Johnson Lambert Expands Advisory Services with New FOA Practice

Johnson Lambert LLP has launched a financial and operations advisory (FOA) practice, expanding its advisory services beyond audit and tax to help organizations manage finance operations, regulatory compliance, reporting, transactions, system implementations, and organizational change.

The practice will initially focus on the insurance industry, where the firm has more than 40 years of experience serving commercial insurers, captive insurance companies, risk retention groups, managing general agents, and specialty insurance organizations. Johnson Lambert said the practice also will support nonprofit organizations and employee benefit plans with similar finance and operational challenges.

Brandon Veler, CPA, principal, will lead the new practice. Mr. Veler has nearly 20 years of experience advising organizations on financial, operational, and regulatory matters, including financial operations and statutory reporting, reinsurance accounting, and regulatory examinations within the insurance sector.

"The insurance organizations we work with are navigating real operational pressure points," Mr. Veler said. "A key finance leader leaves the company, and reporting can't wait. A system goes live, but the team wasn't part of the plan. New regulatory requirements arrive before the old ones are resolved. Growth creates demands finance isn't resourced to execute. An audit surfaces control gaps that need more than a memo. A strategic initiative has approval and budget but no one to carry it forward. These are the moments where insurance organizations need experienced professionals who can step in and move critical work forward without pulling their teams away from the work already on their plate. That's exactly what our FOA practice was built to address."

The FOA practice is organized around six service areas: strategic and chief financial officer advisory; financial operations and reporting; governance, risk, and regulatory services; systems, process, and data transformation; transaction advisory services; and reinsurance accounting automation. The offerings are designed to help organizations strengthen finance functions, improve reporting and compliance, support mergers and acquisitions, modernize financial systems, and streamline reinsurance accounting processes.

"Insurance organizations operate in a specialized environment where the demands on finance and operations teams rarely slow down," Brandy Vannoy, managing partner, said. "Launching our financial and operations advisory practice is a natural evolution for Johnson Lambert. By blending our deeply rooted, niche insurance accounting knowledge with dedicated advisory capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to step in and help organizations alleviate these internal pressures. FOA extends the depth of expertise our clients already rely on and positions the firm to address a broader range of their most pressing needs."

Johnson Lambert has advised insurance organizations for more than 40 years through audit, tax, and advisory services for insurers, captive insurance companies, risk retention groups, and specialty insurers. The firm said the specialized industry focus enables FOA professionals to support clients immediately without requiring significant onboarding. Johnson Lambert also has published a complimentary guide, Maintaining Momentum Through 6 Critical Business Moments, available on its website.