DATE: Thursday, September 18, 2025
TIME: 1:00 PM – 6:30 PM
LOCATION: Fox Cities Stadium | Appleton
Fox Cities Stadium
2400 North Casaloma Drive
Appleton, WI 54913
Keynote Presentation Time
3:45 - 4:45 PM
Keynote Topic
Ethics in Accounting – Continuing & Increasing Challenges
Summary
This talk will articulate the economics of financial reporting, including the sources of demand, the determinants of high-quality financial reporting, and historical and contemporary challenges in the financial reporting domain. Takeaways are as follows:
Learning Objectives
Keynote Presenter & Biography
Terry Warfield
Emeritus PwC Professor in Accounting
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Professor Warfield received a B.S. and M.B.A. from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1989. Professor Warfield's area of expertise is financial accounting. He retired from his full-time faculty position at UW-Madison in August, 2024. Prior to his academic career, Professor Warfield worked for five years in the banking industry and from 1995-1996 he served as the Academic Accounting Fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. While on the Staff, he worked on projects related to financial instruments, financial institutions, and helped coordinate a symposium on intangible asset financial reporting.
Professor Warfield's primary research interests concern financial accounting standards and disclosure policies, including the effects of accounting information and disclosures on securities markets. He has published articles in various scholarly and practice-oriented outlets. He served on the editorial boards of several top accounting journals and he has served as a reviewer for many other accounting and business journals. He has served on numerous committees of the American Accounting Association. Professor Warfield served as one of three academic members of the Advisory Council to the Financial Accounting Standards
Board (2005-2009) and as a trustee for the Financial Accounting Foundation (2013-2019). He serves on the boards of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union, the Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation, and is chair of the Investment Committee of the Wisconsin Public Radio Association.
Professor Warfield teaches intermediate and graduate level courses in financial reporting and he has served on numerous PhD dissertation committees (11 as the Chair). He has received teaching awards at both the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin and he has developed several case studies based on his research for use in accounting classes. Professor Warfield is co-author (with D. Kieso, J. Weygandt, and L. Wiley) of Intermediate Accounting, (19th Edition), Intermediate Accounting: Principles and Analysis (2nd Edition), and Intermediate Accounting: IFRS 5th Edition.
He is married (Mary) and has three children. He enjoys sports (particularly golf), reading, and travel.
The BMO team will provide a framework for the evaluation of various strategic options at the corporate level, including related liquidity and personal wealth considerations for business owners. Strategic options discussed will include growth-related options (acquisitions, organic growth, build vs. buy) and more liquidity-focused options (taking chips off the table for owners, full or partial sale alternatives). Presenters will also touch on the balance between growth needs of the business and potential liquidity desires of business ownership. Key takeaways are as follows:
Vice President, Corporate Advisory | BMO
Alex George is a Vice President in the Corporate Advisory Group at BMO, where he delivers strategic guidance to privately held businesses navigating growth, transition, and liquidity events. His advisory work spans mergers and acquisitions, ESOP conversions, dividend recapitalizations, and partial or full ownership transitions — helping mid-market companies ($50MM+ in revenue) make high-impact decisions with clarity and confidence.
Alex’s career began in BMO’s Equipment Finance group, where he built a strong foundation in credit analysis, underwriting, and relationship management. This experience gave him a practical understanding of balance sheet-drivengrowth strategies, and the capital needs of operating companies. He later transitioned into BMO’s Corporate Advisory team, where he now works closely with C-suite executives and ownership groups to develop and execute bespoke transaction strategies. His valuation expertise, honed through years of financial modeling and private market analysis, plays a central role in advising clients through both growth-oriented investments and liquidity-driven exits.
As a CFA® charterholder, Alex combines technical rigor with strategic perspective and is known for mentoring junior talent and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to drive results.
Outside of his professional role, Alex remains active in the community — serving on local boards, coaching youth sports, and continuing his legacy as a former Division II collegiate soccer player. His experience across credit, advisory, and investment research uniquely positions him to speak to the evolving capital needs and strategic challenges facing business owners today.
Bob Harrod
Director, Corporate Advisory | BMO
Bob Harrod joined BMO in September 2019 and currently serves as a Director in BMO’s Corporate Advisory group. The group provides strategic advisory services to C-Suite executives and privately-held business owners with offerings including M&A, ownership transition strategies, recapitalizations, ESOPs, and other corporate finance engagements.
Bob has extensive experience in corporate development/M&A, strategy and investment banking. Bob joined BMO from Adtalem Global Education, where he served as a senior member of the corporate development & strategy team. Prior to Adtalem, Bob headed up the corporate development/M&A efforts of Fortune Brands Home & Security, and prior to that, for substantial businesses within GE Healthcare and GE Capital. Prior to GE, Bob spent over 12 years in investment banking, primarily focused in healthcare, at various firms including Robert W. Baird, Vector Securities and Credit Suisse.
Bob has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BS in Finance and Management from the University of Virginia.
To be announced.
Jeff Van Winkle
Shareholder | von Briesen & Roper, s.c.
Jeff Van Winkle is a Shareholder in the Business Practice Group. Jeff has more than three decades of experience representing businesses, investors and entrepreneurs at all phases of their businesses. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, international transactions, financing and securities. Jeff provides general counsel services, securities law compliance counseling, and legal guidance for multinational business activities and transactions.
Jeff is a member of several professional associations including serving on the Board of Advisors for the Small Business Advocacy Council, International Trade Association of Greater Chicago, American Bar Association (Business Law Section, Mid-Market and Small Business Committee) and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He previously served as chair of the Business Law Section for the State Bar of Michigan, chair of the National Small Business Association and as treasurer and vice president of a leading international legal network group.
An avid hiker, Jeff’s community involvement includes serving on the Board of Directors of the North Country Trail Association, the longest trail in the National Trails Systems stretching 4,800 miles across eight states.
BMO Professional Development Presentation from 1:00 - 2:00 PM = 1 credit
von Briesen & Roper Professional Development Presentation from 2:15 - 3:15 PM = 1 credit
Keynote Presentation from 3:45 - 4:45 PM = 1 credit
Michelle Weiss
920.750.9110
michelle@mwcommunications.org
Register and send cancellations by noon on 9/11/25.