Paula F. Essick 230 West Monroe, Suite 2025 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Email: pessick@mgacpas.com Telephone (312) 849-5820 Fax (312) 849-5822

Education:
Merrimack College
North Andover, Massachusetts

Bachelor of Business Administration Concentration in Accounting, May 1990

Associate of Management Information Systems, May 1990

Graduated Magna Cum Laude

Participated in the Cooperative Education Program - Gained valuable experience at Campos & Stratis, CPA, Laventhol & Horwath, CPA, Robert Carr, P.A., and Raytheon

Experience:
Magnan Graizzaro & Associates, CPAs, LLC
Chicago, Illinois

(Formerly Campos & Stratis, CPA) 1989 – present
I am currently a Principal of Magnan Graizzaro & Associates. After 15 years of working at the Boston location, in the spring of 2004 I moved to Chicago to open a new office for the firm. My entire professional career has consisted of analyzing commercial insurance claims along with providing litigation support in a variety of circumstances. The following is a list of my achievements, responsibilities and background:

• Analyze majority of larger size losses and litigation cases. One of these assignments approached $1 billion. The damages measured relate to Asbestos, Builder’s Risk, Business Interruption, Employee Theft, Extra Expense, Jeweler’s Block, Liability, Loss of Rents, and Property (including Building, Personal Property and Inventory).
  
• Responsible for the interviewing, training, and supervision of professional staff.
  
• Assist attorneys in litigation that includes the preparation of deposition questions and presence at depositions.
  
• Assist client and authorities in the investigation of arson and fraud. Investigate the business’s stability and possible financial motive.
  
• Prepare for expert testimony as well as prepare exhibits, graphs, schedules, and material for cases.
  
• Represent the firm at insurance seminars, client workshops, golf outings, college discussions on forensic accounting, and college recruitment fairs.
  
• Develop a working knowledge of the operations and accounting system of the entity being analyzed which can range from a small business to a billion dollar company:
  
• Develop trends and projections of operations and financial activity
• Analyze and project financial information, production, inventory levels, product cost, overhead, labor, and all direct and fixed expenses
• Perform variance analysis in order to determine the causes of variances between budget, projections, and actual amounts as well as testing the accuracy of historical budgeting
• Develop an understanding of the manufacturing process in order to isolate the activity of one machine and the impact it has on the process and additional costs expended when it is running inefficiently
• Develop an understanding of historical levels of inventory, production, and sales in order to calculate when inventory will be depleted
• Analyze inventory records to capture inventory obsolesce and unusual shrinkage
• Analyze labor levels with particular attention to overtime paid and the cost-benefit of the additional expense