SmartCEO magazine has named Bert T. Edwards, the U.S. Department of the Interior's executive director of the Office of Historical Trust Accounting, as one of its 50 picks for Washington's top "SmartCPAs" for 2007. The magazine awarded Edwards this designation on Sept.25; this is the third year in a row they have selected him for this award.

SmartCPA magazine chose Edwards from 150 nominations it received from Washington, Maryland and Virginia.  The magazine solicited the nominations from more than 2,000 members of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs and 10,000 members of the Maryland Association of CPAs. 

As in the last two years, they chose Edwards for his leadership, innovation and impact on the community and the accounting profession. They selected Edwards from among professionals from private, government and educational organizations in the region. 

Edwards' accomplishments are many.  He formed the District of Columbia Government Audit Task Force of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs. That group provided pro-bono advisory assistance to the D.C. City Council for more than 10 years as the District struggled out of its debt of more than $5 billion. He also serves as chair of the U.S. Air Force Audit Committee.

As director of OHTA, Edwards leads the planning and conduct of the historical accounting for the Individual Indian Money and Tribal Trust Fund accounts, which Interior maintains. OHTA's 35 federal employees are charged with reconciling accounts and providing Native Americans with accurate accountings of their Trust Fund financial transactions. As part of their efforts to accomplish this, they oversee the work of several hundred professionals from the country's top accounting and consulting firms. Edwards began his work with Interior in 2001 when Secretary Gale Norton issued a Secretarial Order establishing OHTA.

From 1998 until 2001, Edwards served as chief financial officer at the Department of State, an assistant secretary-level position. At State, he oversaw domestic and overseas financial operations, including 260 embassies and consulates in 130 countries and more than 21,000 employees worldwide.  From 1971 until 1994, Edwards was an audit partner for Arthur Andersen LLP.  Based in Washington, he held firm-wide technical responsibility for federal, state and local governmental accounting and auditing practice. He also served as industry head for nonprofit and higher education organizations.

For additional information, please contact Keith A. Parsky, Esq., OHTA, at (202) 327-5300.