The Team
Principal
DOUGLAS KIM
MBT
Doug is a Principal at Apex Advisors. Doug split his 20 years of accounting experience at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte & Touche, managing several groups that provided services to Fortune 500 clients. Doug has extensive knowledge of tax credits and tax principles. He utilizes his expertise to advise clients on best practices and ensure compliance and quality control of Apex Advisor services.
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Tax Management
JOHN KIM
JD
John leads and manages multiple operations of Apex Advisors’ tax practice area. He has over 10 years of experience working as a financial auditor and tax attorney. His prior experience at the IRS Examination Division and Office of Chief Counsel provides our clients with invaluable insight and guidance. His law experience is utilized to ensure legal compliance of all tax credit projects at Apex Advisors.
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Engineering
ENGINEERING TEAM
Apex Advisors’ Engineering Team consists of licensed engineers with experience within the disciplines of civil engineering, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and contracting. The team has a client-facing role and provides critical support to all projects by conducting interviews with our clients’ key personnel and identifying R&D-qualified activities. Our in-house engineers’ educational background and practical experience allow them to analyze projects from a technical level, providing an expert assessment of the qualification and quantification of tax benefits
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Processing Team
MANUFACTURING SPECIALIZATION TEAM
Apex Advisors has a designated processing team specifically for clients in the manufacturing industry. Our Manufacturing Specialization Team includes individuals with extensive and focused experience performing R&D tax credit studies for manufacturing companies. Well-versed in the technical characteristics of the manufacturing industries, our Manufacturing Specialization Team is able to expertly identify qualified activities for our manufacturing clients in order to maximize their benefits.
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Principal
DAVID AHN
MBT
David is a Principal at Apex Advisors. David has more than 20 years of accounting and financial auditing experience. He spent 11 years in a variety of management positions at Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche, becoming a key manager in their R&D tax credit division. David utilizes that experience overseeing all R&D tax credit activities for Apex Advisors.
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Marketing
DAVID PORADA
JD
David has a professional career working with legal, financial, and creative professionals from a wide variety of companies in traditional manufacturing to high-tech industries, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Via extensive analysis, David applies his legal, project management, and lean six sigma black-belt knowledge to identify how incentives directly relate to a client’s specific needs and situation.
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Project Accounting Data
PROJECT ACCOUNTING DATA(PAD) TEAM
Apex Advisors’ Project Accounting Data (PAD) Team ensures accuracy in computing the R&D tax credit by applying Apex’s distinctive PAD method to projects, which meticulously captures R&D expenses from qualified projects down to specific phases and activities within those projects. This team of specialists analyzes client project data and timesheets to identify all technical employees as well as qualified project phases, yielding a true computation of qualified expenses. Accordingly, our clients are provided a tax benefit that is maximized and substantiated, significantly reducing the risk for an audit. The IRS has specifically complimented our PAD method as the “best methodology.”
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Processing Team
AEC SPECIALIZATION TEAM
Apex Advisors has a designated processing team specifically for clients in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries. Our AEC Specialization Team is comprised of our Engineering and PAD teams, as well as individuals with LEED professional credentials and extensive experience in R&D and 179D tax benefit studies for the AEC industries. Focusing solely on these industries, our AEC Specialization Team provides greater value to our AEC clients by possessing the acumen to properly and thoroughly qualify and quantify tax benefits.
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Tax Controversy
ANNIKA VANGHAGEN
JD, LL.M
Annika is in charge of tax controversy at Apex Advisors and specializes in analyzing a company’s qualifying R&D expenditures to develop effective tax credit strategies and solutions. With over 10 years of experience, Annika spent several years as an in-house lawyer for Qwest Communications, working on cases that ranged from international telecom actions to patent infringement.
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Tax Controversy
TAX CONTROVERSY TEAM
Apex Advisors’ Tax Controversy Team consists of legal associates and former IRS officials who provide legal counsel throughout the project lifecycle, from contract review to audit defense. Our team is well-versed in the complexity of fiscal policy and have specialized training in tax, including LL.M degrees in taxation. With the frequent modifications to local, state, and federal codes, our experts in tax law ensure that all projects are compliant with current rules and regulations imposed by tax agencies. In the case of an audit, our tax lawyers advocate on behalf of our clients in tax court.
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Processing Team
SOFTWARE SPECIALIZATION TEAM
Apex Advisors has a designated processing team specifically for clients in the software industry. Our Software Specialization Team includes individuals with extensive and focused experience performing R&D tax credit studies for software and other tech companies. This team of specialists has a deep understanding of the software development lifecycle, from design and development to testing, and is able to accurately pinpoint the qualified activities within each phase, resulting in a reliable and comprehensive tax credit study.
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Our Partners
