2026 Presentation Summaries

​TULSA IMA CONFERENCE 

AUGUST 18TH AND 19TH, 2026

RIVER SPIRIT CASINO & RESORT

16 CPE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18

SESSION #1 8:10 TO 9:00 AM – AMY DOWNS "LIVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT"

Most people wait for a big moment to change their life. For Amy, that moment was being buried alive. A survivor of the Oklahoma City bombing, Amy went from a 355-pound teller to an IRONMAN triathlete and CEO…not through luck, but by taking one small step at a time. In this unforgettable keynote, Amy shares the story behind her transformation and invites you to consider your own. With humor, grit, and hard-won wisdom, she’ll challenge you to stop waiting and start living like you mean it. If you’ve been feeling stuck, burned out, or like life is passing you by… this is the spark of hope you’ve been waiting for.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Embrace Active Hope: Use hope as fuel, not fantasy – and move from stuck to starting
2. Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Shift your perspective to find opportunity in adversity
3. Transform Trials into Triumphs: Take real, practical steps toward personal and professional breakthroughs

SESSION #2 9:15 TO 10:05 AM – DEBBIE PICKLE "NAVIGATING CHANGE - LEADING THROUGH ORGANIZATIONAL SHIFTS AND THE AI EVOLUTION"

Change is no longer an occasional disruption, it’s a constant. In this 45-minute session, Debbie Pickle explores two forms of change that often generate the most uncertainty for employees and leaders alike: organizational leadership change and technology change driven by AI. Drawing on real-world lessons from CEO transitions and organizational redesign, including the emergence of new business priorities, she reframes “why change happens” as a long-term investment in the organization’s future, not just the next quarter. In the second half, she addresses common AI/technology fears and offers a practical way to prepare. She also shares how AI can be positioned to reduce routine, manual work, creating more capacity for strategic thinking, process improvement, and higher-value problem solving.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Explain why organizations undergo major leadership and structural changes—and how a long-term “future generations” perspective can clarify the purpose behind transitions
2. Identify common AI and technology fears and reframe into actionable preparation through an upskilling approach grounded in agility and continuous learning
3. Describe how AI can be leveraged to reduce routine work and redirect time toward strategic initiatives, process improvement, and higher value problem solving

SESSION #3 10:20 TO 12:10 PM – NATHAN MUELLER "LESSONS FROM AN $8.5 MILLION FRAUD"

This is a real-life story of fraud. Nathan Mueller, a former accountant turned fraudster, unveils the gripping story of his $8.5 million embezzlement over four years. Delve into the intricate layers of this real-life fraud case, exploring the decisions made along the way that lead him down the road of fraud. He will explore the personal experiences that contributed that help explain the “why” and the personal and professional consequences to Nathan and all those people around him who were affected by his actions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. How to use your support network to help you make good choices
2. Skills and confidence to act on your values
3. How self-awareness can help you act ethically

SESSION #4 1:10 TO 2:00 PM – MARY HAUSMAN / MARY SPEARS "THE GOVERNANCE IMPERATIVE: AI ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FINANCE LEADERS"

This session explores the growing responsibility finance leaders have in governing the use of artificial intelligence within accounting and financial operations. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of what effective AI governance looks like beyond written policies, including how organizations are establishing accountability through AI councils, operational guardrails, explainability standards, and oversight frameworks. The discussion will also highlight the significant risks associated with ungoverned AI deployment in finance environments, such as compliance exposure, inaccurate reporting, and weakened internal controls. In addition, the session will examine the emerging importance of Explainable AI (XAI), audit trails, and transparency mechanisms as critical components of risk management, regulatory readiness, and trustworthy financial decision-making.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Understand what responsible AI governance actually looks like in practice - beyond a policy document
2. Learn how companies are creating accountability structures (AI councils, guardrails, explainability requirements)
3. Identify the key risks of ungoverned AI deployment in finance/accounting environments
4. Recognize the emerging role of Explainable AI (XAI) and audit trails as internal controls

SESSION #5 2:10 TO 3:00 PM “A” – MARY HAUSMAN / MARY SPEARS "AI IN ACTION: REAL-WORLD WINS (AND LESSONS) FROM THE FINANCE & ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE"

This session provides a practical look at how finance and accounting teams are successfully implementing AI to improve efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making across key workflows. Through real-world examples, attendees will see before-and-after transformations in areas such as accounts payable, financial close, forecasting, and reporting, along with the measurable benefits organizations achieved. The session will also explore how companies balanced innovation with data security by protecting proprietary and sensitive financial information while leveraging AI tools effectively. In addition, presenters will discuss the people, process, and change management challenges that emerged during adoption, offering candid lessons learned from early implementations. Participants will leave with several actionable AI use cases and practical ideas they can apply within their own finance teams.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. See concrete before/after examples of AI-enabled finance workflows (AP, close process, forecasting, reporting)
2. Understand how companies protected proprietary data while still leveraging AI tools
3. Identify the people/process/change management challenges that surprised early adopters
4. Walk away with at least 2–3 use cases applicable to your own team

SESSION #6 2:10 TO 3:00 PM “B” – REECE MORREL JR "A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX: HOW TAX SOFTWARE CHEATS GAMBLERS AND HOW TO FIX IT "

In the definition of reporting revenues, the cost of goods sold should include the actual costs to generate gambling winnings. Gambling losses should be reported to the extent of gambling winnings. Gambling losses equate to Cost of Goods Sold and should be netted in order to establish Adjusted Gross Income. Gambling Losses should be reported on Form 1040 Schedule 1, Part 1, Line 8Z. The greatest benefit to this reporting method is the savings in Oklahoma State Income Taxes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To educate accounting professionals on the proper reporting of gambling wins and losses and the resulting savings in state income tax
2. Over statement of AGI with gambling winnings and Oklahoma itemized deduction cap
3. Tax Software limitations in reporting gambling wins and losses
4. The need to report wagering wins and losses using the "Session Method", Rev Proc 77-29

SESSION #7 2:10 TO 3:00 PM “C” – JENNIFER PINDER "THE POWER OF FINANCIAL STORYTELLING: TURNING DATA INTO DECISIONS"

Financial data is only as powerful as the story it tells. Yet many professionals struggle to move beyond reports and numbers to deliver insights that truly influence decisions.

This session focuses on how to transform financial information into clear, compelling narratives that drive understanding and action. Attendees will learn practical techniques to structure their message, design visuals that highlight key insights, and communicate with greater clarity and confidence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Recognize the elements of a compelling financial narrative that ​supports strategic communication and decision-making
2. Identify best practices for designing visuals that clarify and emphasize key financial insights
3. Describe techniques for structuring financial presentations to enhance clarity, confidence, and business relevance

SESSION #8 3:10 TO 4:00 PM "A" – ERIC PULSE "UNDERSTANDING DATA SECURITY FRAMEWORKS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SECURITY AND CONTROL CONSIDERATIONS"

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Differentiate between HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC, NIST CSF, CMMC, ISO, and CIS frameworks, understanding their unique requirements and areas of overlap
2. Evaluate the implications of these frameworks on organizations, internal audit functions, and data protection strategies
3. Identify best practices for achieving compliance and enhancing security governance using a combination of these frameworks

SESSION #9 3:10 TO 4:00 PM "B" – DANIEL WHITE "BEYOND EBITDA: DRIVING VALUE IN YOUR COMPANY BEYOND THE FINANCIALS"

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Identify the key non-financial drivers of value in a business
2. Assess participants’ own organization’s strengths and gaps across these value drivers
3. Apply practical ideas to improve participants’ business value

SESSION #10 3:10 TO 4:00 PM "C" – BRYAN SINCLAIR "ASU 2024-03: DISAGGREGATION OF INCOME STATEMENT EXPENSES (DISE) - ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS AND DATA CONSIDERATIONS"

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Explain the key provisions and disclosure requirements of ASU 2024-03 (DISE) and identify which income statement expense categories must be disaggregated and how the standard applies across industries
2. Assess ERP system impacts related to chart of accounts, expense classification, and reporting structures
3. Identify internal control, data governance, and audit considerations associated with DISE implementation

SESSION #11 4:10 TO 5:00 PM – JENNIFER PINDER "THE CAPABILITY TRAP: HOW HIGH PERFORMERS GET STUCK AND WHAT LEADERS OFTEN MISS"

High-performing professionals are often trusted to solve problems and deliver results, but that reliability can lead to an unexpected challenge. Over time, they can become overloaded, under-leveraged, and stuck in execution rather than advancing into higher-value contributions.

This session explores why capable professionals can feel stuck despite strong performance, and how leaders can better recognize and develop their top talent. Attendees will gain practical insights to move toward more strategic impact while building stronger, more sustainable teams.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the patterns that keep high-performing professionals in execution-heavy roles and understand how these patterns can limit both individual growth and organizational effectiveness
2. Apply practical strategies to shift from task ownership to strategic contribution, enabling greater visibility, influence, and long-term career progression
3. Recognize opportunities to better support and develop top talent by aligning workload, expectations, and growth pathways to create more sustainable, high-impact teams

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19

SESSION #12 8:10 TO 9:20 AM – DR DAVID BURKUS "BEST TEAM EVER: THE SURPRISING SCIENCE OF HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS

Every leader wants to build a high-performing team, and nearly everyone wants to be on one. But most teams fail to perform at their optimal level. We try to recruit star players, improve compensation, give copious feedback, obsess over engagement surveys, and in the end, we still don’t have the results we want and often feel we're out of options. But the secret to unlocking performance isn't recruiting new teammates or designing the perfect incentive. The most effective teams became that way by building the habits and culture of the team that allows for optimal performance. 

Talent doesn't make the team; the team makes the talent. 

That’s what building the best team ever is all about. When you focus on improving the culture of the teams you lead–or the teams you're on–you create an environment that improves the performance of everyone on it. In this entertaining and enlightening keynote, Dr. David Burkus reveals the secrets of the highest-performing teams in the world and how you can get started tomorrow applying those secrets. Leaders will leave with a clear and concise understanding of how the culture of their team affects its performance, and a simple and practical blueprint for how to build the best team ever.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Identify the key characteristics and cultural habits that distinguish high-performing teams from average teams
2. Assess the current culture and effectiveness of a team
3. Develop an action plan to build habits and systems that support high performance across teams

SESSION #13 9:40 TO 10:30 AM – PATTYE MOORE / CHIP MCELROY / KEVIN VANN "WHAT KEEPS BOARD MEMBERS UP AT NIGHT - AND WHY IT SHOULD MATTER TO YOUR ACCOUNTING & FINANCE TEAM"

As organizations face growing economic uncertainty, technological disruption, regulatory complexity, and heightened stakeholder expectations, boards of directors are increasingly focused on enterprise risk, strategic oversight, organizational resilience, and long-term value creation. This session explores the top concerns occupying boardrooms in 2026 and highlights why these issues matter not only to executive leadership, but also to accounting and finance professionals who support strategic business decisions.

Participants will gain insight into current board priorities, including governance expectations, financial transparency, cybersecurity, talent strategy, operational agility, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence within organizations. The session will also examine how boards are approaching AI governance, including the critical questions directors are asking about risk management, internal controls, ethical use, compliance, and decision-making accountability.

Through a business management lens, attendees will better understand how finance and accounting teams contribute to organizational leadership, strategic communication, and informed decision support. The session will provide practical awareness on how professionals can more effectively support CFOs and boards, strengthen cross-functional collaboration, and elevate their organization’s visibility and credibility with board members in an increasingly complex business environment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Understand what boards are prioritizing in 2026 — and how that translates to expectations of finance and accounting teams
2. Hear the board’s perspective on AI governance — what questions directors are asking that finance leaders should be prepared to answer
3. Leave with practical awareness of how to best support CFO's, boards and elevate their own organization’s visibility with board members on these issues

SESSION #14 10:45 TO 12:00 PM – BILL JELEN "WHAT'S NEW IN MICROSOFT EXCEL"

Excel continues to evolve with new tools that make everyday analysis faster, cleaner, and more flexible. In this 75-minute general session, Bill Jelen will demonstrate the newest non-AI features in Excel that are useful for accountants, analysts, managers, and power users. Topics include checkboxes in cells, Focus Cell for highlighting the active row and column, PivotTable improvements, new functions for importing and translating data, modern dynamic array tools, RegEx pattern matching, Power Query in Excel for the web, improved compatibility handling, and new formula techniques such as GROUPBY, PIVOTBY, PERCENTOF, TRIMRANGE, LAMBDA, and array reshaping. Attendees will leave with practical techniques they can use immediately to build better reports, clean data faster, and reduce formula complexity.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Identify new Excel features that improve productivity for accounting and analysis workflows, including checkboxes, Focus Cell, improved PivotTables, dynamic ranges, and compatibility versions
2. Use modern Excel formulas and functions such as GROUPBY, PIVOTBY, PERCENTOF, TRIMRANGE, RegEx functions, TRANSLATE, DETECTLANGUAGE, IMPORTCSV, IMPORTTEXT, and LAMBDA to summarize, validate, import, and transform data
3. Apply new data preparation and modeling techniques including Power Query in Excel for the web, dynamic array reshaping, compatibility versions, and replacing complex systems of formulas with reusable LAMBDA functions

SESSION #15 1:10 TO 2:00 PM – MATT STEPHANI "ECONOMIC SHOCKS AND THEIR IMPACT ON GROWTH"

We will review the economic landscape domestically and globally and consider how we continue to grow our economy from here.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. How the domestic economy reacts to geo-political events
2. What the Fed does from here with interest rate policy
3. Why economic growth is vital based on our fiscal position

SESSION #16 2:10 TO 3:00 PM "A" – JASON OELRICH "FEDERAL AND STATE TAX LEGISLATIVE UPDATE"

An overview of recent federal and state tax law changes, and analysis of tax planning opportunities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Understand the major tax law changes enacted by the 2025 Tax Bill that impact 2026 and beyond
2. Understand the tax credits and incentives available to Oklahoma businesses that impact 2026 and beyond
3. Learn about federal and state tax strategies that can maximize tax savings

SESSION #17 2:10 TO 3:00 PM “B” – KARA VINCENT "MOM LOVED YOU BEST: EXPLORING ESTATE AND TRUST ASSET MISAPPROPRIATION"

This presentation will discuss the positions and documents associated with estate planning and the ways in which they can be misused to misappropriate assets.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. To familiarize the participants with documents common in estate planning engagements
2. To educate the participants regarding methods commonly used in embezzlement schemes involving estates and trusts

SESSION #18 2:10 TO 3:00 PM “C” – BILL JELEN "EXCEL AFTER THE AI BUTTON: COPILOT, AGENT MODE, AND THE FUTURE OF SPREADSHEET WORK"

AI is moving directly into Excel—not as a separate chatbot, but as a working partner inside the spreadsheet. In this 50-minute breakout session, Bill Jelen will demonstrate the newest AI-powered Excel tools, including Copilot for explaining formulas, creating PivotTables from data, extracting structured data from images, asking AI questions directly in the grid with the COPILOT function, and using Agent Mode to plan and build spreadsheet solutions. Attendees will see what AI can do well, where human review is still essential, and how accountants, analysts, and everyday Excel users can use these tools to speed up reporting, analysis, cleanup, and decision support.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Identify AI-powered features in Excel including Copilot, Agent Mode, AI-created PivotTables, formula explanation, image data extraction, and the COPILOT function
2. Apply Copilot tools to common spreadsheet tasks such as summarizing data, creating reports, explaining formulas, extracting data from images, and asking questions about information in the workbook
3. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of AI in Excel so users can decide when to trust, verify, revise, or replace AI-generated spreadsheet solutions

SESSION #19 3:10 TO 4:00 PM - DR TYLER MOORE "WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT ENTERPRISE CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES FROM REGULATORY FILINGS?"

Organizations usually prefer to avoid openly discussing their cybersecurity practices, let alone sharing when they have been attacked. However, in recent years, regulations have increasingly forced many firms to be more transparent about the cybersecurity risks they face and how they are managed. In this talk, I will discuss recent results from my research that leverages data sourced from public filings to shed light on corporate cybersecurity practices. 

First, I evaluate cybersecurity disclosures to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which first issued guidance in 2011 directing firms to disclose material cybersecurity risks in annual 10-K disclosures. The requirements have been steadily increasing since, such as introducing a dedicated Item 1C outlining risk management strategy and governance practices to the 4-day rule for disclosing all material incidents. I will present empirical evidence that serious gaps in reporting persist in these filings, when compared to other public sources. I will also discuss the findings of a qualitative analysis of over 7,000 cyber-related statements drawn from the 10-K filings of firms before and after suffering a breach. 

Second, I analyze M&A filings to empirically examine whether merged firms face increased risk of cyber attack shortly after a merger has occurred. Cyber practitioners have long argued that merger activity elevates cyber risk due to the complexities of merging IT systems, challenges in integrating business processes, and increased susceptibility to targeted phishing attacks. We find that merged firms are more than twice as likely to experience incidents compared to non-merged firms. 

Third, we study whether cyber attacks adversely impact the financial health of firms by analyzing corporate balance sheets and income statements. On average, cyber attacks induce persistent increases in operating and capital expenditures, financed through higher liabilities, and lead to sustained earnings declines. Disaggregating by incident type reveals sharp heterogeneity: Confidentiality breaches trigger a financing and investment response, with firms expanding their balance sheets to fund remediation and system upgrades. In contrast, ransomware attacks act as availability shocks that cause operational disruption and earnings losses without inducing capital restructuring.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Become aware of SEC cybersecurity disclosure guidelines and the extent to which public companies are complying with the regulatory requirements
2. Understand why cybersecurity risk is elevated when firms undergo mergers and acquisition, and how this risk is reflected in the available data
3. Understand how cyber attacks can adversely affect corporate balance sheets and income, and how the impact of data breaches and ransomware attacks differ

SESSION #20 4:10 TO 5:00 PM – NATALIE PARKER "MODERN PAYMENTS (DIGITAL ASSETS, STABLECOINS AND TOKENIZED DEPOSITS): OPPORTUNITIES, RISKS, AND READINESS"

Modern payment systems are evolving beyond traditional rails, with digital assets, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits emerging as potential tools to enhance speed, efficiency, and functionality in the movement of value. This presentation examines how these instruments may integrate into the modern payments landscape, the opportunities they present, and the risks and readiness considerations that must guide any thoughtful approach to adoption.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. We begin by framing the opportunity set, including use cases such as faster and more transparent settlement, improved liquidity management, programmability, and interoperability with real‑time payment infrastructures. The discussion differentiates between digital assets used as speculative instruments and those designed to function as payment or settlement mechanisms, with particular attention to stablecoins and tokenized deposits that seek to mirror traditional money-like characteristics.
2. The presentation then explores key risks, including regulatory and legal uncertainty, BSA/AML and sanctions exposure, operational resilience, cybersecurity, third‑party and concentration risks, and the challenges associated with governance and controls across emerging technologies. These risks are considered in the context of existing regulatory expectations and the heightened scrutiny applied to novel payment models.
3. Finally, the session assesses organizational readiness, focusing on strategic alignment, risk appetite, compliance frameworks, technology architecture, data and reconciliation capabilities, and operating model maturity. Rather than promoting immediate adoption, the presentation emphasizes a risk‑informed, phased approach—supporting leadership in evaluating whether, when, and how modern payment innovations align with business strategy and enterprise capabilities.