Meet Our Team

Deborah M. Adams, CPA, Partner

Deborah has over 25 years of experience in the financial and accounting profession.  She is certified in Arizona and New York. Her educational background includes a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, a Master's Degree in Management, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in accounting and tax.  She also has two certificates of educational achievement, one in Personal Financial Planning and the other in Estate Planning.  Deborah's industry experience includes being Chief Financial Officer or Controller of small, medium, and large corporations, including the billion dollar U-Haul Corporation.  Her public experience includes Coopers and Lybrand.  She has been an instructor for the American Institute of CPAs in Strategic Planning.  She is active in her community and serves on various boards.  She is also an avid football fan.

Email: DebA@CarefreeCPAs.com

Barbara J. Kvittem-Barr, CPA, CFP, Partner

Barb has over 20 years of experience in the financial and accounting profession and also holds the designation of Certified Financial Planner (CFP).  Before moving into the accounting area, Barb received a Bachelor's Degree in Music and a Master of Divinity degree and worked in both of these professions.  She has additional graduate courses in accounting, tax, and business.  In industry, she has been Chief Financial Officer of a $10-million corporation.  She also has extensive experience in public accounting and has published several articles on investments.  She has lectured and taught seminars on numerous topics including: investments, charitable giving as an estate planning tool, tax preparation, and estate planning. She and Deb have worked together for over ten years.  She is also active in her community and church.

Email: BarbK@CarefreeCPAs.com

Tamara A. Manero, CPA

Tammy has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Accountancy.  She originally worked with Barb in industry and then joined the public accounting world about 14 years ago, initially focusing on high-end retail environments.  She has since expanded to include non profit organizations and other small businesses.  With 12 years experience as a CPA, she concentrates on certain select AKB clients after reducing her hours to spend more time with her two young children.  As they grow we hope to win Tammy back - but even with limited hours, she is a terrific member of our team with her positive attitude, level of service, knowledge and skills.

Email: TammyM@CarefreeCPAs.com

John Purcelli, JD, CPA

John has over 25 years of experience in the income tax and accounting profession and was a partner with Arthur Andersen.  He has a degree in business administration as well as a law degree.  His main experience is in federal income taxes including compliance and consulting.  He has worked with small family owned businesses as well as large publicly owned companies.  He also has experience in merger and acquisition consulting, succession planning for family owned businesses, IRS and state audits and estate planning.  He was in charge of a 40-person tax division where his responsibilities included marketing, recruiting, human resources, budgeting, forecasting and administration.  He adds great strength and experience to our team.

Mary Lee DeGroff

Mary Lee joined our team in January 2007.  She attended Lansing Business University, and has experience in Human Resources, Public Relations, Guest Coordination, and Contracting as well as many other fields.  Mary Lee hails from the Midwest, where she grew up in her family's business.  She has been a resident of Carefree/Cave Creek for several years.  She is our Office Manager responsible for keeping things organized and humming in the most efficient way possible at our main office in Carefree.  Mary Lee is also our "Director of Fun."  She keeps smiles on everyone's face each day and more importantly, during those stressful times during tax season.  The fact that she is also a "Sous Chef" makes our team meetings a little tastier!

Email: MaryD@CarefreeCPAs.com

Cindy Essendrup

Cindy is a native of Arizona and graduate of Arizona State University West majoring in English.  She has a background in bookkeeping and building client relationships.  Cindy is happily married with three children and enjoys reading, writing, and cooking.  She also enjoys long distance running and playing the piano.  Cindy has lived overseas in Prague, Czech Republic and in Malaysia, which works out nicely since she enjoys traveling and meeting new people. She works with Barb in the Arrowhead office and will be the cheerful voice on the other end of the phone from that office.

Email: CindyE@CarefreeCPAs.com

Dale Kvittem-Barr

It is Dale's 10th official year on our team although he has assisted us in an unofficial position for many years (as Barb's husband).  Dale's expertise includes the areas of business strategies & planning, visioning, administration, human resources, systems & procedural analysis and just plain keeping things on target.  He holds bachelors degrees in business and psychology and has a Master's Degree in Business Administration (health services administration). Dale also manages our internal computer network & information systems and keeps us on the cutting-edge of technology. We have a state-of-the-art computer system because of his expert leadership. He is available for business consulting and special projects for our clients.

Silas Berry

Silas is a retired CPA and is certified by the IRS as an Enrolled Agent qualified to practice before the IRS. Silas is an Illinois native and graduated from Illinois State University with a major in Business Administration. He had a long career with International Paper in various accounting management positions. He has worked for 13 years preparing income tax returns since his retirement from a full time career. He enjoys the RV lifestyle and has been an Arizona snowbird for the past 10 years. He and his wife, Bev, enjoy the desert so much that they recently purchased a home in Desert Hills, where they enjoy their grandchildren, hiking and gardening. Silas is a tax-season-only member of the AKB team since he'll be RV-ing around the country much of the rest of the year.

Vicky Floyd

Vicky has lived in Arizona since 1987. She has a Bachelors degree in Accounting from Western International University and has 20 years of accounting experience. Her accounting background includes extensive experience in the hospitality, education, and petroleum industries. She is also licensed in life and health insurance for the state of Arizona. Vicky was born in Poland and speaks Polish fluently - so she has a delightful accent! She enjoys sports, traveling and spending time with her family. She works primarily with our payroll, accounting, and business clients although she is qualified to help in many other areas. 

Jon Rushmann

Jon is a graduate of University of Wisconsin with a Bachelors degree in Finance and Marketing. He has over 40 years of tax preparation experience. He owned a tax and consulting business in Wisconsin for 20 years as well as worked for several medium-sized CPA firms and 2 large chain tax preparation firms. Jon also has experience in sales, marketing, and general management. He and his wife have raised and trained Arabian horses and worked with 4-H youth groups and disadvantaged children for over 40 years. They have enjoyed trail riding and working with youth groups and animal rescue groups since their relocation to Arizona 6 years ago. Jon is also a tax-season-only employee since he currently works full-time at another job!

Angela Vona

Angela's public accounting experience ranges from working with a sole proprietor to working for Ernst & Young. She is from Long Island, New York, where she received a Bachelors degree in Accounting and obtained her CPA license.  She volunteers in the community and is an advocate for autism. She takes pride in raising her three children and loves traveling with her family. When she finds a free moment, you will find her hiking and enjoying the beautiful Arizona scenery She brings a depth of experience to the AKB team and works with both business and individual clients.