Leane Rafalko | RH CPAs

Leane Rafalko talks to Lyndsey Young about her new role as audit manager with RH CPAs

How will your previous experience help you in your new role as an audit manager?

I began my career as an insurance company examiner with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, performing statutory examinations of the financial statements of insurance companies, which are very similar to financial statement audits.

Financial statement examinations verify compliance with statutory accounting principles which are more conservative than generally accepted accounting principles used in financial statement audits. This is because they verify the solvency of an insurance company, whereas accepted accounting principles verify the concern.

Following a couple of years working at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, I was offered a similar position with the Financial Examinations Section of the North Carolina Department of Insurance, where I progressed to the position of insurance company examination manager.

There, I was responsible for the statutory examinations of the financial statements records and business operations of all types of insurance companies licensed in the State of North Carolina.

After the captive insurance statutes were passed in North Carolina, I decided to branch out and work in the field of captive insurance. I was a chief captive analyst overseeing captive insurance company license applications and protected cell business plan applications.

I was also responsible for the financial analysis of the captive insurance companies licensed in North Carolina. After my 21-year tenure at the North Carolina Department of Insurance, I decided to return to my passion of auditing. Throughout my career as insurance examination manager and chief captive analyst, I got to know many people at RH CPAs PLLC and believed becoming an audit manager with this firm was the best fit for me as I admire the company’s core values and culture.

I have now come full circle in my career — possessing the knowledge of insurance and auditing. I am confident I will be able to contribute to the success of RH CPAs, as my responsibilities as an audit manager include supervising the financial statement audits of captive insurance and traditional insurance companies.

For readers who might not know, what does RH CPAs do and how does it differ from similar firms in the industry?

It thrives on being different. What makes RH CPAs differ from other firms is its core values and culture. It strives to be different by providing high-quality services with a higher level of customer service.

Its employees achieve this by becoming team players and partnering with their clients by truly understanding the long-term strategy of their business and assisting them with making the best decisions for their successes. We believe that if our clients are successful, so are we.

RH CPAs has a team of professionals that stay abreast of industry best practices and accounting standards and policies, and are assigned accordingly to meet each clients’ needs. The team aims to provide services with personality and keep their word.

RH CPAs succeeds at making work enjoyable, while providing professional accounting and advisory services to its clients with expertise and enthusiasm. Having worked with RH CPAs for many years, I believe they truly care about their clients and treat their employees with kindness and respect. They also give back to the community.

You are an associate of captive insurance designation. What does this role involve and how has it helped you better understand the US captives’ world?

While having worked in the insurance industry for over fifteen years, I was curious to learn more about the International Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE) and the Associate in Captive Insurance (ACI) programme. When I learned of the subject matter surrounding each course, and that its programme webinars were taught by captive insurance professionals, I knew signing up would only enhance my knowledge and broaden my network.

The ACI programme consists of seven core classes and two elective classes, enabling students to learn about forming and operating a captive insurance company, investment basics, reinsurance and a basis to the actuarial component of captive insurance.

Throughout each course, students are expected to complete homework, read assignments and interact with their peers.

Students have three years to complete all nine courses and, upon earning the ACI designation, must complete a minimum of twelve continuing education credits each three-year cycle.

By taking the ACI classes and earning my designation, I not only gained new knowledge, but I also met and shared the experience with many captive insurance professionals that I’m still in contact with.

Broadly speaking, what do you think we can expect from US tax policy in the next 12 months, and what will you be preparing for?

We will not see much activity in the tax code over the next twelve months. However, with increasing inflation and the debt ceiling crisis, the only way to decrease the rapid rise in US debt is either to cut spending or increase taxes.

While it is not policy we will likely see, the outcomes of a few captive insurance tax cases, particularly involving exposure units, will hopefully provide much more clarity on IRS guidance pertaining to risk distribution.

What’s in store for RH CPAs over the next 12 months?

You can expect to see RH CPAs continue to grow. We are constantly hiring talented team members. We are lucky to have a plethora of referral sources which makes growth easy.

We are concentrating on making RH CPAs the best place to work, and making its leadership and management teams second to none.

We only see our growth curve steepening, as we ensure team members are able to grow their careers as far as they like. We are also eyeing potential new locations, both domestically and internationally.