Gerard Salernitano
Caldwell,NJ
Summary
Results-driven Senior Auditor with over 5 years of expertise in real estate audits and non-attest services, specializing in private equity and asset management. Proven track record in managing audits from inception to completion, with a focus on AICPA standards and tax basis reporting. Experienced in evaluating complex real estate valuations and fair value testing for leading clients such as JPMorgan and Prudential. Exceptional communicator with a strong ability to engage with CFOs, property management teams, and third-party fund administrators.
Experienced Senior Auditor recognized for exceptional productivity and thorough task execution. Expertise in financial compliance, risk management, and adherence to regulatory standards ensures robust audit processes. Strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities contribute to delivering insightful recommendations that drive organizational improvements.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Auditor
Marcum now known as CBIZ CPAs, P.C.
Saddlebrook, NJ
07.2022 - Current
- Directed end-to-end audit engagements for real estate investment firms, focusing on top-tier industry players.
- Managed audits in accordance with US GAAP and AICPA standards for private equity funds with net asset values exceeding $500M in commercial and residential real estate assets (industrial, office, retail, life sciences, and multifamily properties)
- Directed and performed valuation testing of real estate portfolios, including assessing key assumptions (cap rate, discount rate) and conducting comparable market data analysis for fair value calculations (ASC 820)
- Conducted in-depth testing on complex financial areas such as investment valuation, waterfall calculation and net operating income projections
- Acted as a primary liaison between clients and engagement teams, ensuring efficient communication, meeting client expectations, and maintaining timelines
- Developed and implemented audit strategies, focusing on risk assessment, controls walkthroughs, and material weakness evaluation during planning stages
- Performed detailed testing of revenue recognition, fair value, capital, and other key financial metrics
- Supervised and mentored junior staff, fostering a collaborative environment, providing training, and managing performance reviews
- Collaborated with valuation, tax, and other specialized teams to ensure integrity in audit processes and timely report delivery
- Led first review engagements, meeting budgetary constraints and ensuring deliverables were submitted on schedule
- Acted as the in-charge on multiple engagements over three busy seasons, from planning to execution, consistently meeting deadlines and providing comprehensive audit outcome
- Conducted detailed fair value audits using both Income Capitalization and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) models for commercial and residential real estate assets
- Recalculated valuations and tested assumptions based on reputable sources like GreenStreet and CoStar
- Extensive exposure to the full real estate cycle, from acquisition to operational property, including reviewing AIAs of General Contractors, CIP allocation, and assisting clients with development process documentation
- Specialized in auditing real estate investment funds and private equity structures, including managing complex areas such as fund capital structures, debt pricing, and investment performance
- Played a significant role in preparing financial statements for various clients, with an emphasis on non-attest services for private clients and fund financials
- Experience with tax-basis clients, providing insights and assistance on cash vs accrual-based accounting issues, including specialized reporting for tax purposes
- Maintained up-to-date knowledge of current trends in accounting practices, industry developments, technology advances.
- Researched changes in laws to maintain adherence to financial regulations.
- Analyzed balance sheets for mistakes and inaccuracies.
- Identified weaknesses of existing control systems and made suggestions for remediation.
- Presented audit results to management teams, delivering information in non-technical terms for easy understanding.
Property Accountant
Vornado Realty Trust
Paramus, NJ
11.2021 - 06.2022
- Managed the accounting for an office building, including monthly reconciliation of accounts, general ledger entries, and financial reporting
- Prepared monthly financial statements for the property, ensuring accuracy in revenue recognition, operating expenses, and asset depreciation
- Assisted in month-end and year-end close processes, ensuring all accounting records were complete and accurate within established deadlines
- Reviewed and processed invoices for accounts payable and receivable, ensuring proper coding and approval before processing payments
- Collaborated with property management to ensure that all lease data was accurately reflected in the accounting system, including rent rolls, lease escalations, and tenant reimbursements
- Assisted in the preparation of annual operating budgets and forecasts for the office building, providing support in variance analysis and identifying cost-saving opportunities
- Monitored and recorded tenant rent payments, ensuring timely collection and tracking of overdue payments in coordination with property management
- Ensured compliance with relevant accounting standards, including GAAP and industry-specific regulations, while maintaining accurate and transparent records
Staff Auditor
Marcum
Roseland, NJ
10.2019 - 11.2021
- Tested accuracy of equity because most of the time equity is significant
- Tested Revenue for all the entities during busy season
- In real estate the management companies provide a monthly reporting package to the investors, and we test the accuracy of the monthly reporting package
- Tested expenses mainly by using year over year analytics
Staff Accountant
Smolin Lupin
12.2018 - 03.2019
- Worked mainly in the CCH ProSystem fx Engagement system; responsibilities varied daily and included rolling binders forward and updating documents into the engagement system, as well as investigating trial balances and adjusting journal entries, to tie-out the external documents to the trial balance (including bank statements, bank reconciliations, fixed asset reports, accounts receivable reports, accounts payable reports, mortgage statements, and others)
- Imported trial balances into the CCH ProSystem fx Engagement binders for several clients, to help improve office efficiencies
- Prepared various tax returns, including 1120, 1065, 1040, and 1041 forms; well versed and efficient in use of the CCH ProSystem fx Tax system
- Input source document numbers into CCH ProSystem fx Tax and stored all the source documents in the CCH ProSystem fx Engagement system
- Assisted the auditor with various duties during the audit, review, and compilation processes
- Compiled financial statements, ensuring consistency among account details listed on the balance sheets; footed and cross-footed many different financial statements
- Created reports using CCH ProSystem fx Tax software and the associated work papers to tie-out the final balance to the report and used Adobe PDF flyer to highlight relevant facts for the reviewer; created many different work papers using the CCH ProSystem fx Engagement system
- Generated confirmation emails to send to clients and partners and ran many different tests throughout the audit
CPA, Auditor
Lerch Vinci & Higgins
08.2018 - 10.2018
- Audited three different school districts Bergenfield Board of Education, Wall Township Board of Education, and Morris-joint Venture Commission
- Testing their internal controls procedure for payroll compliance
- Created samples for substantive expenditures from general fund account, Special Revenue account, Capital Projects fund and food services fund
- Discovered findings in Morris-joint Venture commission in their budgeted accounts
- I tested to see if the client was putting their money into a certain account compared to the charts of accounts
- Discovered findings in Bergenfield board of education when running test to see if the client is pay health benefits for terminated employees after termination
- Discovered many findings in three different schools when doing substantive expenditure testing when invoices were created before purchase order was created
- Discover many findings in all 3 schools for payment approval signatures
- Run test to see if the client’s employees are getting the right amount money compared to their contract
Education
Master’s - financial accounting
Rutgers University, Rutgers Business School
01.2019
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
Rutgers University
05.2018
Skills
- Microsoft Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- Engagement
- Accounting Software
- Audit Standards
- AICPA
- US GAAP
- Valuation Models
- DCF
- Income Capitalization
- Client Management
- Leadership
- Communication
- Process evaluations
- Balance sheets
- Problem-solving capacity
- Critical thinking aptitude
- GAAP
- Internal control evaluation
- FASB standards
- Data analytics proficiency
- Risk assessment expertise
- Internal controls
- Financial statement analysis
Certification
Certified Public Accountant (CPA), New Jersey, 01/01/24
Timeline
Senior Auditor
Marcum now known as CBIZ CPAs, P.C.
07.2022 - Current
Property Accountant
Vornado Realty Trust
11.2021 - 06.2022
Staff Auditor
Marcum
10.2019 - 11.2021
Staff Accountant
Smolin Lupin
12.2018 - 03.2019
CPA, Auditor
Lerch Vinci & Higgins
08.2018 - 10.2018
Master’s - financial accounting
Rutgers University, Rutgers Business School
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
Rutgers University