LEADERSHIP NEWS
MEET YOUR NEW LEADERS:
Introducing the 2021-2022 COCPA and Educational Foundation Nominees Maintaining the profession’s relevance; leadership development; the pipeline into the profession; technology; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and much more are top of mind for these new members who will join the COCPA Board of Directors and Educational Foundation of COCPA Board of Trustees, May 1.
COCPA BOARD CHAIR NOMINEE
Randy Watkins, CPA, CGMA, CCIFP Partner, BDO USA, LLP, Greeley
R
andy literally grew up in the accounting profession, watching his father Lee Watkins build Watkins & Schommer, Inc., a local CPA firm, in Greeley, Colo., with partner Dan Schommer. Rolling beyond graduation from Wiggins High School and the University of Northern Colorado with a B.S. in Business Administration - Accounting emphasis, Randy developed his technical skills with several organizations before returning to Greeley to work in the family business. When his Dad retired in 2008, Randy purchased the firm. In 2010, he merged it into Anton Collins Mitchell LLP (ACM) - the firm with which he’d worked two years earlier. Today, Randy is an assurance partner in BDO USA, LLP’s (BDO) Northern Colorado office, ACM having merged with BDO in late summer 2020. He focuses on auditing and financial reporting services for exempt organizations, construction, manufacturing and distribution, and software and technology companies. He takes special interest in getting to know his clients so he can help them accomplish their goals. With 20 years of experience, he is able to identify opportunities to make practical improvements in clients’ operational efficiencies and internal controls over financial reporting and accounting. The intimate knowledge he gains from these audits, coupled with his analytical skills, enables him to help his clients look beyond the numbers to the story their financial statements tell.
4
NewsAccount | March/April 2021
A member of the COCPA and AICPA, Randy has served in a variety of roles including a previous term on the COCPA Board of Directors and in his current position as Vice Chair and Budget Committee Chair. He is a former member of the AICPA Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) Executive Committee and the AICPA annual Government Accounting and Auditing Conference planning committee. He regularly presents on technical topics at AICPA Government and Construction conferences. Randy belongs to the Associated General Contractors of Colorado, Colorado Government Finance Officers Association, and Construction Financial Management Association. A firm believer in giving back to his community, Randy is heavily involved in charitable organizations throughout northern
At the top of the priority list for Randy is “maintaining relevance in the Information Age, establishing our relevance in providing assurance on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting, and attracting diverse top talent from the next generation.” He brings Creativity and Innovation Super Powers to the Board table as well as practical experience from his other nonprofit board service. When he’s not immersed in professional activities, Randy spends his time with family - wife Nicole, who also is a CPA, and daughters Lennon and McCartney; playing golf, boating, camping, learning new songs on the guitar, and watching sports. Some of his most favorite trips have been twoto-three-week road trips in the family’s 5th wheel. They’ve been to upstate New York and back; to the Black hills of South Dakota, and beyond to Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming; and last summer to Lake Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, and back home through Wisconsin. Oh, yes, Randy is a diehard Beatles fan, too. And, yes, that’s why his daughters are named after two of the Fab Four.
The intimate knowledge Randy gains from these audits, coupled with his analytical skills, enables him to help his clients look beyond the numbers to the story their financial statements tell. Colorado. He chairs the United Way of Weld County Board; is past president of the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Alumni Association Board; and president of the Board for United for Youth (UniFY - formerly Northern Colorado Active 20/30).
