Ron Klein, J.D., CFE, is the President of CAMICO Services, Inc., a subsidiary of CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company that provides resources on loss prevention and risk management issues to CPAs. Educated as an accountant and an attorney, Mr. Klein holds a B.S. in business administration from Washington University, in St. Louis, and a J.D. from Southwestern University, in Los Angeles. Before joining CAMICO, Mr. Klein was a controller, a practicing attorney, and a vice president of finance in the real estate syndication industry.

Mr. Klein is a member of the California Society of CPAs' Committee on Professional Liability and a frequent speaker. He has addressed more than 10,000 CPAs on topics regarding professional liability and other legal issues that affect accountants.

Ric Rosario, CPA, CFE, is Vice President of Risk Management Services. With a background that includes public accounting, private industry experience, and service as a Certified Fraud Examiner, Mr. Rosario provides CPAs with practical insight on loss prevention techniques through CAMICO's advice hotline, firm visits and presentations, and the Speakers Bureau program. He is a frequent speaker and author on existing and emerging risk issues that face CPAs today. He has presented his solution-oriented approach, with helpful tools to minimize or avoid liability, at state and national conferences, as well as in articles published in leading accounting publications.

Mr. Rosario's public accounting background was with the regional firm of John F. Forbes & Co., in the audit division. He later joined a start-up real estate venture as controller and completed his tenure as chief financial officer. He is a part-time lecturer on accounting at Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, California. He earned his B.S. in accounting at Saint Mary's College, in Moraga, and attended a two-year MBA Program at Golden Gate University, in San Francisco.

Suzanne M. Holl, CPA, is Director of Loss Prevention Services. With more than 16 years of accounting experience, Ms. Holl uses her Big 4 public accounting and private industry expertise to provide CAMICO's member-owners with information on a wide variety of loss prevention and accounting issues. Her background includes health-care administration in the fields of accounting, benefits administration, and human resources.

Ms. Holl is a licensed certified public accountant in California. She graduated with a B.S. in accounting from Golden Gate University, in San Francisco. Prior to joining CAMICO, Ms. Holl was Director of Employee Benefits and Health Services at a large children's hospital based in Fresno. Several of her articles have appeared in national publications.

CAMICO Services, Inc. The CPA's Guide to Effective Engagement Letters was compiled and edited with resources from CAMICO Services, Inc., a subsidiary of CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company. The project, which began in 1996, commemorated CAMICO's tenth anniversary and its continued commitment to providing loss prevention and other services to the accountancy profession.

CAMICO is a unique mutual insurance company in that it was created by CPAs for CPAs. In the early 1980s, California CPAs were faced with a mounting liability insurance crisis. Many insurance carriers discontinued their professional liability insurance for CPAs, and those that continued to offer insurance did so at extremely high rates. At that point the California Society of CPAs convened a task force to study the situation. The task force recommended the creation of a mutual insurance company for the CPA profession, dedicated to assuring its members of professional liability coverage at stable rates. Additionally, the task force recommended that any excess funds be returned to policyholders. Thus, in June 1986, CAMICO was created.

A pioneer in risk management and loss prevention for CPAs, CAMICO was the first insurance company to offer its members a comprehensive loss prevention program. In addition to a loss prevention resource library on CAMICO's policyholder Extranet and other written tools, the program includes specialists in claims management, underwriting, and loss prevention, as well as CAMICO's Loss Prevention Hotline. The hotline is one of many concepts that originated at CAMICO and that are now found elsewhere. Over the years, CAMICO has found that as its loss prevention activity has increased, claims have leveled out or even decreased in some areas. For this reason, CAMICO believes that there is a direct correlation between the education of policyholders and the decrease in claims, which is ultimately to the benefit of both the insurance company and the CPA.

From 1986 to the present, CAMICO has made its mark in the world of risk management. Although the company was originally created to assist CPAs in California, it has expanded throughout the United States. CAMICO is the nation's largest CPA-owned mutual insurance company and the second largest provider of professional liability insurance and risk management services for CPAs. From presentations at AICPA conferences to a comprehensive website, as well as the CPA's Guide to Effective Engagement Letters, CAMICO continues to provide the accountancy profession with the resources it needs to flourish in the 21st century.