Our People – Accountants in Columbia, MO
Jack E. Beard Jr., CPA
Firm President
Jack began working at the firm in 2000 and became partner in 2010. He leads the tax department and oversees non-profit audit and other areas of the firm. Jack earned is BA from Columbia College and Master’s in Accounting from William Woods University. Jack serves as Treasurer of the Columbia Entertainment Company and has served as an officer for the Downtown Optimist Club and Missouri Zone two of Missouri Optimist International. Jack has known he wanted to be an accountant since high school, and enjoys using his love for numbers to help real people, his clients. He is a Mid-Missouri native and avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mizzou Tigers, and St. Louis Cardinals.
Gary Boehmer, CPA, CFE
Retired
Gary retired as Senior Auditor from the State of Missouri Auditor’s office on 2003. He joined the firm shortly after that, and became partner in 2010. Gary graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and is both a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. Gary has been a number cruncher since he worked at the local grocery store in high school. He excels at going beyond the numbers to understand the ‘why,’ and to search for waste, abuse, and fraud. Gary enjoys playing golf and fishing, Duke sports, and spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Lylah Kennedy
Lylah began at the firm in the 2014 tax season, assisting with payroll and accounting projects. Lylah holds a BS from the University of Missouri in Parks & Recreation. At work, she has fun with numbers and enjoys staff comraderie. Outside of work, she likes singing, music, and spending time with her son.
Bruce Wallace
Prior to coming to work for Beard-Boehmer and Associates, Bruce Wallace worked 4 years for the Missouri Department of Revenue as an auditor for sales tax, use tax, and withholding tax. Bruce is married to Suzanne Patton, an oncologist and hematologist who works at the Harry S Truman VA Medical Center. They have 2 children, Matthew 16 and Rachel 15. The family moved to Missouri in 2015. Prior to moving to Missouri, Bruce did short-term missions work in 12 foreign countries over an 11 year period, and completed a seminary degree. Bruce had 4 years of public accounting experience in the late 1990s. He has been a high school mathematics teacher in Georgia and North Carolina, and was a mathematics instructor at Shorter College and Kennesaw State University in Georgia. He taught mathematics for 4 summers with the Georgia Governors Honors Program. Bruce also served as a civilian employee of the United States Department of Defense working as a mathematician. Bruce enjoys reading, biking on the trails in and near Columbia, playing computer games, and being involved with his local church.
Stephanie Johnson
Stephanie began working for the firm in 2020 as an accountant. She earned her Bachelors of Accounting and Bachelors of Administration degree from Lincoln University of MO and her master’s degree in accounting at Southern New Hampshire University in 2019. Stephanie has background knowledge in the banking world, and has a love for money and numbers since she was a little girl. She is from Columbia, Missouri, and enjoys spending time with family and friends and fitness. Stephanie was recently married in 2019, and has a son named Myles and a pit bull dog named Bubbles.
