2025 Accounting & Auditing Conference - 1st Day Only- Webcast (Formerly LAAC and GAAC)

Barry Kelly

Barry Kelly began working at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s (LLA) office in 2012. Currently he works on the special projects team in the Local Government Services section of LLA. He helps prepare Statewide Agreed-Upon Procedures (SAUP) updates, create and monitor the implementation of statutorily required schedules, fulfill legislative requests, and provide assistance to local officials and CPA’s. 
Barry is a Certified Internal Auditor and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditor’s (IIA). He graduated from the University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master in Business Administration. Prior to working at the LLA he worked as a sales tax auditor for the state of Louisiana. 

Michael Waguespack

Michael J. Waguespack was elected Legislative Auditor on April 19, 2021. Mr. Waguespack, a Louisiana native, has had a long and varied career. He graduated from LSU in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and accepted employment with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers & Lybrand) in Houston, TX. Mr. Waguespack transferred to the firm’s New Orleans office and worked there until he started his own accounting firm in 1993. In 1999, Mr. Waguespack was elected Assumption Parish Sheriff, from which he retired in 2016. In the years since, Mr. Waguespack worked as the co-managing member of an accounting firm and chief financial officer of an industrial contractor. In addition, he served as Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Tax Commission from 2016-2021. Mr. Waguespack is a licensed Certified Public Accountant with more than 25 years of experience performing a large variety of governmental audits, reviews, compilations, and investigations.

Michael Brand is known as a nationally acclaimed, accounting industry expert and speaker, Michael (Mike) has been involved in all aspects of public accounting, with an emphasis in providing accounting, auditing and review services to clients in the for-profit, nonprofits and governmental sectors.

In addition to teaching, Mike regularly speaks at conferences nationwide and in various other countries. He conducts peer reviews across the United States and was formerly on the Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. He is the current co-chair of the Engage Conference (the AICPA's largest conference held over multiple days with thousands of attendees).

Jenifer Schaye

Jenifer Schaye is General Counsel for the Legislative Auditor of the State of Louisiana. 
She is a graduate of the University of Dallas and of St. Louis University Law 
School. She has practiced law continuously for the last forty-three years in Texas and 
Louisiana. Jenifer has substantial experience in the governmental arena. She has 
worked as a Legislative Aid to a State Representative in Texas. She was a 
Louisiana Assistant Attorney General for eleven years. As an Assistant Attorney 
General, she focused on tort, insurance law, and gaming law and all aspects of the 
Administrative Procedure Act. In her capacity as general counsel to the Legislative 
Auditor, Jenifer advises on public law issues and laws relating to fiscal matters, 
ethics issues, and all public laws which impact political subdivisions and the audits of 
political subdivisions on the local and state level. Jenifer also serves as a board 
member on the Louisiana Survivor’s Benefit Board as the Legislative Auditor’s 
designee. In addition, Jenifer represents the Legislative Auditor and staff in those 
matters where they are called to testify and/or to produce records for further 
inquiry by state and federal courts. She advises the Louisiana Legislative Audit 
Advisory Council on relevant audit law issues. 
Because of her governmental background, Jenifer has a broad knowledge of the 
processes of government and the relationships between the various branches of 
state and local government.

Nene Gianfala is a Vice President of the Valuation Advisory group with over 15 years of experience in accounting, corporate finance, and business valuations. She joined Chaffe & Associates, Inc. as a Financial Analyst Intern in June 2007, and upon completion of the internship, joined the company. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Accredited in Business Valuations (ABV), Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations (CEIV), Certified in the Fundamentals of ESG by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and an Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuations with a specialty in Intangible Assets (ASA-BV/IA) by the American Society of Appraisers. Ms. Gianfala performs intellectual property and intangible asset valuations for purchase price allocations, impairment testing, internal intangible asset management, portfolio valuation, and litigation support. She provides business valuation services to public and private companies for estate, gift, and income tax planning, financial reporting, corporate planning, employee stock ownership plans, and litigation. Ms. Gianfala is very active in her community and in professional organizations including hosting podcasts for the AICPA on various topics from ESG to Crypto. She serves on the Board of the Louisiana SPCA, is the Past Treasurer Junior League of New Orleans, the Past President of the Tulane Association of Business Alumni, and an Adjunct Faculty Member of the University of Holy Cross.

Mr. Gilbert works in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of Chaffe & Associates, Inc., having joined the firm in 2012 as a financial analyst.  He specializes in deal execution, database and market research, due diligence, financial modeling, and strategic planning and financial analysis of critical business decisions for clients in various industries.

Prior to joining Chaffe & Associates, Mr. Gilbert provided start-up consulting services to a clean energy company based in New Orleans. Mr. Gilbert began his career in the film industry and went on to work for several years in project management at the American Heart Association in Dallas.

Mr. Gilbert holds a B.A. from Tulane University in Political Economy and an M.B.A. from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.

Steven McKay

Steven McKay, along with his wife Rachel and three kids, is a resident of Pollock, Louisiana. Additionally, Steven is a graduate of Mississippi College, and joined Rozier, McKay, Willis CPAs immediately upon graduation in 2015. He became a partner in 2019 and serves a wide variety of clients, including an assortment of governmental units across Central Louisiana and small businesses all over the state.