Firm Profile
Jerry R. Gardner, CPA
Jerry R. Gardner is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. He has over forty years of experience in the Public Accounting field, specializing in Financial Planning and Corporate Finance. After graduating from college with a B.S. in Business Administration, Jerry began his public accounting career in the employment of a local CPA firm, and then started his own accounting firm, J.R. Gardner, CPA, PC, in December, 1982. Jerry is the president of "J.R. Gardner, CPA, PC", located in Watertown, New York, and currently operates his accounting firm with a staff of ten personnel. Jerry is a member of the National Society of Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Public Accountants and the Florida Society of Public Accountants.
Lisa A. Sawdey, CFE, EA
Lisa A. Sawdey is a U.S. licensed Certified Fraud Examiner with over thirty years of accounting and tax background. Lisa’s broad based experience encompasses the administration of accounting and finance, taxation, and regulatory reporting activities for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, political organizations and non-profit organizations. She has a concentrated background in managing up-to-date and fully compliant records involving full general ledger, financial statements, financial reporting, human resource records, and internal control audits. Lisa is also a QuickBooks Pro-Advisor and an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent. She holds an Associates degree in accounting from Niagara County Community College in Sanborn, New York, and a Bachelors degree in Economic Crime Investigation from Hilbert College, New York. Lisa is pursuing her Masters Degree from Utica College in Economic Crime and Fraud Management.
Barbara B. LaVere, EA
Barb is an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent who specializes in taxes and is a software specialist. Barb also handles corporate taxes, payroll, sales tax, QuickBooks and industry specific software. Barb is highly skilled with Microsoft systems and can assist you in getting your computers set up for reliable backups and systems integrity. Barb received her Associates degree in Business Administration in 1983 and has been in accounting since 1984 and with the firm since 1999.
Shawn Forbes
QuickBooks specialist, he also handles corporate work, financial statements and tax returns. Shawn can walk you and your business through a QuickBooks implementation from purchasing to training and on through maintenance. He is also a professional advisor/consultant with the software to aid you with all your needs. Shawn is a 1999 Graduate from Plattsburgh State College with a Bachelors degree in Accounting and a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. Quote from Shawn, "Don't fear change. Let me help you streamline your bookkeeping with QuickBooks. It will let you spend more time running your business and less time doing the books."
Christopher Denesha
Chris is the newest addition to the accounting staff at J.R. Gardner, CPA, PC. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Coastal Carolina University. After college, Chris began his training at JRG's which includes corporate work on tax returns, financial statements and bookkeeping.
Marjorie Gardner
With an associates degree from Jefferson Community College and several years of accounting experience, Margie has become our go-to staff accountant. She manages our payroll processing department and quarterly sales tax processing; prepares individual tax returns and does bookkeeping for several of our clients. Margie handles many of the day to day needs of our clients and is our human resources contact.
Whitney Zimmerman
Whitney is our payroll specialist, she also does tax preparation, and financial statements. Ms. Zimmerman earned her Associates degree in Business Administration from JCC and also holds certifications with QuickBooks and MS PowerPoint. Whitney has been with the firm since 1999.
Miranda L. Toland
Miranda has been with the firm for over 13 years. Miranda is the Office Manager and a staff accountant. Miranda serves our clients with preparation of payroll, sales tax and individual tax returns, One-Write Plus support, Med Plan consultation, and bookkeeping. After Attending SUNY Cortland and Jefferson Community College, she began training at ground level which has given her an in-depth understanding of the Company's internal accounting controls, including bookkeeping, time and billing, payroll, accounts receivable and rental management. She continues her education on a part-time basis.
Jacob Zehr
Jacob has been with J.R. Gardner, CPA, PC. since November of 2006. He has an Associates Degree from Jefferson Community College and has completed other Individual Tax Preparation courses and training. Besides being an office manager assistant, Jacob prepares individual tax returns and weekly payrolls.
Janet Burns
Jan has been with the J.R. Gardner, CPA, PC firm since its inception in 1982. Her training is in the secretarial field with extensive Microsoft Word, Publisher, and Excel training. She left for semi-retirement in 1999 and rejoined the JRG team in November, 2006 as secretary/receptionist. Jan has an Associates Degree from Jefferson Community College and has completed other accounting and training courses.
*An Enrolled Agent is required to pass a two day extensive exam in taxation and complete sixteen hours of continuing professional education on an annual basis, including two hours in "Ethics".
**A Certified Fraud Examiner has a Bachelor's degree, has completed at least two years of professional experience in a fraud related field, and is required to complete twenty hours of continuing professional education annually.
***A New York Certified Public Accountant has a Bachelor's degree in accounting, has completed at least two years of working for a CPA firm, and is required to complete forty hours of continuing professional education annually.
