Board Members

The Arizona State Board of Accountancy is established by A.R.S. § 32-702 and consists of seven board members who are residents of Arizona and who are appointed by the Governor for five-year terms. Five members are Certified Public Accountants and two are public members.

Beautiful Sunset over Phoenix Arizona

Layne Reid Simmons, CPA
President
Term expires July 3, 2017

Layne Simmons is the manager and co-owner of Jaffa Simmons, PLLC, located in Mesa, Arizona. Layne has over 27 years of experience working for both public accounting firms and for large international publically traded corporations. Prior to joining Jaffa Simmons, PLLC, Layne was the Vice President of Tax at Waste Services, Inc. He also served as the Executive Director of Tax at Viad Corp., and prior to his association with Viad, Layne was with the Phoenix office of Deloitte & Touche. Layne has served in leadership positions in several organizations including serving as Chairman of the Board of the Arizona Society of CPAs, as a council member of the American Institute of CPAs, and as President of the Arizona Chapter of Tax Executives Institute. He also chaired the Arizona Society of CPA’s Tax Legislation Committee, where as committee chairman, he spoke before the Arizona Senate Finance Committee, the Arizona House Ways and Means Committee and Arizona House Commerce Committee explaining proposed tax legislation. Layne also served 3 years on the tax advisory committee of the Arizona State Board of Accountancy. Layne holds a Master of Science in Accounting, specializing in Taxation.

Douglas Kimball, Public Member
Secretary
Term expires July 3, 2017

Douglas Kimball has over 30 years of executive experience in finance, accounting, operations, administration and mergers/acquisitions in both public and private companies. He is a former CPA and began his career in the accounting profession. He spent eight years in the audit department at Touche Ross & Co. in Boston, now Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Kimball is currently a consultant with Tetra Tech, Inc., a public engineering and consulting firm in the environmental, utility, energy and international development arenas. Prior to taking this position in 2014, Mr. Kimball served for three years served as President and principal shareholder of Drill Bros, Inc., an Arizona based civil contractor. He graduated from Dartmouth College and received his Masters of Science in Accounting and his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Northeastern University. Mr. Kimball is active in various local civic, charitable and community associations.

LeRoy M. Gaintner, CPA
Treasurer
Term expires July 3, 2018

Having spent twenty-five years as audit and managing partner of Gaintner Bandler Reed & Peters PLC, in Phoenix, Arizona, LeRoy Gaintner also serves as expert witness in controversies involving economic losses and in accountant’s malpractice cases. LeRoy’s professional career started with Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG). He became an audit partner in the Phoenix accounting firm Gallant Farrow & Greene, spent several years in greater Phoenix real estate development, and returned to public accounting in 1988 with what is now Gaintner Bandler Reed & Peters. Mr. Gaintner served as a trustee and past chair of the Western Association of Accounting Firms – an association of public accounting firms dedicated to sharing resources in best practices of accounting firm management and in assuring best practices in delivery of audit, accounting and tax services. In the community, he has served numerous organizations. A long time board member and past chair of the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation, he chaired and was treasurer of the successful Maricopa Colleges bond campaigns in 1995 and 2005. He has been active in supporting the cultural environment in Phoenix through long-term involvement in Phoenix Men’s Arts Council providing financial support to the Phoenix Art Museum. Additionally, LeRoy serves on the Judicial Performance Review of Maricopa County, which facilitates performance reviews of Superior and Appellate Court Judges. Mr. Gaintner also has served the accounting profession through the Arizona Society of CPA’s, having chaired the Reporting Standards Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, and the Litigation Services Committee, and as a prior board member of the Arizona CPA Foundation for Education and Research. A graduate of Occidental College, Mr. Gaintner also holds Masters Degrees from Arizona State University in Accounting and in Mathematics.

Giselle C. Alexander
Term expires July 3, 2021

Giselle Alexander is a CPA and attorney, practicing tax controversy law with Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold, LLP in Phoenix, Arizona. She started her professional career with Ernst & Young, LLP in Phoenix. Giselle earned both her B.S. and J.D. from Arizona State University and her LL.M. from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. Giselle also serves on the Executive Council of the State Bar of Arizona Tax Law Section; the American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation, State and Local Tax Committee; and as Treasurer of the Paradise Valley Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.

Gary L. Freed, Public Member
Term expires July 3, 2019

Gary Freed has in excess of 35 years of experience in finance and accounting with primarily public accounting firms. He is a former Arizona CPA and a retired California CPA, who began his career in public accounting by working six years in the audit departments of the Los Angeles and Phoenix offices of Arthur Andersen & Co. Then, after one year as the Chief Financial Officer of a local holding company, Mr. Freed joined a local CPA firm and was involved in auditing, accounting, tax and consulting as well as litigation support services and conducting peer reviews. During his 18 years with Zolondek, Strassels, Greene & Freed, PC, he also had contracts to provide CPA investigations for the Arizona State Board of Accountancy. Upon the merger of his firm with Clifton Gunderson, LLP, Mr. Freed was exclusively involved in providing litigation support services and business valuation services and he has testified in excess of 60 times as an expert witness. He retired from daily practice in 2011 and has continued to be active as a leader in various community service organizations. Mr. Freed was named City of Mesa, "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" in 1990 by the Mesa Leadership Alumni Association and was selected for the "Public Service Award" in 1996 by the Arizona Society of CPA’s. He was a member of various committees of the Arizona Society of CPA’s and was also a member for 10 years of the Arizona State Board of Accountancy’s Law Review Committee, serving as its chair for 5 years. Mr. Freed graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration Majoring in Accounting, with High Distinction from The University of Arizona in 1978.

William C. Heimerdinger, CPA
Term expires July 3, 2020

William C. Heimerdinger "Chuck" is a partner in the Arizona audit practice of Ernst & Young LLP and currently serves as EY's health care technical leader and EY's representative on the AICPA Health Care Expert Panel. He previously served as the firm's provider care sector resident developing thought leadership, educational materials and performed research on technical issues impacting the health care industry. He has accumulated more than 29 years of accounting and auditing experience, and has been a key member of EY's Phoenix office since 1995. Chuck graduated from the University of Louisville and started his career in the firm's Louisville office. He has served clients in several industries throughout his career, but with a focus on health care providers, payers and life sciences companies. Chuck possesses significant auditing and financial reporting expertise including development stage entities, not-for-profit entities, statutory-basis reporting and OMB Circular A-133 compliance and reporting. He advises clients on key industry issues including business combinations, purchase price allocations, leasing transactions and debt offerings. Chuck is licensed in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky and New Mexico and has practice privileges in California. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Arizona Society of CPAs and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

Julie S. Klewer, CPA
Term expires July 3, 2019

Julie Klewer is the partner in charge of the audit and assurance practice of LUDWIG KLEWER & CO. PLLC in Tucson, Arizona. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Arizona State University in 1988 and began her career in Tucson with Coopers & Lybrand. Julie’s 20 years of experience in the public accounting arena has spanned the range from small, local firms to large, international firms. In 1999, Julie briefly put her public accounting career on hold and received her MBA degree from the University of Arizona. She subsequently co-founded Marketing Intelligence, LLC, a Tucson-based marketing research and strategic consulting business. In 2002, she made the decision to resume her accounting career. Throughout her career, Julie has taught undergraduate courses in marketing and business administration, as well as graduate courses in accounting, at the University of Arizona. She served as Chair of the 2006 Tucson Heart Ball benefiting the American Heart Association, and she is a recent past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants.

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