Jimmy L. Williamson, CPA

Jimmy L. Williamson, CPA, is a senior associate and shareholder in the accounting firm of MDA Professional Group, P.C., working primarily in the Albertville, Fort Payne, and Gadsden offices. He specializes in the areas of pension and profit-sharing plans, fringe benefits, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, estate and personal financial planning, individual and corporate tax planning, business acquisitions and dispositions, and investment review and analysis.

He is a graduate of Jacksonville State University. He worked for seven years as an IRS agent and pension plan specialist for the Internal Revenue Service before joining the firm of MDA Professional Group, P.C. as manager in the Fort Payne office in 1977.

Williamson has served on the governing council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) since 1992 and recently served a three-year term as Council Member-at-Large for the AICPA. He has been re-appointed to serve another three-year term as a Council Member-at Large for the AICPA commencing with the fall of 2001. He also served as the Alabama delegate for the Visioning Project which is a strategic planning initiative of the AICPA focusing on reshaping the future of the certified public accountant in a changing national and global economy.

He has also served on the National CPA Vision Team since 1997, which is a national task force on the Vision Project, as one of only six members out of 54 National Future Forum Delegates. In connection with his work on the National CPA Vision Team, Williamson has written numerous articles and given numerous speeches dealing with the New Vision for the CPA Profession and how CPAs in all segments of the economy can implement the New Vision in their own personal careers and in their places of employment and the organizations they work with. His articles have been published by the AICPA and by practically every state society in their State Society publications for their members. He was also recently asked to serve on the AICPA Change Management Team which will focus on assisting CPAs with the implementation of the CPA Vision.

Williamson is also a member and past-president of the Alabama Society of CPAs (ASCPA), member and past president of the Northeast Alabama Chapter of CPAs, member and past committee chair of the ASCPA Strategic Planning Committee, member of the ASCPA Public Relations Committee, serves on the Board of Directors of the ASCPA Educational Foundation, member of the Board of Directors of the University of Alabama's Federal Tax Clinic, serves on the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Tax Forum, member of the Alabama Baptist State Convention Audit Committee, past member of the ASCPA Federal Taxation Committee, and past member of the AICPA Employee Benefits Taxation Committee.

Mr. Williamson recently served as chairman of the Alabama Uniform Accountancy Act Task Force which was responsible for rewriting the Alabama Public Accountancy Law to comply with the Uniform Accountancy Act as adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). This new proposed legislation is expected to be introduced in the Alabama 2001 legislative session.

In 1998 Jimmy was awarded status as a Diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Accounting. The ACFE recognizes experience and education of individuals engaged in forensic examinations covering multi-disciplinary training in the accounting field. Individuals approved for Diplomat Status must achieve proficiency in a variety of topics, procedures, and ethical standards and meet rigorous criteria of the certification program.