Firm News

Deborah Walker, CPA, Receives AICPA’s Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award

calendar iconNovember 16, 2017

Deborah Walker, CPA, MBA, National Director of Compensation and Benefits at Cherry Bekaert LLP (“the Firm”), is this year’s recipient of the Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the accounting profession in the area of taxation. The award is sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs (“AICPA”). Walker received the award at AICPA’s Fall Tax Division Meeting in Washington, D.C., on November 8.

For more than 35 years, Walker has been an expert in a broad range of employer-related issues, including executive compensation; qualified retirement plans of every variety; employment taxes; domestic and international compensation arrangements (both short-term and long-term incentive); tax controversy issues related to employment taxes and compensation items; and health and welfare benefits. She also counsels clients on fringe benefits, from expense reimbursement arrangements to personal use of company equipment and assets, to name a few. She often consults about compensation deductions in mergers and acquisitions, accounting methods for compensation, and financial statement reporting of compensation and benefits.

In addition to her work at Cherry Bekaert, Walker edits for Bloomberg BNA as part of the Bloomberg Tax and Accounting Center. She is a published writer, having authored numerous articles, and was editor-in-chief for the Journal of Taxation of Employee Benefits. She was also a member of the Tax Advisor Editorial Board.

Walker has volunteered with AICPA for 30 years, during which she has held many positions and served on many committees, including chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee. She currently serves on the planning committee for the annual AICPA employee Benefit Plan Conference. She has served as chair and co-chair on this committee.

Walker holds a BA in economics from Alfred University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Prior to working with Cherry Bekaert, she was a partner at two of the Big Four firms and served as Deputy to the Benefits Tax Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury.