J. Michael Kirkland, CPA, CGMA
J. Michael Kirkland, CPA, CGMA is a veteran financial executive with over 30 years of experience in accounting, industry, consulting, and business development. He also serves the CPA profession with distinction, lending strong and visible leadership to professional and student groups.
J. Michael is the founder of JMK Consulting, where he currently serves as a strategic and technical advisor to executive management clients. Before starting the firm, he held senior executive positions at Deutsche Bank AG that included Director in the Global Head Product Governance Operational Risk Management Group Policy, Regional Head of New Product Approval in the Operational Risk Management Group – Americas, and a Director in the bank’s Accounting Policy and Advisory Group.
Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, J. Michael worked at the Bankers Trust Company and JPMorgan Chase in New York and London. He began his accounting career at Arthur Andersen & Company in New York.
Throughout his career, J. Michael has been a driving force in the CPA profession, globally, nationally, and locally. He has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AIPCA) since 1982. He is a former member of the AIPCA Board of Directors and currently serves on its governing Council. He is also a former board member of the global Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and a former member of the AICPA National Commission on Diversity & Inclusion. He currently serves on the Institute’s Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Task Force. Is a former AICPA Inclusion Champion that fosters discussions on diversity and inclusion throughout the profession.
J. Michael is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and a former member of the CIMA Council and CIMA’s Thought Leadership & Business Ethics Committee. He has served on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Leadership Group and is a lifetime member of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) and Ascend.
J. Michael has been a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) since 1982. He served as the 2013-14 NYSSCPA President. In addition to serving as President and President-Elect, J. Michael has served on the NYSSCPA’s Executive Committee several times and as Vice President of Professional Issues. He has also chaired several NYSSCPA committees and task forces. J. Michael served as the 2007-08 NYSSCPA Manhattan/Bronx Chapter President. He has also served on the Manhattan/ Bronx Chapter Board from 2002 to 2013 and 2017 to 2019. He served as the President of the Moynihan Scholarship Fund Board of Trustees 2019-2021 and serves as the Fundraising Committee Chair for the NYSSCPA’s Moynihan Scholarship Fund Gala. J. Michael served as the 2017-19 Chair of the NYSSCPA Sustainability Accounting and Reporting Committee, currently a committee member. He is a committee member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and the Accounting Committee and the Foundation for Accounting Education Curriculum Subcommittee and a former Auditing Standards member. He has served on the Banking and Auditing Oversight Committees. J. Michael is a member of the NYSSCPS Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE) Board of Trustees.
J. Michael has been a member of the of The Accountants Club of America since 2013. He served as the President of The Accountants Club of America for the period 2018-20 and is a member of the Board of Governors. He also serves as the Chair of the Strategic Alliance & Sponsorship Committee. From 2022 J. Michael is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). J. Michael was a member of Sustainable Business Management Global Task Force member and is currently a member of the IMA Sustainable Business Management Committee.
J. Michael is also active in his community. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Board of Directors and Council member. He also serves on the Audit Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, and Environment, Social & Governance Subcommittee. He is a member of the AAA-ICDR Foundation Board of Directors and the Grants Committee and Budget & Finance Committee as Committee Chair.
J. Michael is a member of Sustainability Investment Leadership Council (SILC), Board member and served as the 2021 President. He a Bronx Community College (BCC) Advisory Board member in its Business & Information Systems Department, and a United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force (USS NY/NJ ECTF) member for New York and New Jersey. J. Michael is a member of the Financial Executives Networking Group.
J. Michael is the recipient of the National Association of Black Accountants 2013 National Achievement - Public Accounting Award. He was also awarded the NYSSCPA’s 2011 Outstanding CPA in Industry Award, which recognizes CPA financial executives with records of outstanding professional achievement in a confidential business or industry. J. Michael was awarded the NYSSCPA’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes a CPA member who has been an exceptional Society leader through model service within the NYSSCPA and the profession. In 2014, he received a Maryland General Assembly Official Citation from the Baltimore City Legislature in recognition of his accounting leadership, hard work, and dedication.
Among his writings, he has frequently been published in The Trusted Professional, the newspaper of the NYSSCPA, and the New Accountant – High School Edition, for which he wrote “CPA: Career for a Lifetime” and co-authored “State of The profession 2018: Views on Practice Management” in The CPA Journal.
J. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University’s New York College of Business Administration.
He has been married to his wife, Barbara, since 1975.