Heather Cozart, CPA

Heather has more than 20 years of combined experience in public accounting and in the financial services industry. She currently serves on DHG’s Executive Committee, having been elected by the partners for a three-year term, and has previously served as the Managing Partner of DHG’s Atlantic Assurance Practice and as the Office Managing Partner of DHG’s Raleigh office. She serves clients which include both private and publicly traded entities, including financial institutions, mortgage banking and specialty finance companies, broker-dealers, investment funds, professional services firms, and technology companies. She is experienced in the completion of quarterly and annual SEC filings, mergers and acquisitions, stock registration statements, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, internal control documentation, employee benefit plans, SSAE 18 reporting, agreed-upon procedures, internal audit engagements and other special engagements such as ‘white-paper’ drafting and assistance with the implementation of new accounting and regulatory standards.

Heather also serves as a technical resource for the firm regarding SEC, PCAOB, broker-dealer and other public company matters. She previously served in DHG’s Professional Standards Group where she was a technical resource for the firm on research and consultation matters involving accounting and auditing issues, including mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Dixon Hughes Goodman, Heather was the Director of Financial Reporting and Director of Technical Accounting at two publicly traded companies, where she managed the financial reporting, technical accounting and new business functions. Heather has also worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Corporation Finance, where she reviewed 1933 and 1934 Act filings of registrants. Prior to the SEC, Heather served as a manager on bank and software company audits at a big four accounting firm. She is a frequent speaker at various industry events and stays active in professional/industry associations and in the local community. She previously served as the Chair of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants’ Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, and is on the Board of Directors at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.