Jim Martin is the founding member of Real World Seminars of GA, LLC, a company wholly dedicated to providing “real world” oriented accounting and auditing CPE for local practitioners primarily servicing or working for privately held organizations. Jim is a true “general practitioner” who, for 30 years, has specialized in income tax, accounting and auditing areas through his local firm Martin & Co., CPA, P.C. with offices in Sandy Springs, GA. Jim performs up to 70 full day continuing education presentations per year for CPAs and attorneys throughout the United States and Canada. To date, Jim has prepared and presented over 1600 full and half-day seminars on accounting, auditing and taxation topics and was named the winner of the 2014-2015 Outstanding Discussion Leader award from the State of Alabama to add to multiple other CPE awards he has received over the past 10 years. Jim also regularly consults with CPA firms throughout the United States on a variety of accounting, auditing and litigation support issues.

Marc Hamilton is a strategy-oriented finance executive with proven successes in change management.  Mr. Hamilton has over 30 years of extensive practical experiences with data analytics, process design and technology implementation. His roles have provided broad exposure to functional, operational and management challenges facing organizations in the era of systems intelligence.

As a technologist CPA, Mr. Hamilton frequently speaks from his experiences on big data, data science, artificial intelligence and the developing Blockchain infrastructure.  He also frequently presents AICPA cybersecurity content.

Mr. Hamilton holds a Masters in Tax Accounting from the University of Alabama and practiced with both Deloitte & KPMG before moving into a business and industry roles including VP of Taxation, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer.

Michael L. Brand, CPA, CGMA is currently an A & A partner in the firm of BMSS, LLC CPAs and Advisors. He received his B.S. in accounting from the University of North Alabama and has been in the practice of public accounting for over 30 years. 

Known as a nationally acclaimed, accounting industry expert and speaker, Michael (Mike) has been involved in all aspects of public accounting, with an emphasis in providing accounting, auditing and review services to clients in the for-profit, nonprofits and governmental sectors.

He is also involved in various committees at both the state and national levels. He is a former member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Professional Ethics Executive Committee, is the past chair of the AICPA’s Accounting and Review Services Committee and the Alabama Society of CPA’s Peer Review Committee and is the current Chair for the ASCPA. Furthermore, Mike teaches continuing education classes across the country for state societies and individual firms and has received the AICPA’s Outstanding Discussion Leader Award multiple times along with the ASCPA’s Thomas A. Ratcliffe Outstanding Discussion Leader Award.

In addition to teaching, Mike regularly speaks at conferences nationwide and in various other countries. He conducts peer reviews across the United States and was formerly on the Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. He is the current co-chair of the Engage Conference (the AICPA’s largest conference held over multiple days with thousands of attendees).