User:Kimle/sandbox

Kim Le  is the founder and CEO of A2Q2. A business consulting firm that offers accounting, data analytics, Netsuite, internal audit, business process reengineering, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP Systems) and Sarbanes-Oxley readiness/Compliance.

Early life and Education
Kim was born in Vietnam in 1972. When she was about 6 years old she was living with her family in Saigon after the Vietnam War. Her mother, Kim and her brother had to escape onto a fishing boat out of Vietnam. They were on the boat for about 7 days before they made it to a refugee camp in Malaysia. There, struggling to get by on food and water rations, living on dirt floors, they waited for a country to sponsor them.

They were finally sponsored by a church in Tucson, AZ and their lives took on a new chapter in the United States. Sharing a small house with another family, Kim and her brother went to school, learned to speak English (with the help of Sesame Street) and helped their mom around the house as much as they could. Their mom worked very hard as a dishwasher to support her family.

Kim worked part time in Phoenix AZ while going to school full time to be able to support her schooling.

Professional Profile
After graduating top of her class, Kim Le landed a job at Arthur Anderson and spent eight years in public accounting with the company. She had career goals to make it to the top. Unfortunately, 8 months pregnant with her daughter, the Enron scandal closed down the whole company in 2002. It was then, at her husband's suggestion, that the idea started for create her own consulting firm. She founded A2Q2 in 2003.

Kim is the visionary and founder of A2Q2. As CEO, she has over 20 years of accounting, auditing, and consulting experience. Kim has led SOX compliance initiatives, financial statement audits, internal audits, special accounting and process re-engineering projects, initial public offerings, revenue recognition, Securities Exchange Commission reporting projects, ERP implementations, and mergers and acquisition due diligence and integration.

Kim is an expert in business process design and accounting system development, including data extraction and analysis. She has guided clients through financial statement audits and restatements by gaining an understanding of the workflow, dataflow, and interaction with IT systems. From these efforts, she has recommended policies and procedures, has created desk manuals and training materials, and has facilitated key trainings. She personally designed solutions for control gaps and developed remediation plans to monitor progress on behalf of management and audit committees.

Kim has led numerous SOX 302 and 404 compliance engagements, including project management and planning, and has developed detailed project plans and training materials. She has conducted risk assessments to identify financial reporting risks in critical processes. She has also documented policies, procedures, and controls through process memos, workflows, and/or flowcharts. Kim has developed and executed work plans to test controls effectively and evaluated results to determine exceptions and their root causes.

Kim is a self-taught software developer on the Force.com platform. She invented and trademarked SoxRox®, a web-based software-as-a-service application used to efficiently plan, document, test, and report SOX compliance efforts.

Kim has extensive experience with SaaS, hi-tech, software, telecommunications, digital media, and life-sciences industries.

In 2015, the California Society of CPAs recognized Kim with the Women to Watch Trailblazer Award. In 2013, Kim was recognized as Silicon Valley’s 100 Women of Influence by the Business Journal. In 2012 and 2013, Ascend, a national Pan-Asian leadership development organization, recognized Kim with the President’s Award for her volunteer activities. In 2010, the National Council of Asian American Business Association selected Kim as Asian Business Woman of the Year. In 2009, the California Public Utility Commission recognized Kim with the Women in Business Excellence Award.

Kim currently serves as the Audit Committee Chair on the board of MidPen Housing, which provides high-quality, affordable housing in the Bay Area. Kim is also on the Board of the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange, Financial Executive International Silicon Valley Chapter and is a member of Hipower. Kim regularly speaks on entrepreneurship and promoting leadership development for women and people of color.

Professional Associations

 * American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
 * California Society of Certified Public Accountants
 * The Institute of Internal Auditors

Awards

 * 2017 Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award – Financial Executives Intl (FEI) Silicon Valley.
 * 2016 Female CEO of the Year- California by Corporate Vision Magazine.
 * 2015 Women to Watch Trailblazer Award by The California Society of CPA.
 * 2013 Silicon Valley 100 Most Influential Women Award by Silicon Valley Business Journal.
 * 2012 The Presidents Award by Ascend Leadership.
 * 2010 Asian Business Woman of the Year by National Council of Asian American Business Associations.
 * 2009 Women in Business Excellence Award by California Public Utility Commission.