Jeff is an industry-leading provider of consultative accounting and financial advisory services. Top tier banks, private equity firms, non-bank senior and mezzanine lenders and middle market companies depend on Jeff and his firm for the financial information they need to make intelligent decisions, both in advance of an investment and when a portfolio company’s performance deteriorates. In litigation, attorneys and their clients rely on his thorough forensic accounting, concise reporting and expert witness testimony to help resolve highly-contentious situations.
During his 40 year career, Jeff has uncovered numerous financial frauds, accounting malpractice and complex grafts. He often remains involved in these situations to provide litigation support or assist with financial restructurings or workouts. Jeff also has provided thorough financial due diligence in support of hundreds of successful transactions for equity and debt capital providers. Perhaps more importantly, he has saved clients from committing to money-losing investments on numerous occasions.
Jeff founded Brandlin & Associates in 1980 to provide clients with tangible, timely and action-oriented insight. Previously, he was an audit manager at Coopers & Lybrand in Los Angeles. His experience spans a broad range of businesses in industries including entertainment, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail, technology, apparel, oil and gas, food service, health care, construction, automotive, financial services and professional services.
Jeff is a frequent speaker to industry organizations and law firms on the topics of fraud, forensic accounting and financial statement analysis. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and has been licensed to practice accountancy in California since April 1976. Jeff also is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA), a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
David has almost 25 years of experience in public accounting, private industry and transactional services. Since joining Brandlin & Associates in 2003, he has assisted in over 75 mergers and acquisitions transactions ranging in value from $5 million to $250 million. He also has contributed to several litigation support and forensic accounting assignments for senior and mezzanine lenders.
David has provided expert testimony in United States Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California – Los Angeles Division regarding fraud, conversion and civil conspiracy matters. Among several successful outcomes involving litigation, his work and testimony were instrumental in obtaining a $40 million judgment against the defendant’s principals in a civil matter. In another matter, he provided expert testimony for the bankruptcy Trustee’s prosecution of accounts receivable debtors, leading to a series of default judgments and negotiated settlements.
A wide range of clients across a broad spectrum of industries benefit from David’s thorough approach to providing forensic accounting, litigation support and financial advisory services. He is particularly skilled at advising capital sources and their clients, counsel and creditor committees regarding accounting malpractice theories, sources and methods of recovery and restructuring alternatives.
David frequently gives presentations to banks, law firms and finance-related organizations on topics including: Financial Due Diligence: What Matters Most; Uncovering Landmines: Lessons Learned Conducting Forensic Accounting; and Financial Statements for Attorneys.
Prior to joining Brandlin & Associates, David was Manager of Financial Reporting for the mortgage division of one of the nation’s largest, publicly-held, residential builders. His responsibilities included financial planning and budgeting, due diligence and compliance reporting. David began his career at Ernst & Young LLP in Los Angeles where he was an audit manager. His clients included both private and public companies of varying sizes and industries, including financial services, pension plans, software and manufacturing.
David graduated from the University of Southern California in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
Felipe has almost two decades of experience as an owner/operator, CFO, management consultant, financial analyst, practicing CPA and auditor. His areas of expertise include financial due diligence/quality of earnings, forensic, fraud, corporate investigations, litigation support and economic damage calculation engagements on behalf of private equity investors, lenders, attorneys, public and private companies.
Felipe developed internal controls and performed both internal and external financial reporting for numerous privately held corporations. In addition, he has assessed the acquisition, integration, and operations of businesses in a number of industries and prepared multi-year, integrated financial forecasts, including 13-week cash forecasts for liquidity strained companies.
He assumed control and turned around a struggling retail operation. Within months, he restructured all debt, reorganized all departments and returned the company to a 300% increase in EBITDA by increasing sales 30%, gross margins 14%, and eliminating $235,000 of SG&A expenses. He handled all aspects of the retail operations, including human resources, procurement, inventory control, financial reporting, marketing and sales. Felipe implemented policies and procedures to reduce theft/shrinkage, instituted quarterly cash flow reporting, installed an ERP system to handle purchasing and integrated all back-office operations.
Concurrently, he managed the family office responsibilities, including investments for a high net worth individual. Felipe was able to substantially increase rental income, re-develop land, build residential properties, expand retail square footage by 120% and increase family holdings/wealth by 160%.
As a consultant, he has performed diligences on over 100 acquisitions and financing deals across the U.S., South America, Central America, Mexico, Asia and Canada. He has conducted buy and sell-side financial due diligence, including quality of earnings and net working capital analysis, performed fraud examinations, determined purchase price adjustments, evaluated cash flows and multi-year forecasts, performed operational assessments of portfolio companies and provided forensic accounting analyses and litigation support.
Earlier in his career he spent years with Walt Disney Records, honing his skills in financial modeling and analysis. Prior to The Walt Disney Company, he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in auditing and consulting for multiple venture capital, private equity, hedge and mutual fund clients. Most recently, Felipe worked as a Senior Manager in the transaction advisory services for BDO, LLP and consulted for a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ.
Felipe is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California. He is fluent in Spanish.
Charles has over 20 years of experience in private accounting. He is skilled in budgeting, forecasting, financial analyses and internal controls. He is technically proficient in multiple ERP systems like Epicor and MAS 200.
Prior to joining Brandlin & Associates, Charles was the controller of Ideal Living Management – where he helped the company grow from retail sales only, to developing a complimentary wholesale and online customer base. At RSA Engineering Products, Charles helped complete the sale to TriMas for $85MM in 2020.
Charles spent years in managerial positions within the finance department of various industries including aviation, manufacturing, media & entertainment, consumer wholesale, distribution and retail. Charles streamlined internal processes within many of the Finance departments within which he served by improving month-end closing processes and accelerating reporting timetables.
Charles graduated from the California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed by the State of California and is now in the process of completing additional educational requirements towards his Enrolled Agent designation with the Internal Revenue Service.
Richard is an experienced financial consultant and accountant for companies ranging from private equity-backed growth businesses to multi-national public corporations.
At Brandlin & Associates, Richard performs quality of earnings analyses on target companies for capital sources including banks, private equity firms and other lenders to assist in their investment decision-making process. He has also provided forensic accounting and litigation support services including fraud and accounting malpractice investigations, as well as damage calculations. Richard has worked on matters with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) including the investigation of an EB-5 Program fraud and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the investigation of negative option marketing schemes.
Prior to joining Brandlin & Associates, Richard was an audit senior associate at PwC where he primarily practiced in the financial services industry. He frequently vetted portfolio company valuations for private equity clients by validating discounted cash flow and market models. This involved analyzing complex contracts, progress payments, incentive compensation plans and international operations. He also analyzed periodic fluctuations in financial statements to assess risk and draw conclusions, and evaluated the design and effectiveness of internal controls.
Richard graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed to practice in California and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In addition, Richard is a candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program having passed all three levels of the exam.
Sarah has over 25 years of experience in public accounting, private industry and transactional services. Prior to joining Brandlin & Associates, Sarah was the Chief Financial Officer of JSM Construction Inc. As CFO, she was responsible for all areas of finance, accounting, treasury and budgeting, human resources, risk management and information systems. She completed a successful $250MM IPO of JSM Indochina, a Southeast Asia-based real estate development investment fund and had significant business experience with investment bankers, underwriters, tax accountants, attorneys and insurance brokers.
Sarah began her career at Ernst & Young LLP in Los Angeles where she was an Assurance and Advisory Business Service Manager. Her responsibilities included providing assurance and advisory services to clients in a variety of industries, including but not limited to real estate construction and development, consumer products, retail and wholesale distribution, manufacturing, high technology, health care and insurance. She frequently counseled clients on complex accounting matters relating to initial public offerings, secondary offerings and strategic business issues.
Sarah graduated cum laude from the California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Ms. Su is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
