December 15, 2017 (Jackson, Miss.) - Belhaven welcomed Mrs. Jessica Sumrall, CPA as the University's new controller. Her many years of experience in accounting provides Belhaven another high level of quality in financial management.
“We are so pleased to have Jessica join our team,” said David Tarrant, Belhaven's vice president for business affairs and CFO. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to the position of controller. Her experience in accounting, auditing and non-profit financial management are going to be extremely valuable for Belhaven. Jessica is a familiar face in the business office having served as the lead auditor with BKD, supervising the audit of our books for the last four years.”
Sumrall, a 2003 graduate of Millsaps College, earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy.
She has more than 13 years of experience in not-for-profit accounting and audit services. Sumrall spent three years with the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor, performing and serving as an in-charge auditor of financial statement and single audits of various state agencies. In addition, she has more than four years of previous experience initiating, executing, maintaining and reporting on federal grants and other contracts as a grants and contracts manager for a local not-for-profit company.
Most recently, she was an auditor at BKD, LLP, a national CPA firm where she had achieved the level of senior manager before leaving to accept the position of controller at Belhaven University. At BKD, she served on the engagement staff for the Belhaven University financial and single audit compliance audits for three years. Sumrall is currently a member of the not-for-profit committee of the Mississippi Society of CPA's.
A Mississippi native, Sumrall was raised and attended school in Florence, Miss., and she still lives there presently. She is married to Adam Sumrall and has one child with special needs, Josh, who is 21 years old.