We are thrilled to highlight our Senior Director of Technical Accounting, Shannon Klingelhoffer. Shannon joined Kranz in 2021 and has made an invaluable impact across our team. Learn more about Shannon’s expertise, her passion for finance, and how she enables her clients to thrive through her interview below.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in the Midwest, but I’ve lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years.
What is your Alma Mater? University of Kentucky
What are your favorite hobbies? I enjoy spending time with my friends and family hiking, cheering on the San Francisco Giants, traveling, and attending arts festivals.
In what ways has your background impacted your experience as a consultant? I spent over 20 years in Deloitte’s audit practice in which I gained firsthand knowledge of how to effectively and efficiently address technical accounting needs and audit requirements.
What does a typical workday for you consist of? My typical workday consists of meeting with clients, conducting accounting research, and completing analysis and technical memos. All of my tasks are based on helping clients identify and solve accounting needs, and I have a high degree of variability in my work which adds excitement to each day.
What kind of projects have you been working on at Kranz? Recently, my work has included projects surrounding technical accounting analyses and memos, accounting for purchases or dispositions, equity transactions, goodwill impairments, and financial statement drafting.
Where do you believe you deliver the most value to your client? I am viewed as a trusted business partner who is proactive in identifying accounting situations and providing effective solutions to meet their needs.
How do you organize environments with a lack of reporting infrastructure or inefficiency? In the past, I have structured procedures to streamline communications between HR/legal and accounting so that equity transactions can be addressed in a timely manner by linking accounting and Salesforce projections to impairment analyses.
For example, one of my clients once required assistance when preparing for their first audit. The task at hand was to review historical equity transactions and other business-related events to determine the expected analyses and related AJEs that would be required to (1) properly reflect US GAAP and (2) support accounting conclusions with appropriate audit evidence. To achieve this, I conducted a review of company-executed debt and equity agreements, acquisition and divestiture agreements, leases, debt agreements and related amendments, sales contracts, and more to ensure the accounting conclusions were documented correctly and adequately. Afterwards, I held discussions with accounting, finance, and sales personnel to gain insights required for audit conclusions. Lastly, I completed technical memos and quantified analyses to provide AJEs and/or technical memos to support the accounting conclusions. This resulted in a very successful, on-time audit with strong documentation which allowed the company to identify complex accounting areas ahead of time, proactively adjust numbers before they were audited, streamline the audit process, and avoid costly delays in timing and audit scope.