Lou Ann Gibson, CPA/ABV, CVA, CFFA

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2200 S. Utica Pl., Ste. 400, Tulsa, OK 74114
lgibson@hogantaylor.com
+1-918-745-2333
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Biography

Lou Ann Gibson not only serves as the leader of HoganTaylor’s Business Valuation & Litigation Support practice group, the largest and most experienced in the Oklahoma/NW Arkansas region, she is an accomplished CPA whose practice includes more than 30 years of public accounting experience providing specialized tax, financial and advisory services to privately held businesses, business owners, wealthy families and not-for-profit organizations.

She is experienced in working with owners and their closely-held organizations assisting them with a variety of needs:

• Offering recommendations for appropriate business structure
• Developing budgets and money management practices
• Creating and implementing strategies for wealth transfer planning
• Identifying financial and tax circumstances to improve the organization’s overall financial picture, whether that is a better tax alternative, a business solution or compliance issue
• Working on restructuring initiatives for multiple objectives, including succession/transfer planning or asset protection

She works closely with her clients to focus on planning opportunities to minimize their business and personal income tax liabilities.

Lou Ann also has more than 15 years of experience providing valuation services that have helped her clients ascertain, and substantiate, the value of their enterprises. She was among the first in the nation to receive a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, and since then has earned the Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) and Certified Forensic Financial Analyst (CFFA) designations, putting her in a small group of elite professionals nationwide.

She’s skilled at supporting her work through providing deposition, testimony and responding to rigorous cross-examination in many litigation settings, as well as successfully negotiating and defending valuation determinations with the IRS.

She is recognized by the courts and attorneys in her field and has been named Special Master, as well as, a court appointed neutral in numbers of litigated situations.

Prior to becoming a Member of HoganTaylor, Lou Ann worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. She has been with the firm since 1989.

Representative Experience

• Counseled a not-for-profit entity in restructuring to a form of governance that provided less IRS exposure and minimized the risk of revocation of their nonprofit status. The new structure allows them to more effectively use their assets valued at more than $12.0 million to meet their charitable objectives.
• Consult with and review the tax return for the largest community foundation in the nation.
• Assisted clients in transferring hundreds of millions to the next generation by developing and implementing estate plans. Utilizing such facilities as charitable lead and remainder trusts, sales of private annuities, sales to defective grantor trusts, gifts to family investment companies. Providing comprehensive transfer strategies for wealthy clients in many situations and circumstances.
• Represented business and individual clients before the Internal Revenue Service and various state tax authorities.
• Provide expert witness services to attorneys in various litigated matters involving financial disputes.
• Assisted attorneys and their clients in dozens of divorce cases to validate support and division of assets utilizing best-practice methodologies; such as identification of marital assets, preparation of multi year of income and expense projections utilizing investable assets and budgets developed for the client.
• Provided valuation services to a consolidated corporation valued at more than $100 million involving numerous businesses in various industry segments and assets including hotels, real estate and mines.
• Served as Special Master in a class action lawsuit involving a settlement award for more than $2.0 million.

Certifications/Honors

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)
• Accredited Business Valuation (ABV)
• Certified Forensic Financial Analysis (CFFA)

Professional & Civic Affiliations

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts
• Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants
• Tulsa Opera, Board Member, Vice President of Endowment
• Angel Flight, Inc., Advisor

Education

• Bachelors of Accountancy, University of Oklahoma

Speaking Engagements

• Oklahoma Bar Association – “She Gold the Mine, I Got The Shaft: Surviving the Numbers In Divorce”, September 2011 in Tulsa and Oklahoma City
• American Women’s Society of CPAs – “Fundamentals of Business Valuation”, October 2008