Jill Portman, MBA, EA - Middlefield Office

"Tax advocacy is an area of accounting that you don't want to understand unless you're in trouble with the IRS," says Jill Portman, who has worked to help people through difficult tax situations since joining the NMS team in 2017. Her area of expertise in recent years has been acting as mediator and guide for individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations to resolve IRS issues, as well as local taxing agencies.

During the firm's busiest season, Jill also prepares tax returns at all levels. But she says the most challenging and rewarding part of her job is working with NMS' forensic accounting department. In 2019, NMS' litigation support team was successful in supplying a report that assisted in the retrieval of more than $300K in funds that had been misappropriated from a local ward!

Jill earned her Bachelor's cum laude from Kent State University in 2004; completed the MBA Kellett Program at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 2013; and earned her EA Certification from the IRS in 2017. Outside of work she enjoys competitive archery, painting, pottery, hiking, camping, and traveling with her husband and their four children. She also serves as treasurer of the board for Family Pride of Northeast Ohio.