Jim Brackens Jr., CPA, is vice president of ethics and practice quality at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). His responsibilities include providing strategic and tactical direction for peer review, professional ethics, the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center and the Governmental Audit Quality Center. Prior to joining the AICPA in 2006, Jim was associated with both international and local public accounting firms including managing his own practice for 17 years in which he served primarily closely held businesses and nonprofit organizations. He also served as a peer reviewer and performed more than 300 peer reviews of local accounting firms.
Jim is a member of the AICPA, the North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCACPA) and the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) and has served in various volunteer leadership positions for both the AICPA and VSCPA including chairing the VSCPA’s Peer Review Committee, serving as vice chair and member of the VSCPA’s Board of Directors and as a member of the AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee. Through a joint effort of the VSCPA and Virginia Business magazine, Jim was voted by his peers as being one of the top CPAs in Virginia in small business consulting (2001 through 2004) and assurance services (2004 and 2005). In 2004, he was the initial author and primary presenter of the VSCPA’s CPE course "Ethics 2004 — Your License Depends on It!" and continued in this capacity until joining the AICPA.
Jim received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Virginia Tech in 1977.