Newly formed Forvis Mazars, ranked among the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States, is expanding its public sector advisory services practice by launching a new line of government outsourced accounting services.
These services are designed to help state and local governments bridge the growing gap created by a shortage of public sector finance professionals across the country.
Leading the new service line is Karen Kurtin, who brings more than 17 years of public sector experience to the role, including 11 years providing audit services to government entities and six years managing all aspects of finance for a Texas municipality. Kurtin directs a team backed by the Forvis Mazars’ existing outsourced accounting offerings and a public sector industry practice that already serves hundreds of entities nationwide.
“Our team is well positioned to provide support for state and local governments at a time when outside resources are more needed than ever,” Kurtin said. “We bring both auditor and finance director perspectives to the table, and act as thought partners to help strengthen clients’ finance departments.”
The Government Finance Officers Association has noted that demand for state and local public finance workers is far outstripping the supply and straining talent pipelines. The sector has tens of thousands fewer workers today than it did five years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 50,000 of those remaining workers are now at retirement age, and approximately one-third of all current state and local finance officers will be at retirement age within 10 years.
