Michele M. Stanton has over 25 years experience in accounting, auditing, consulting, litigation support, and forensic accounting. During her career, she has worked in both the public and private sectors, in a regulatory environment, and with the standard setting body of the auditing profession.
Ms. Stanton founded her own firm in 2000 and currently provides services to individuals, private companies, and to CPA firms and their public company clients. Services to CPA firms include concurring reviews, consultation on technical SEC, PCAOB, and accounting and auditing issues, inspection of working papers, and assistance with PCAOB inspections. Services to public companies include consultations on technical SEC and accounting issues, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and other technical and regulatory issues.
As a professional in the Division of Enforcement, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., Ms. Stanton investigated potential violations of the federal securities laws. She also conducted investigations of public accounting firms for possible violations of professional standards. While at the SEC, Ms. Stanton supervised investigations, issued subpoenas, took the testimony of witnesses, researched financial accounting and auditing
issues, and provided guidance and recommendations to the Commission and its legal staff on accounting and auditing issues.
Ms. Stanton was a Practice Fellow for the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in New York. During her tenure with the Board, she researched accounting and auditing issues, developed authoritative guidance, and provided technical assistance to the Board and its various committees. Her major projects included the audit and accounting guide, Entities with Oil and Gas Producing Activities; Statement on Auditing Standards No. 50, Reports on the Application of Accounting Principles; and Statement on Auditing Standards No. 51, Reporting on Financial Statements Prepared for Use in other Countries.
Prior to forming her own firm, Ms. Stanton was with a litigation consulting firm in Houston, Texas. Prior to that, she was director of the financial investigation services group of Kroll Associates, an international consulting and investigative firm headquartered in New York. She managed teams of professionals in conducting financial fraud investigations, litigation consulting, due diligence services, asset searches, financial crises management services,
and other types of consulting and investigative services. She managed both international and domestic investigations and coordinated efforts with various international and domestic offices of the firm.
She began her career with Deloitte & Touche (then Deloitte Haskins & Sells) a “Big Four” international public accounting firm in Houston, Texas. While serving as an audit manager with that firm, her clients included companies in the petrochemical, oil and gas exploration, oil field services, geological and geophysical services, banking, and manufacturing industries as well as not-for-profit organizations.
Ms. Stanton co-authored the Guide to Fraud Investigations, Practitioners Publishing Company, a practical guide for accountants and others conducting investigations. She is also contributing author for the PPC publication, Litigation Support Engagements. She has taught seminars on audit techniques, SEC enforcement issues, and fraud investigations.
Ms. Stanton received a Master of Science degree in Accounting from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Dayton. She is licensed as a CPA in Texas. She belongs to various professional and business organizations.