Compliance Expert

Understand what and how we are impacting cannabis sales. We'll cover the average price per transaction during the month of March and months following the California shut-down due to COVID. 

We explore the question of, when where and how to report STOLEN cannabis from looting or riots. We'll cover best practice documentation ideas and documents you'll need to meet the various California Cannabis regulations. In general, when a licensed cannabis retailer has experienced a theft, the retailer must notify the BCC within 24 hours from the date of the incident. Any theft, loss, and or Criminal Activity fall within section 5036 of the Bureau’s regulations. Notification and Request Form, BCC-LIC-027 is located here. You can submit this form via email located here. We'll discuss what to expect after you file and how to keep your record available for 7 years. 

With COVID19 cannabis retailers must prioritize the customer experience, and educate sales teams effective strategies to deal with difficult situations, handle resistance, avoid liability, better manage their time, and ensure clients are comfortable and reassured. Want to learn how to maximize the confidence and success of cannabis retail sales professionals. Discover a proven step by step training method to get your team to learn the importance of focusing on people, rather than product. Understand how to build a relationship of trust and loyalty with customers. Active listening tools, asking the right questions, knowing the product, and guiding customers to the best solution for their specific needs encourages informed purchasing decisions, satisfied customers, retention, and referrals. This interview we'll discuss how to get: Real Results * Real Education * Real Success! Melissa Jane (MJ) Stapley, founder of MJ Hybrid Solutions, started her journey in the cannabis industry in 2014. She left her corporate management career and joined the cannabis industry to work for CV Sciences, a CBD manufacturer. After discovering a need for cannabis employee training, MJ combined her passion for sales training and cannabis education to develop the MJ Hybrid Training System. With her 12 years of corporate sales experience and 5 years of cannabis industry expertise, MJ created a training for cannabis employees that is both scientifically accurate and helps employees better sell to customers. Her mission is to legitimize the cannabis industry through proper employee education and training.  

Sonia Luna covers highlights of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Treasury programs created through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Visit the following websites for new guidelines: SBA – here you will find information on all COVID-19 related programs that SBA is providing, including the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Emergency Grants, and Small Business Debt Relief.  Department of Treasury –  here you will find information on the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as other tax provisions meant to help employers, including non-profits. To help small business owners and entrepreneurs better understand the new programs you can always reach Aviva Spectrum at: info@avivaspectrum.com 

Forgot about your lease terms and eviction clauses when you signed your lease over a year ago? Don't worry most of us forget about all the terms and conditions we cover in a typical lease. Aviva Spectrum specializes in offering CFO and accounting advice for cannabis companies and some are hit hard because of the recent Coronavirus Outbreak. Even though the President just signed a 2 Trillion Dollar relief package today on March 27th, 2020. NONE of those dollars cover cannabis companies! In our local city in Los Angeles, Mayor Garcetti, orders a moratorium on evictions and yes, this includes cannabis companies. In this episode, I'm going to offer free and clear advise on how to: When and how to give your landlord a good heads-up?How to determine if you should pause payments for a month or two?Determine if you can give them a later due date to better coincide with your customer payments?What to look for in your tenant lease to find out what remedies your landlord can take. We'll cover what you can do today to find out your free cashflow and when things become too tight! Aviva Spectrum offers a cashflow analysis and we'll share what's covered to help all cannabis companies to determine what they should do in this new Coronavirus outbreak. Want a free cash flow analysis then email us at: info@avivaspectrum.com.  

The Coronavirus has created the most unprecedented business disruption that we have seen since the 2008 financial crisis. We will be interviewing cannabis insurance industry expert Alana Long. This is the first pandemic that has rocked our country and businesses to the core in over 50 years. Learn from cannabis industry experts about what insurance coverage is actually out there today and what you can do to file the right claims at the right time. Understand what supporting documents you'll need when the government offers assistance to the cannabis industry. Leverage insight about how to account for insurance claims and even business losses which may occur in this critical time. 

Learn about tax advantages you can take from the NEW tax bill and also the new FARM BILL. Understand how to differentiate your operations from CBD sales and selling expenses and those that are "plant touching" activities.

Sonia Luna interviews practice leader Nicole Johnson on strategies to deal with cannabis taxes. Aviva Spectrum has won "Best Accountant" for the California Cannabis Awards in 2018 and we're sharing the tips and tricks every cannabis business owner needs to understand before they file their 2018 tax returns. Nicole M. Johnson, EA, is a Practice Leader with Aviva Spectrum and works out of Los Angeles, California. She has over 20 years of professional experience, with a focus on training, accounting, and tax. As an enrolled agent (EA), Nicole is federally authorized to practice tax and has technical expertise in the field of taxation. She is empowered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before all administrative levels – examination, collection, and appeals – of the Internal Revenue Service. Having worked with clients across a number of industries to determine the best way to resolve tax liability, Nicole can analyze how to minimize tax debt and expense as much as possible. She has extensive accounting experience along with detailed tax knowledge, which puts her in an ideal position to offer her clients the best solution-based accounting and tax services. For a FREE Cannabis TAX diagnostic consultation email us at: Info@avivaspectrum.com

In this one of a kind interview with Zendesk CFO, Elena Gomez, Sonia Luna uncovers some of the best practices and lessons learned from someone who's been there! With an unparalleled knowledge of the SaaS business model and proven ability to build teams and partner with business leaders, Elena has been invaluable to the company.  Prior to joining Zendesk, Elena spent 6 years at SalesForce, where she helped build a world-class finance department.   Throughout her two-decade career in finance at Fortune 500 companies, including Visa and Charles Schwab, Elena has built a track record of strategic financial leadership.    Elena holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California, Haas School of Business, and is a National Board Member of the non-profit, Spark.   

In this exciting interview CEO of Aviva Spectrum Sonia Luna, interviews Gayle Edwards, Managing Director, Professional Accounting Solutions (PAS). Gayle Edwards has over 25 years of experience in hotel operations, starting as a night auditor and advancing to the VP of Finance level.  Her impressive track record and wealth of operational insight allows her to be the resident BlackLine expert for PAS and pasUNITY.  By leveraging her deep knowledge of back office operations, Gayle has been able to successfully introduce BlackLine into hospitality, creating one of the largest Blackline Partners deals to date. Gayle earned a BA from Penn State.  

In this compelling interview, Sonia Luna interviews the President of QuickFee, Kyle Redding. Kyle is a CPA & President of QuickFee, Inc. He started his career with EY, working in both the US and Australia, and transitioned into the early stages of QuickFee Australia, where he grew the business from 50 to 700 firms, including 70% of the Top 100 Accounting firms in Australia and the Big 4. Kyle moved back home to California to establish QuickFee USA and quickly gained notoriety by being published in Accounting Today, Accounting Web & CPA Practice Advisors. QuickFee was recently recognized by Accounting Today as one of the “2017 Top New Products” for their unique payment portal that offers clients of professional firms a “fee financing option” directly alongside ACH payment & Credit Card payment.

In this compelling interview, Sonia Luna interviews Darren Marble on crowdfunding mistakes and best practices. Darren Marble is the CEO of CrowdfundX, a pioneering financial marketing firm serving corporations and entrepreneurs across a wide mix of industries and geographies. The company helps clients to effectively architect and execute strategic equity and rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns that build brand equity and drive growth.   Notably, under Darren’s leadership, CrowdfundX designed, produced and marketed the Reg A+ equity crowdfunding campaign for Elio Motors, which raised just under $17 million from 6,200+ investors. Elio subsequently listed on the OTC Markets OTCQX under the symbol "ELIO," making it the first company in the United States to have completed a Reg A+ equity crowdfunding offer and list shares on a public exchange. At present, CrowdfundX is currently managing more than a dozen Reg A+ equity crowdfunding campaigns. Darren was recently elected to the Board of Directors with the Crowdfunding Professional Association and is a Co-Founder of the Crowd Invest Summit. A compelling public speaker, he has presented to such organizations as Stanford, the NextGen Crowdfunding Conference, the CfPA Crowdfunding Summit, the Silicon Valley Crowdfunding Conference, FundIt, Growth Capital Expo, the MicroCap CEO Investor Conference, USC, UC Irvine, CSUN and the ESGCI Business School in Paris. His insights have been featured in Forbes, the Los Angeles Business Journal, Bankless Times, PC Magazine and others.

In this breakthrough interview, you will gain significant insight on what to consider and measure when reviewing organizations social media marketing efforts. For years now, the auditing profession has been trying to understand the impact and risk of Social Media. More importantly what costs it could have when good money is being spent on bad social media marketing plans! Today, our listeners, will walk away knowing how and why influencer marketing works and how auditors can find the right audit trail! Go “way, way” back in the day, over 22 years in digital marketing, and explore the changes in the last two decades. Understand what are third party reports that compliance experts can rely on the data they’ve been given. Discover why content marketing appears to be growing so fast. Learn who's doing content marketing right (and why)!  Sonia Luna, CEO of Aviva Spectrum, a financial transformation and compliance consulting firm headquartered in sunny, Los Angeles, California. She is also a speaker and writer on topics like Financial Close Transformation, Internal audit and accounting related topics. Our guest today is Bill Carmody. Bill is the CEO of Trepoint. Bill is the founder of Trepoint, named one of INC 5000’s Fastest Growing Companies for two consecutive years. In 20+ trailblazing years in digital marketing, he built some of the first commercial websites, and was also among the first to create mobile apps for enterprise brands. Bill’s main specialty is big data marketing for advanced ROI in social and mobile. He authored the book on Online Promotions, and is a celebrated marketing columnist for INC.

In this in-depth interview Sonia Luna interviews Brenda Morris, on ways to modernize the accounting department. Brenda is retail financial consultant, working with teams to optimize their environments and support growth.  She was most recently with Hot Topic/Torrid, an exciting leader in gift & fashion apparel retail, as a strategic partner to leadership to grow and develop the company and to spin out the Torrid brand. Prior to that Brenda was CFO for 5.11 Tactical, an international apparel and gear company, Love Culture Inc., a young women's retailer, which doubled in size during her time with them. Brenda was with Icicle Seafoods from 2009 to 2011 as CFO. Brenda was previously with Maveron start-up iFLOOR Inc., a hard surface retailing concept. She was CFO of Zumiez Inc, a specialty teen retailer. At Zumiez, she completed an IPO, 2 follow on offerings, and an acquisition of one 20 store chain. Prior to Zumiez, Brenda was at K2 Corporation as CFO. At K2, she directed all financial and ops functions. Prior to joining K2, Brenda spent 5 years as the Controller of UNIONBAY. Morris also had roles at Bowers Machine, FlowMole (aka UTILX, where she completed an IPO and two follow-ons).  Brenda is the Past-Chair of Washington Business Week, a Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) Regent and Vice-Chair, past Chair Exec. Advisory Board for PLU’s School of Business; and is a guest speaker and active member of AICPA. She obtained her Undergraduate Degree in Business, Accounting from PLU, and her MBA from Seattle University focused on Organizational Behavior and Operations. She holds her CGMA, CPA and CMA. Brenda is an Advisor for Proformative.com, an online resource and professional network for senior finance, accounting and related professionals.

Sonia Luna, CEO of Aviva Spectrum, interviews, David Chavez, Chief Audit Executive at DreamWorks Animation responsible for creating the strategy, vision and execution of the risk management and internal audit operations located here in sunny, Los Angeles, California. David also serves as an Advisory Board Member of the North Carolina State University ERM project and he served as a Governor of the Board for the Institute of Internal Auditors for a local chapter in Texas. David was nominated in 2012 as a candidate for the PCAOB Advisory Board. We’ll be discussing what are the current issues and best practices regarding Risk Management, data analytics and the best use of GRC technology in the internal audit department and across an enterprise. Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation, David was a National Leader of Deloitte’s GRC Technology practice where he managed multiple GRC related engagements for Fortune 100 companies. Before that David was the Head of the ERM & GRC office for Dell Computers. He is the recipient of 2 MVP awards from the GRC institute for his contribution to the GRC market. 

  In this insightful new episode, Sonia Luna CEO of Aviva Spectrum interviews Erin Selleck, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Enterprise Risk Committee at Broadway Financial Corp, and it’s subsidiary Broadway Federal Bank. Discover the the core elements of Enterprise Risk Management and the expectations and best practices for the board’s role in successful governance and oversight of ERM. Learn effective techniques when handling out-of-the-ordinary challenges, as well as considersations before key decision making on a board. Prior to joining the board at Broadway Financial Corp., Erin Selleck served as Senior Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Executive Committee member at MUFG Union Bank, a top-25 U. S. bank and a key subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s largest financial organizations. Her many accomplishments at Union Bank include successfully guiding the bank through the most significant financial crisis of the modern era, presiding over meaningful growth in the bank’s balance sheet, and expertly navigating an increasingly challenging economic and regulatory environment in the banking industry. She is the recipient of a number of professional honors, including being named a “Woman to Watch” by American Banker Magazine in 2012.

In this engaging episode with Alan Phillips, Vice President of Internal Audit at The Cheesecake Factory, he and Sonia Luna CEO of Aviva Spectrum will discuss ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­some of the changes in the internal audit field and best practices for structuring this important department. Learn some of the changes that have occurred and gain insights into upcoming trends from a 40-year veteran in the financial services and hospitality fields. Prior to joining The Cheesecake Factory, Alan served as a Partner at Ernst and Young for 10 years where he started the firm’s internal audit outsourcing and co-sourcing practice in the Southwest.  There, he had the pleasure of serving numerous Global 1000 companies. Alan has worked in Internal Audit field for over 30 years. Alan holds a B.S. in Accounting from the San Diego State and is a CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner and is a speaker for the IIA on Risk Management and Sox.

In this compelling interview with Leena Roselli, Senior Manager of Research for FEI (Financial Executives International), Sonia Luna, CEO and Founder of Aviva Spectrum and Leena will be discussing the four year audit fee trends. We'll delve into how compliance and regulatory issues have impacted how much organizations are spending on audit fees and what they can do to minimize their costs.  

Listen as Sonia Luna, CEO and Founder of Aviva Spectrum interviews, Global Director of Internal Audit at Quiksilver, Nicole Ungaro about auditing 3rd party providers.  We will cover best practices and risks. Quiksilver is that look and feel of “California surfer.” It’s truly a global California based brand. Nicole has 16 years experience in auditing, starting her career in external audit at KPMG.  She then transitioned to internal audit, creating an internal audit department at Universal Electronics and Wet Seal.  Nicole holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cal State Long Beach.   Nicole is also involved with the Institute of Internal Auditors, Orange County chapter as the Treasurer, since August 2014. 

Sonia Luna interviews Chief Ethics Officer at Health Net, Bruce Anderson, who has over 20 years of experience in compliance and healthcare.  As many of you know, Health Net is one of the largest health care providers in the US and headquartered in California. Bruce directs Medicare, corporate compliance and ethics programs. He oversees initiatives related to compliance with federal laws, corporate compliance daily operations, and compliance training and education.  Bruce holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and several certifications in the healthcare field including HIPAA Privacy.  Bruce is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). 

Why don't IT and Accounting understand each other? Why is the IT project failure rate so high and what are some key ways that accounting can help IT? We delve into these questions and more in our interview with Karla Sasser about her new book,  FRIGGIN’ BEANCOUNTERS: Navigating the BS infested cubicles of the Accounting Department.   Karla Sasser is an accomplished Internal Auditor, CPA, CIA and new Author with more than 20 years’ experience in Information Technology and Accounting. Her areas of expertise include Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, corporate governance, enterprise risk services and IT auditing. Karla has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Information Technology.   For a copy of her book, visit, http://www.amazon.com/Friggin-Bean-Counters-Navigating-Accounting-ebook/dp/B00XRTNQL6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432924970&sr=1-1&keywords=friggin+bean+counter    

In this eye opening interview, Professor, Venkat Iyer, Ph.D., CPA, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro discusses his recent research on job satisfaction in the Internal Audit profession. Venkat specializes in organizational and behavioral issues in audit firms and the internal audit profession.  He began his career at UNCG’s Bryant School of Business and Economics in 1999 as an Assistant Professor.  He earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the J.M. School of Accounting at the University of Georgia, in Athens Georgia.  He is a CPA and has many notable publications and honors, including the Teaching Excellence Award from the Bryan School at UNCG in 2005.  He also received research grants from Big 4 Firms, such as KPMG, PWC, and the IIA Research Foundation.Venkat Iyer is Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Bryan School of Business and Finance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He began his career there in 1999 as an Assistant Professor.  He earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the J.M. School of Accounting at the University of Greorgia, in Athens Georgia.  He is a CPA and has many notable publications and honors, including the Teaching Excellence Award from Bryan School in 2005.  

For 15 years, Laura has focused her law practice on small and mid-cap public companies, the OTC market, new IPOs, mergers and acquisitions and complex business transactions. She founded and hosts a regular show on LawCast.com and You Tube watched regularly by thousands across the U.S.  Prior to founding Legal & Compliance, Laura served as Chief Legal Counsel for a national investment banking firm and a NASDAQ broker dealer with over 200 employees. She is an honors graduate from Florida State University College of Law and has been practicing law over 22 years.  She is a supporter and of community organizations, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and is active the American, Florida and Palm Beach Bar Associations. 

Sandra Almo, Director of Internal Audit at Clean Energy, shares her insight about how to attract and retain top Internal Audit professionals.  Clean Energy is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America.  Sandra has nearly twenty years of experience in the Internal Audit field, serving as Assistant Internal Audit Director with Volt Information Services and Senior Manager with Ernst & Young.  Sandra holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from USC.

Learn about Corporate Governance, Board Selection Process and Interactions with Boards when Sonia Luna interviews Wiliam Judge.  Professor Judge is the E.V. Williams Professor of Strategic Leadership at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.  His areas of expertise are Corporate Governance, Strategy Implementation, and Organizational Innovation and change.  He has published over 100 articles and 3 books on these subjects, and has served as a consultant for business in all three areas.  In 2001, he was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in MGIMO University Moscow, Russia; and in 2013, he was a distinguished visiting scholar at Instituto d Industrial Engineering degree from Lehigh University, followed by MBA and PhD degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Bill is currently engaged in a nationwide study of the director selection process for U.S. board seats.   

In this interview with Jay Qatado, Director of Internal Audit at Calpine, we discuss how being an adviser, rather than an auditor can help an organization in the context of the new Revenue Recognition standard Jay is the Director of Internal Audit with Calpine Corporation based in Houston, Texas. Jay has an extensive background in Operations, Auditing and Shared Services. Prior to joining Calpine, he worked for Mobil Oil, KPMG, Hewlett Packard and Nabors Industries. He has held positions in Engineering, Procurement, Corporate Audit, Shared Services and as a Consultant.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified in Control Self-Assessment and a Certified Investment and Derivatives Auditor. Jay is a current member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) recently authored an article for the IIA titled Auditor or Adviser.

Get the academic perspective on Accounting and Internal Audit from Dr. Daniel Selby, Professor at University of Richmond's Robins School of Business. Dr. Selby is founder and CEO of Daniel Selby PLLC. He has over 25 years’ hands-on experience with Fortune 100 entities via corporate reporting, external auditing, internal auditing, regulatory compliance, and SOC/SSAE16 services. He is a Certified Public Accountant (licensed in multiple states) and Certified Information Systems Auditor with a master’s and PhD from Florida State University.  He is currently affiliated with the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, where he has taught accounting information systems, financial and management accounting, auditing, and graduate IT auditing. His research on accounting, auditing, and information systems has been published in ISACA Journal, and other distinguished publications.

Discover what Certified Fraud Examiner, Joe Koenig, has to say about deception in Internal Auditing.  Joe retired from the Michigan State Police after 26 years and has 45 years of investigative experience in both the public and private sectors. He was lead investigator on the James R. Hoffa case, and investigated homicides, organized crime, financial crimes, narcotics, and public corruption. He is Past President of the Michigan FBI National Academy Associates. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), holds a BS in Accounting from Wayne State University, and a Masters in Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. He now owns a financial fraud investigations firm, called KMI Investigations, located in Western Michigan. He is the author of a new book entitled, Getting the Truth, which is available on Amazon.

In recent major headlines we’ve noticed a lot of bad PR surrounding cyber security. In this indepth interview, John Livingston, Senior IT Auditor at Medical Mutual, discusses what compliance professionals should do to stay on top of ever changing IT risks. John Livingston is a Senior IT Auditor at Medical Mutual. He has over 20 years’ experience in accounting, financial analysis, internal audit, enterprise risk management and IT operations. Previously, John worked for 8 years in IT operations for Rockwell Automation, a Fortune 500 company. He has extensive experience in designing, implementing and managing ITIL processes, including IT Change, Problem, Incident, and Configuration Management. John is a Certified Information System Auditor, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and holds certifications in ITIL and COBIT.

In this interview, we will cover the Five Attributes of an Effective ERM process and how to integrate ERM with the strategic goals of an organization and make it relevant to everyone. Linh Truong has over 20 years of audit experience is currently Director of Internal Audit at Kosmos Energy, an oil and gas exploration and production company.  Prior to joining Kosmos Energy, Linh worked for Alon USA, Hunt Oil, Xerox, Credit Suisse Group and KPMG.  Her extensive audit career has provided her the opportunity to travel throughout the US, Canada, Europe as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East.    Linh has launched internal audit departments from ground zero and established first year SOX compliance programs as well as spearheaded an Enterprise Risk Management process for two companies. 

Allyson Bouldon is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Chiquita Brands International. Chiquita is a leading international marketer and distributor of high-quality fresh food products including Chiquita® bananas and Fresh Express® salads, with over 21,000 employees on 6 continents. Prior to joining Chiquita, Allyson was Assistant General Counsel, Labor and Compliance for Mead Johnson Nutrition Company and also served as Vice President and General Counsel of Tegrant Corporation.  She is a graduate of The Law School at the University of Chicago and Dartmouth College. Ms. Bouldon is Past President of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Chicago Chapter, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an author, and speaker.   She will be a presenter at the Compliance & Ethics Institute Conference in Chicago, Sept. 14th-17th.  Her workshop is entitled: Don’t Let Culture Happen to You:  Understanding and Leveraging Your Culture for Ethics & Compliance Effectiveness. 

Anthony J Smith has 14 years of audit experience and currently leads the Audit and Compliance Department for Mitsubishi Electric Power Products.  He spent 9 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers Boston, Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh an Internal Audit Services Manager, where he worked with various Fortune 500 companies on internal audit and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance engagements. In 2009 he was hired by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products to start up their Audit and Compliance Department.  Anthony is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania and recently authored an article entitled, “Requests for Information” which was published in the April 2014 issue of Internal Auditor magazine.  

Manny is Senior Vice President of Internal Audit at MoneyGram International. He has had the privilege of serving four Fortune 500 industrial companies and a leading global financial services organization during his 34-year career.   Manny has served as Vice President of Internal Audit at Commercial Metals Company, TRW Automotive and Navistar Corporation.  He also had an extensive career at Alcoa and led audit functions in Spain, Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, and China.  He serves on the Board of the Dallas Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors, where he leads the Chief Audit Executive programs.    Manny is a Certified Internal Auditor and has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance.  He also achieved a Lean/Six Sigma Black-Belt designation. Manny is the author of several publications, including his latest book, due out in September of this year on Amazon.com, entitled People-Centric Skills: Interpersonal Communication for Auditors and Business Professionals. 

With the New COSO Framework be sure to ask, who will be touching and handling your intellectual property?  Does your company outsource and does the outsourcing company have a confidentiality agreement?  Robert addresses these and other issues in this informative and compelling interview.  Robert is an Information Governance and e-records consultant, speaker, and noted author of the new book Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices.  It was just published last month. His other publications include, Managing Electronic Records: Methods, Best Practices and Technologies and Safeguarding Critical E-documents: Implementing a Program for Securing Confidential Information Assets.

In this unique interview, Bill shares with us some insights about  Unstructured Data and how unstructured data is linked to IT General controls for most organizations in light of the New COSO Framework.  Bill is COO and Managing Director of Consulting at TechLaw Solutions in Washington DC.  He is a C-level executive with 20+ years’ experience in professional services management, consulting and support services. He has extensive experience in information technology, corporate compliance and electronic discovery. He has performed technology, compliance and e-discovery consulting for Intel, KPMG, Nestlé, Microsoft, Philips Electronics and Pfizer. 

Sonia Luna Interviews Mike Jacka.  Mike Jacka is a speaker, trainer, author, and internal auditor who, upon retiring from a 30-year career in internal audit with Farmers Insurance, became Chief Creative Pilot for Flying Pig Auditing, Consulting, and Training Solutions (FPACTS).  An award-winning columnist, he is known for his work with Internal Auditor magazine including the blog “From the Mind of Mike Jacka” and the magazine’s lighter side pieces such as “Alice in Auditland”,  “Auditing Songs for the Holidays”, and "Auditors Anonymous".  He speaks on a wide ranging variety of topics including such areas as social media, reputation risk, creativity, and leadership.  He is co-author of Business Process Mapping:  Improving Customer Satisfaction (now in its second edition), Auditing Social Media: A Governance and Risk Guide, and The Marketing Strategy:  A Risk and Governance Guide to Building a Brand.  His latest book will be published in 2014, a collection of humor pieces titled Auditing Humor and Other Oxymorons

Norman is a CPA, CRMA and is the internationally branded “evangelist for better run business,” focusing on corporate governance, risk management, internal audit and enterprise performance. He is a member of the review boards of several audit and risk management publications (including the magazines of ISACA and the IIA), a frequent international speaker, the author of several award-winning articles, and a prolific blogger. Norman was the chief audit executive of major global corporations for twenty years ran the Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 (SOX) programs and investigation units at several companies. His new book called “Management’s Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404: Maximize Value Within Your Organization” has been described by readers as “the best Sarbanes-Oxley 404 guide for management” and can be purchased from the IIA and on Amazon.com. Norman's new book on SOX 404 and COSO 2013 Framework.  Delve into the latest SOX info as Norman Marks discusses his new book, Managements Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 (SOX 404). Maximize Value Within Your Organization, and helps your company align with COSO's new framework.  http://www.theiia.org/bookstore/product/managements-guide-to-sarbanesoxley-section-404-maximize-value-within-your-organization-1762.cfm    

Listen as Sonia Luna interviews professional trainer and coach, Dan Swanson on his latest book SWANSON on Internal Auditing: Raising the Bar and other compelling projects.  DanSwanson, is President of Dan Swanson and Associates, and has over thirty years of experience in Internal Audit, Information Security, Information Systems, Management Consulting, and Project Management. Dan has an extensive background in the financial services, healthcare and transportation sectors, as well as significant experience in auditing all levels of governmental agencies. He has completed audit and security related projects for more than thirty organizations including: the Canadian Air Force, Investors Group, World Bank, City of Winnipeg and many more… Dan has served as Managing Editor for the EDPACs Publication since 2006 (now in its 42nd year) and has been a Columnist, for New Perspectives on Healthcare Risk Management for nearly 6 years.    

The CEO and Founder of Aviva Spectrum, Sonia Luna interviews Sajay Rai, Founder and CEO of Securely Yours LLC   Sajay Rai has more than 30 years of experience in information technology, specializing in information security, business continuity, privacy, IT audit and information risk.  Mr. Rai is the Founder and CEO of Securely Yours LLC.  Securely Yours LLC is focused on delivering innovative solutions through delivery channels like Software-as-a-Service, Managed Services and traditional IT consulting.   Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.

Sonia Luna interviews David Feldman on his new book relating real life entrepreneurial experiences and how to apply best practices to your industry.

Sonia Luna, CEO-Founder of Aviva Spectrum, interviews  Jeremy Dillard, CPA Jeremy Dillard has over 14 years of audit and tax experience serving clients in manufacturing, wholesale distribution, real estate, retail, service, technology, and telecommunications with significant experience in technical accounting and audit research impacting privately-held middle market businesses.   Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.

Sonia Luna, CEO and Founder of Aviva Spectrum, interviews Dewey Norton, the CFO of Ample Resources, an oil and gas exploration and production company.  Dewey Norton has led finance and accounting to high performance in capital intensive, high leveraged, international companies which usually involve turnarounds, acquisitions and divestitures. He has advised senior staff of the US Securities & Exchange Commission and the Board of Directors of the International Accounting Standards Board.  His board service focuses on a few entrepreneurs who are developing companies with significant international potential. Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your cor

Sonia Luna, CEO and Founder of Aviva Spectrum, interviews David Rohlander, a leader in his field and a well sought out speaker for Fortune 500 Organizations and the Big 4 Accounting firms. David has "been there & done that" in the military, academia and business. His insights, experience and expertise enable him to deliver impact, relevance, and results. When you survive bullets and missiles on 208 combat missions as a USAF fighter pilot it gives you an edge, a focus and a "can do" attitude. David has an MBA in Finance, and he has built three companies and coached CEOs and executives. He is a perpetual student, disciplined listener and professional speaker for over 30 years. Today we’ll be discussing leadership principles based upon David’s new book “The CEO Code”. The CEO Code shows you how to create a great company and inspire your people to greatness with advice from an experienced executive. You will discover how to design, develop and deliver a masterpiece, personally and professionally.   Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.

James has worked for a variety of reputable organizations including Deloitte, Dow, Chase, IBM, and The Federal Reserve Bank. Most recently, James wrote an article on Auditing Legal Services, published in the IIA Magazine. Download at www.AvivaSpectrum.com/blog Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure. James Fargason has conducted legal related services in California, New York, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio, & Arizona.  He is the author of “Legal Services, Auditing the Process,” published by the IIA Research Foundation, and has lectured in Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America to professionals in his field.    

David Feldman is a Partner at Richardson & Patel LLP in New York City.  Today we’ll be discussing Nasdaq’s recent proposal to require listed companies to establish an internal audit function. We will also be talking with David about some of his personal and client experiences in the world of entrepreneurship. David is also a highly acclaimed writer and is considered one of the country's leading experts on alternatives to traditional initial public offerings, including reverse mergers, in which a private company becomes publicly traded through a merger with a publicly held "shell" company. His book on the subject, “Reverse Mergers and Other Alternatives to a Traditional IPO” (Bloomberg Press) was published in 2006. In 2011, TheStreet.com labeled the book the “seminal text” on reverse mergers. David’s latest book, “The Entrepreneur's Growth Startup Handbook: 7 Secrets to Venture Funding and Growth Success” (John Wiley & Sons), was published in May 2013.  Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients

Sonia Luna is the CEO & Founder of Aviva Spectrum, an internal audit & compliance consulting firm headquartered in LA. She is a well-known speaker on topics like COSO 2013, SOX 404, QAR, Internal Auditing & related topics. This interview features industry leader Manny Rosenfeld who recently wrote The Audit Department Excellence Model (this can be found & downloaded from Aviva Spectrum's Blog).  Manny Rosenfeld has led broad & best-class internal audit functions for four global Fortune 500 corporations with satellite audit offices in the US, UK, Italy, Spain, China & Brazil. He's currently seeking a new opportunity as a Chief Audit Executive. Manny has expertise & passion for operational excellence which leads to a distinctive approach to internal audit. This results in an audit function that not only upgrades compliance & assurance controls, but simultaneously drives more effective & efficient processes with lower risk, reduced cost, fewer errors & faster cycle-time. Manny is on the Board of Governors of the Dallas Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors, where he coordinates the Chief Audit Executive Roundtables. He graduated from Cornell, where he earned a BS in Industrial Engineering, a Master of Engineering in Mgmt Sciences & an MBA. He is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) & has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA). Manny is also a Blackbelt in Lean 6 Sigma.

Learn more valuable information from Compliance Expert, Sonia Luna, on the necessity, cost savings and advantages of a Quality Assessment Review (QAR): Register for Sonia's upcoming webinar by submitting your question HERE. .  In THIS audio, Sonia shares 7 minutes on when the clock REALLY starts ticking for QAR and what happens if you’re NOT compliant.  What risks does a corporation take by not having an outside audit done on their internal audit department?  How do they know if best practices are being followed?  What message does it send to the SEC and to investors if they must go back and amend documents? The clock does not start when most companies THINK it does – it starts the minute the department is formed.  And if a corporation is NOT compliant, every document they send to the Board must note that the QAR has not been done, the company is not compliant, and the IIA standard should also be outlined. Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.  

Learn more valuable information from Compliance Expert, Sonia Luna, on the necessity, cost savings and advantages of a Quality Assessment Review (QAR): Register for Sonia's upcoming webinar by submitting your question HERE. In THIS audio, Sonia shares 5 minutes on the QAR, from the Key Stakeholder's Perspective. A huge win of a QAR from the stakeholders' perspective is the interview with department members and the overview of how they fit into the team and into the larger corporation as a whole.  The nature of audit departments almost always involves high turnover. That can be a win for the corporation IF the Chief Audit Executive works to breed a culture where they create the BEST jobs possible – so when someone transitions to a different department, the company benefits with the best employees possible – and eliminates hiring fees to outside agencies.  Also, by creating a better audit performance, employees become much more familiar with the highest expectations and work toward the highest goals possible.   It also identifies strengths and improvement opportunities that strategically position the internal audit function for ongoing success. Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.

Learn more valuable information from Compliance Expert, Sonia Luna, on the necessity, cost savings and advantages of a Quality Assessment Review (QAR): Register for Sonia's upcoming webinar by submitting your question HERE. .. Could your Audit Department be doing more for your company and finding more job satisfaction?   A quality assessment is a comprehensive review of the overall effectiveness of an internal audit function. It assesses compliance with professional standards, the effectiveness and efficiency of function activities, organization, resource and skill capabilities and the evaluation and fulfillment of stakeholder needs. It also identifies strengths and improvement opportunities that strategically position the internal audit function for ongoing success. Aviva Spectrum is the premier provider of Internal Audit, SOX compliance, and Risk Management Services in the West Coast. Our goal in creating long-term, strategic partnerships with our clients is to establish efficient internal controls systems simply and effectively that in turn build core strength and efficiency in your corporate structure.