how that added value moving forward.
Share their vision for the future of best practices and where the industry is headed (including use of technology and AI) in construction audit and construction cost control.
Provide their insight on new trends impacting effective construction auditing, what to watch out for, etc.

Who Will Benefit from this Program

Construction Audit Consultants
Internal Audit Professionals
CFO's
Cost Engineers
Attorneys
Construction and Engineering Department Representatives
Facilities Management Department Representatives
Procurement Department Representatives

Learning Objectives

Participants Will:

- Learn the latest best practices in use for construction audit and cost control
- Obtain an update on the trends in tools and techniques used for construction audit and cost control
- Explore specific case example results of current best practice construction audits
- Have ample time to learn during question and answer sessions at the conclusion of each presentation

Speakers

Chad Bube - Director, Contract Audits

Tennessee Valley Authority Office of the Inspector General

Chad has 18 years contract audit experience performing pre-award contract examinations and cost compliance audits.[clear]

Vinson Chapman - Managing Principal

HPM, LLC

With over 37 years in the construction and construction auditing field, Vince has audited projects in every major city in the USA and also worked on numerous projects in Canada, Mexico, Africa and the Caribbean.

Todd Freeman
Vice President, Internal Audit

McDermott International, Inc.

Sam Hadley - Partner

Cotton & Company

Ms. Hadley was elected a partner with Cotton & Company in 1999 and has directed a number of the firm's major contract, grant and performance audit engagements. Her litigation focus is related to government projects, construction claims, projects involving allegations of fraud.

Lisa Haley - Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer

Saulsbury Industries

Lisa Haley joined Saulsbury Industries as VP and CSCO in 2017, bringing 30+ years of global experience in manufacturing operations, sales and supply chain management.

Curt Hudson - Deputy Assistant Inspector General, Audits

Tennessee Valley Authority, Office of Inspector General

Curt Has 32 years experience at TVA OIG. Prior to that, he worked 3 years with a regional CPA firm.

Tony Ollmann - Firm Director

Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP

Tony Ollmann is the firm director of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP's construction risk management practice. He has more than twenty years of experience in the construction industry providing risk management, project controls, and operations consulting services to owners, operators, and contractors.

Adam Rouse - Managing Consultant

BKD, LLP

Adam is a member of BKD's Risk Advisory Services division where he specializes in construction auditing and advising. Adam has worked on projects in excess of $7 billion and has uncovered millions of dollars during the course of his construction audits.

Gregory Smith - Construction Counsel

Smith, Gambrell & Russell

Greg Practices in all areas of construction law, government procurement and contract law. Greg advises businesses in a wide range of legal, compliance and strategic issues.

Stephen Strohman - Construction Audit Supervisor

Brown Smith Wallace

Stephen Strohman has over 20 years of auditing experience, twelve of which are directly related to construction audit. He is responsible for leading construction audits of major universities, corporations and hospitals in the St. Louis region and has experience dealing with many major contractors.

David Thomlinson - Manager, Compliance & Assurance

Suncor Energy, Inc.

David has more than 20 years experience in the projects and major contracts space. He spent 10 years as the Business Manager for an international engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company producing and executing the commercial aspects of projects around the world. David was then hired by Petro-Canada to develop and monitor financial controls and commercial compliance for a $25 billion oil mega-project.

Debbie Townsend - President

R. L. Townsend & Associates, LLC

Since 2012, Debbie Townsend has served as President of the construction audit consulting firm R. L. Townsend & Associates, LLC. She joined the firm in 1997 and since 2008 she has been responsible for managing and directing the majority of the construction audits performed by the firm.

Chris Wolbrink - President and Founder

SiteTraxx, LLC

Chris has over 20 years experience in construction, and construction financial control advisory, auditing and claims management. In 2015, Chris embarked on a new venture to develop SiteTraxx, and bring a new solution to the construction industry to help provide valuable data collection in one platform to stakeholders of all levels on construction projects.

Informal Networking Opportunities

A 60 to 90 minute reception after the first day of the workshop will be held.
Breakfast will be provided each morning of the seminar
Mid-Morning and Mid-Afternoon refreshment breaks will be provided
Lunch will be provided for the group both days of the workshop

Reviews from Workshop Participants

"I enjoyed the presentations immensely. Each presenter added value and a different point of view. I felt that I picked up many new issues to look for."

"Enjoyed the variety of presentations."

"Instructors are very interactive and provide/share great examples for every topic."

Program Fee

REGULAR SEMINAR REGISTRATION Fee = $1,295

Program fee includes instruction, all program materials, breakfast and lunch each day and refreshment breaks.

Program Schedule

Tuesday: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Wednesday: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

CPE

All participants are eligible to receive up to 16 Continuing Education Credits (CPE’s) to fulfill professional accreditation requirements. Field of Study: Auditing. Course Level: Basic. Group-live, lecture-style seminar; no prerequisites or advanced preparation required.

Accommodations

New Orleans Downtown Marriott at the Convention Center

We have blocked a limited number of rooms at the New Orleans Downtown Marriott that will be available at the group rate of $179 plus tax per night.

Venue

The seminar classes will be held at the New Orleans Downtown Marriott at the Convention Center
859 Convention Center Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70130

Facilitators

Rich Townsend is a Senior Construction Cost Control Consultant at R. L. Townsend & Associates, LLC. and President of Construction Audit & Cost Control Institute, Inc.

Since 1985 he has been affiliated with Courtenay Thompson & Associates as an instructor for public offering and in-house professional development seminars related to construction auditing and construction cost control.

Prior to starting his consulting firm, Rich spent 13 years with the auditing department of a major retail corporation. During his internal auditing career (1971-1984), he served in several staff and audit management positions with a specialization in audits of construction contract activity.

Mr. Townsend is a Certified Construction Auditor (CCA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and serves as a member of the advisory board for The National Association of Construction Auditors.

He is a graduate of Waynesburg College/Waynesburg University (Waynesburg, Pennsylvania) where he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in accounting.

Courtenay M. Thompson is a recognized authority on fraud-related training for internal auditors, management and investigators. Since entering the educational consulting field in 1981, he has written and presented courses for corporations, government and professional associations worldwide.

He is the co-developer of courses on audit and control of construction costs, and has developed and presented courses on purchasing fraud and contract auditing. His courses are known for providing practical approaches to real problems.

Mr. Thompson’s experience prior to consulting includes public accounting, audit supervisor for consumer financial services for a large retailer, and director of auditing for a life insurance company.

Mr. Thompson received his BBA and MBA degrees from Southern Methodist University and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of various accounting and auditing professional associations.