Edwin Walrad is a results-driven accounting leader with over 25 years of experience building and running finance functions in the AEC industry. As a Controller on Stambaugh Ness’s CFO and Accounting Solutions team, he specializes in helping clients with accounting solutions, including accounting operations, close management, financial reporting, and building scalable financial infrastructure.
Edwin is known for standing up accounting functions where none existed, developing high-performing teams, and integrating AI tools into financial analysis and reporting to drive efficiency. He brings deep hands-on experience with Deltek Vision and Vantagepoint, having used both systems to lead financial project accounting as a CFO for a multi-modal AE firm.
Edwin holds a B.S. in Accounting from SUNY Oswego and is based in Savannah, GA.
Stacey Carr-Susor, MBA, serves as Manager, CFO Advisory Services at Stambaugh Ness, bringing nearly two decades of strategic financial leadership, operations, and growth execution experience to architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms. In her role, Stacey serves as a primary financial advisor to CEOs, business owners, and finance leaders, delivering forward-looking CFO Advisory Solutions, working capital optimization, integrated financial modeling, and performance-driven growth strategies.
Stacey’s career spans executive roles across high-growth, investor-backed, and venture capital-funded environments. Having served as Chief Financial Officer as well as an Interim and Fractional CFO for multiple client organizations, she has built high-performing finance functions and working capital optimization strategies, established scalable KPI frameworks, and guided businesses through critical growth, restructuring, and M&A inflection points. Her background also encompasses senior leadership in FP&A, corporate finance, accounting, and M&A, supported by foundational global corporate and Big 4 consulting experience.
Her deep technical expertise, coupled with an anticipatory approach, empowers AEC leaders to gain clear financial visibility, make confident data-driven decisions, and build sustainable enterprise value.
Sara Smith is a seasoned Deltek Ajera Consultant with over 25 years of specialized financial management and project accounting experience supporting project-based firms. She serves as a trusted advisor to firm leadership, combining hands-on accounting expertise with an advanced proficiency in Ajera configuration, workflow optimization, and process improvements.
Throughout her career, Sara has successfully connected complex financial operations with technology. Her background includes managing full-cycle accounting, project financial management, and compliance for architecture and engineering firms. Notably, she has led multi-company Deltek Ajera implementations, designed standardized reporting frameworks, and developed custom dashboards that maximize operational visibility, efficiency, and profitability.
As a consultant, Sara excels at assessing unique business requirements and implementing scalable ERP solutions aligned with industry best practices. Passionate about driving system adoption, she utilizes strong mentoring and leadership skills to train cross-functional teams, partner with project managers to monitor utilization and profitability, and guide firms through technical and operational change.
Stacy Rutherford partners with project-based firms to strengthen their financial tracking and protect project profitability, drawing on her deep experience with Deltek Ajera. Rather than just managing standard numbers, she focuses on the full lifecycle of project operations; overseeing accounts payable and receivable, structuring project budgets, and delivering the accurate financial reporting that firm leaders need to make sound business decisions.
With over 11 years of hands-on experience working directly inside a fast-paced corporate design environment, Stacy understands exactly how administrative details impact a firm’s bottom line. She has an established track record of managing multi-million-dollar billing cycles and has successfully designed workflow improvements that cut monthly billing turnaround times by nearly a third.
Stacy holds certifications in both Deltek Pros Ajera Project Accountant Foundations and Financial Foundations. Highly collaborative and analytical, she serves as a practical liaison between project managers and accounting departments to eliminate workflow bottlenecks and keep the firm’s financials moving forward predictably.
Kaci Bledsoe helps architecture and engineering firms keep their project tracking accurate and organized through her experience with Deltek Ajera. She works directly with clients to handle project setup, manage billing, and maintain project records, ensuring day-to-day administrative details align with the firm’s financials.
With more than ten years of experience supporting project-based firms from the inside, Kaci understands the workflow and administrative demands that project teams face daily. This background allows her to manage multiple priorities efficiently, organize pre-billing pipelines, and serve as a practical connection between project managers and accounting departments.
Kaci holds certifications in both Deltek Pros Ajera Project Accountant Foundations and Financial Foundations. Meticulous and detail-oriented, she focuses on maintaining clear documentation and accurately keeping project billing pipelines moving forward.
Michelle supports project-based firms through her deep expertise in the Ajera platform. She partners closely with clients to strengthen financial visibility, streamline processes, and improve day-to-day operations, helping teams to get more out of their systems without adding unnecessary complexity.
Drawing on her experience as an Accounting Manager within an architecture and engineering firm, Michelle understands the real-world challenges that project and finance teams face. This perspective allows her to offer guidance that is not only technically sound but also grounded in how firms actually operate.
As a Valuation Senior Manager, Ryan leads engagements from initial scoping through final report delivery, ensuring a seamless and strategic approach to every project. He specializes in business valuations, developing robust financial models, delivering high-quality analyses, and providing clear, well-supported valuation conclusions tailored to clients in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.
Ryan brings more than 20 years of experience in valuation and financial advisory services. Most recently, he served as a Valuation Director at a global financial advisory firm, where he advised a diverse client base ranging from regional middle-market businesses to publicly traded multi-billion-dollar multinational organizations across a variety of industries.
His technical expertise includes business valuations, purchase price allocations, goodwill and indefinite-lived asset impairment analyses, valuations for international tax restructurings, and transaction opinions. Ryan has extensive experience supporting financial reporting, tax compliance, and strategic decision-making through comprehensive business valuations, intangible asset valuations, and complex financial analyses.
As Director of Client Engagement, with more than 25 years working inside the AEC industry, Jen Ponce de Leon serves as a strategic partner to clients, aligning their needs with SN’s full range of capabilities. She’s worked directly with architecture, engineering, and construction leaders, project teams, and the complex stakeholder environments that define how AEC firms win work, deliver it, and grow.
Jen’s background spans large-scale pursuits and multi-million-dollar project opportunities, giving her the context to engage as someone who understands the industry from the inside out. Additionally, for strategic buyers and private equity, Jen offers a perspective that goes beyond the transaction, grounded in how AEC firms’ function, understanding their goals, challenges, and opportunities to help them move forward with clarity and confidence.
Working closely with clients and internal teams nationwide, Jen connects firms with the right expertise at the right time, across M&A advisory, ownership transition, strategic growth, and operational effectiveness.
Brad Davis helps AEC firms turn their technical innovation into significant tax savings. Specializing in R&D tax credits, cost segregation, and Section 179D energy-efficient deductions, he goes beyond standard filings to identify the design and problem-solving efforts that often go unnoticed.
With a deep understanding of the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, Bradley bridges the gap between complex projects and the tax incentives they deserve. He handles the heavy lifting of documentation and technical analysis, ensuring credits and deductions are captured accurately and efficiently. By aligning tax strategies with a firm’s broader financial goals, Bradley helps our clients maximize profitability and reinvest in their future growth.
As a Finance Consultant for Deltek Vision/Vantagepoint at Stambaugh Ness, Andrew partners closely with clients to enhance and optimize their financial systems. His work spans system assessments, implementations, upgrades, and user training to help firms maximize the value of their Deltek investment while improving day-to-day efficiency.
In a previous role, Andrew gained firsthand experience working within an accounting department using Deltek Vision and Vantagepoint. This real-world perspective allows him to connect system functionality with the realities of financial operations, from bank and general ledger reconciliations to invoicing, AP/AR processing, and proposal management.
Andrew has supported firms transitioning from QuickBooks and Vision to Vantagepoint, led end-user training, and developed custom dashboards to deliver actionable insights. He has also conducted historical data audits to improve accuracy and reporting reliability. Andrew holds both Master Certification and Accounting Certification in Deltek Vantagepoint, underscoring his deep technical expertise and commitment to client success.
