BIOS

Noel A. Gewarges, CPA, MST: Partner
Noel founded Gewarges & Associates in 1998. From 1989-1997, he worked in the Arthur Andersen Tax Group, where he was a tax manager dealing with various types of companies assisting in the tax consulting, advisory and preparation services. Noel has extensive experience in all types of corporate, partnership and individual income tax planning and preparation, structuring and restructuring areas, as well as CFO experience. He has worked with clients in the manufacturing, retail, distribution, professional services, real estate and construction sectors, ranging in size from closely held family operations to public corporations, as well as domestic and multinational operations. Noel has a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master's in taxation from DePaul University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Noel is also an advisor to "Play for Peace", a not-for-profit organization that attempts to bridge the racial barriers for children.


Shelly N. Shannon, CPA: Partner
Shelly joined Gewarges & Associates in 2002. She focuses her time on employee benefit plan audits and employee benefit plan financial statement preparation services while serving as controller for several clients. Shelly's experience includes auditing hedge funds, private equity funds, and investment partnerships, both domestic and off-shore, with various ranges of assets under management, as well as employee benefit plan ERISA audits. Prior to joining the firm, Shelly worked at Arthur Andersen from 1993-2002 in the Audit Practice as a manager, where she worked with clients in the financial services industry, specifically banking and asset management and alternative investment products. Shelly has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Purdue University and is a Certified Public Accountant.


Jeanine M. Forini, CPA, MBA: Partner
Jeanine joined Gewarges & Associates in 2006 with extensive experience in international and domestic tax consulting, international transfer pricing, financial reporting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Jeanine began her career in the Arthur Andsersen Tax Group assisting corporate, partnership, and individual clients with tax consulting, advisory, and compliance services. Prior to joining Gewarges and Associates, she worked at FMC Corporation and FMC Technologies, Inc. for 9 years. There she was responsible for international tax planning, reviewing and restructuring international transfer pricing policies, financial analysis and reporting, and project management for domestic and foreign subsidiaries. As part of her responsibilities, she assisted operating divisions in structuring new bids and projects in foreign countries in the most tax efficient manner under the various taxing jurisdictions, including taking advantage of worldwide tax treaty provisions. She also managed reorganizations, liquidations, and the establishment of foreign branches and subsidiaries necessitated by the spin-off of FMC Technologies, Inc. from its parent corporation, FMC Corporation.

At Gewarges and Associates, she provides tax and financial accounting services for clients ranging from closely-held partnerships to publicly traded multinational corporations. The projects she has completed include domestic and international tax compliance and planning, deferred tax analysis and reporting, foreign tax credit compliance and planning, transfer pricing documentation and policy analysis, foreign transfer pricing audit assistance, and FIN 48 implementation for international operations.

Jeanine holds a bachelors degree in accounting and a master's degree in business administration from Michigan State University. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.