Christopher S. Edwards, CPA, CVA

Admitted to public practice in 1991.

Partner since 1997.

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Mr. Edwards is both a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA).  He started in public accounting in 1989 and has been with the firm for his entire career.  Chris is the director of the firm's Litigation-Valuation Practice Group and is directly involved in our audit practice.  His experiences have been diverse enabling him to develop expertise in the areas of audit, litigation support services, valuation, computer consulting, management advisory services, and also in various tax areas.  His experiences compliment well the firm's diverse client and practice base. 

Chris has played a key role in the development of the firm's litigation support practice, which has grown to more than 30,000 total hours under his direct supervision.  He has acted as an expert witness or consultant in well over one hundred different cases and has experience in giving expert testimony in various litigation areas.  

His litigation services practice has included work in the areas of business valuations, claims analysis, divorce and domestic litigation, lost business profits and wages, corporate fraud, embezzlement, professional malpractice, retirement benefits analysis, condemnation actions, minority shareholder rights, business buyout, criminal cases, partnership split-ups, child support modifications, and extensive work in the areas of corporate and individual bankruptcy matters.   Chris is also experienced in investigating multi-state fraud and RICO matters and has been retained by, or worked directly with, large regulatory and enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission out of Washington, DC and the Georgia Secretary of State, for the purposes of investigating multi-million dollar frauds committed reaching across multiple states. 

Chris has testified, at deposition, trial, or at arbitration hearings, on over 50 occasions and has prepared cases for trial numerous other times that settled on the eve of trial.  He has also tendered many sworn affidavits attesting to his professional opinion on litigated and contested matters that have been instrumental in settling cases prior to trial.  Within the bankruptcy arena, he has considerable experience in litigation and consulting on fraudulent and preferential adversaries as well as providing in depth solvency/valuation opinions and testimony.  He has served as court-appointed accountant in over one thousand bankruptcy cases.  Additionally, he has been retained and appointed by courts to serve as examiner, mediate litigation prior to trial, and to serve as trustee of corporate assets.  Chris has spoken publicly on various topics and have been published in Georgia circulated professional journals.  Several of his cases have been featured in leading national periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine and on CBS Evening News. 

Chris' practice also includes a significant valuation base and he has valuable experience in performing valuations of small businesses, family limited partnerships, ESOPs, and fractional business interests.  Naturally, much of the litigated areas he has worked also include a valuation component in the measurement of economic damages, determinations of solvency, and the like.

Auditing is also a significant component of Chris' practice and he has experience in auditing governments, wholesale distributors, retail stores, hospitals, not-for-profits, school boards, construction contractors, manufacturing companies, and other types of businesses.  His practice also includes taxation and consulting providing services to clients for tax preparation, tax planning, and business management.  His consulting practice has given him the opportunity to advise business and government clients on income maximization, cash flow management, mergers and acquisitions, capitalization, minimization of tax, computers and software, internal controls, estate planning, physician & medical practices, new business ventures, and other management advisory issues.

Chris graduated with honors from a local college preparatory school and received his BBA from the University of Georgia.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member in good standing of the American Institute of CPAs and the Georgia Society of CPAs.  He is also a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), which is recognized as a leading credential in business valuation as well as a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. 

He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Georgia Southern University Center for Forensic Studies in Accounting & Business.  He is a past member of the Executive Board of the Georgia Society of CPAs statewide Litigation Services Committee and is  currently a member of the Georgia Society of CPAs Litigation & Valuation Services section.  He is the the past-chair of the Georgia Society of CPAs Professional Ethics Board Committee where he served for over ten years administering cases of alleged ethics violations committed by member CPAs in the state. 

Chris has an active leadership role at St. Joseph Catholic Church where he has  served on the Pastoral Council, as member and Chair of the Finance Council, as Chair of the Capital Projects Steering Committee with oversight responsibity for the Labor of Love 100-Year renovation of the church, and as both committee member and chair of various capital pledge campaigns.  Chris is also active on the regional level for the catholic church.  He currently serves on the Finance Council for the Diocese of Savannah, under Bishop Boland, and was a 2006 recipient of the Diocese of Savannah's Gartland Lifetime Service Award. 

Chris has served various boards and volunteer efforts in the region.  His volunteer efforts include service on the United Way of Central Georgia where he served as treasurer, the Boys and Girls Club of Macon, Macon Regional Crimestoppers where he serves as secretary, MedCen Community Foundation, Cox Capitol Theatre, Macon Chamber of Commerce Leadership 2000, and other local volunteer boards.

Click here to read Chris' curricula vitae.