Grant Thornton expands Risk Advisory Services in the Midwest

Grant Thornton LLP is growing its Risk Advisory Services practice in the Midwest region with John Barnes joining as a partner. Based in Cleveland, Barnes will serve clients in Ohio, Michigan and Western Pennsylvania. He recently transferred from the Baltimore office, where he served as an Advisory Services partner.

“John boasts a combination of leadership skills and deep controls advisory acumen – making him an ideal addition for our Risk Advisory Services practice in the Midwest,” said Mark Sullivan, Advisory Services practice leader for the Midwest region at Grant Thornton. “His extensive experience will not only be invaluable to our clients as we help create, protect and transform value across their businesses, but will also help drive the continued growth of the firm’s Midwest advisory services capabilities.”

Barnes has more than 20 years of experience in internal audit, Sarbanes-Oxley, specialty attestation reports, tax and accounting consulting services. He specializes in providing governance, risk and compliance services including internal audits, internal control consulting and enterprise risk management. He has managed complex multi-project engagements and the simultaneous execution of multiple engagements, including progress reporting and deadline management for multi-national manufacturing and distribution companies, financial services, technology companies REITS, not-for profit organizations and government contractors.

Barnes is a certified public accountant (CPA) in Ohio, Maryland and Virginia, and he is a member of the Ohio Society of CPAs, the Maryland Association of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). He is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and has his Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA). He currently serves on the board for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Accounting Advisory Board at Penn State University and the fundraising committee for Athletics at Penn State.

Barnes received his master’s in business administration from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in accounting and international business from Pennsylvania State University.