David M. Gessner, CPA

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David Gessner’s Résumé

Recent Professional Experience

Education

Accounting software used

  • Dynamics SL
  • QuickBooks
  • Intacct

Professional Certification

  • Certified Public Accountant (Active License)

Community Involvement

  • Treasurer, Volunteers for Israel-USA – Serving on Board as national officer for volunteer service organization. VFI arranges service trips to Israel where volunteers live and work on military bases for 1-3 weeks.
  • Boy Scouts of America – Served on Troop governing board and chaired various committees. Both of my sons were members of the local troop.
  • Volunteer tax preparation – Prepared tax returns for new Russian immigrants through social services agency. As difficult as it is for Americans to understand our tax system, it is a daunting task for new immigrants to grasp, especially coming out of the Soviet Union.
  • Member, Board of Directors – Served as Treasurer of suburban synagogue. Wrote new Congregation constitution.
  • Volunteer coach – Coached youth sports from elementary through competitive senior league baseball. I don’t know if I did this more for myself or for my kids. I stumbled into coaching and realized I loved doing it.
  • Faculty, Golden Gate University – Served as expert on American Samoa for Ph.D. dissertation review. I did this when I was involved in the US Territories program at the Interior Department. The travel to the south Pacific was great.
  • Greater Shady Grove Civic Alliance – Assisted in organization of civic group and served as first treasurer.

Click here for my .pdf resume


I served for over two years as Director of Finance for the American Psychiatric Association, a multi-entity professional society. In this role, I lead an accounting team performing diverse financial functions typically found in a large membership organization, including payables, receivables, grants management, payroll, revenue/investment accounting, audit/auditor coordination, and general ledger management. In addition to day-to-day management of the accounting operations, the emphasis of my role was modernization of practices and procedures, process improvements, cleanup of financial accounts, and oversight of payroll and employee benefits operations. I managed the installation and successful implementation of a new cloud-based financial system that is linked to a new Salesforce-based AMS. Close coordination with IT staff and involvement in IT policy was critical to this implementation.

As a critical financial player at APA, I was key to a major overhaul of the human resources and benefits administration functions, and have worked closely throughout my career not only with human resources, but also with the IT and operations functions of the organizations at which I have been employed. At APA, I was also involved in the operations and resourcing for the Finance & Budget, Audit, and Investment Oversight Committees and assist in all Committee activities.

I previously served as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance & Accounting for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. For the two years prior to leaving National Board, I served in this dual role while the Board underwent a major shift in its staffing and its certification, operating, and revenue models. My role was that of a comprehensive financial manager, with involvement in all business operations of the Board, including revenue planning, overseeing all accounting operations, contract and risk management, payroll, budget, cash flow, investment and reserve management, audit, and tax issues. The Board’s revenues were derived from certification fees from multiple sources, with additional funding by government and foundation grants that required detailed expenditure monitoring, revenue recognition protocols, and reporting. During my final year with the organization, after a major downturn in demand and a redefinition of the strategic plan, the new fiscal realities brought on a new relationship with a major contractor, creating a partnership in the delivery of the Board’s basic programs. Revenue shifted from primarily fee-supported to grant-supported, coupled with a significant reduction in funding and staff. These shifts led the Board to implement an activity-based budget process that empowered managers to carry out their programs within the authority of their budgets, as defined by strategic priorities. My work leading senior management through a redesign of financial processes and in furnishing necessary financial information was critical to the success of this strategy and budget shift. My presentations of financial information to both staff and the Board were clear, concise, and informative.

My work at National Board involved collaborative problem-solving, communicating effectively with staff throughout all levels of the organization, as well as serving as staff liaison to the Board Finance and Audit Committees. I was responsible for investments and cash management, corporate risk management, and production of the 990. I directly supervised the accounting staff and worked as a partner in conjunction with operations team members as their functions pertained to financial matters, reporting, and forecasting. I had oversight of the operation of the payroll system and closely coordinated work with HR on payroll, employee benefits administration, compliance, and HR management issues. My work also necessitated a close working relationship with the IT staff. In supporting the operating departments of the National Board, the Finance Office, under my direction, led development of the annual budget and actively engaged managers to own their financial information. With the major change in the Board’s revenue model, I redesigned the budget process to align with the new business reality. Managing change in financial aspects of the organization, as it expanded and contracted over my tenure, was a key to my success in this position. This change particularly involved a reshaping of the role of Finance from strictly reporting to decision-support.

Prior to my most recent positions, I have been in several financial management positions with both membership and charitable exempt organizations, responsible for not only financial, but IT, human resources/benefits, and operations functions, including member services and management of a suburban office building. I have worked with a government-funded corporation, assisted in the start-up of an economics-based think tank, managed accounting system design and conversions, worked in a publishing/consulting environment, and managed multi-million dollar foundation grants. In all of my positions, I have worked closely with fundraising staff to identify target projects and manage gifts according to donor specifications. In every position I have had, I approached my role first as a steward of the organization’s resources. This is not only a professional, but also a personal responsibility, and one that drives me in how I approach my work.

I have worked in environments where rapid response to fast-moving issues is critical, and leaders must have access to accurate and timely financial information. I am both a strategic thinker and a hands-on manager who will do what is necessary to get the job done.