Liam Collins

Partner, Armanino Advisory LLC

Always put your clients first and never stop learning.

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Bio

Meet Liam

Liam has more than 18 years of assurance and consulting experience, including 10 years with Big Four firms. He leads the firm’s Risk Assurance and Advisory Services practice, which includes the firm’s Cybersecurity, Privacy, Service Organization Control (SOC) audit, HITRUST, ISO27001, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Internal Audit and IT Compliance service lines. Before joining Armanino, Liam served as a Managing Director at KPMG, where he was engagement Partner on a number of large assurance and consulting projects. He has also held audit, assurance and IT leadership roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), ControlMetric, Clare Chapman and Prodapt.

Liam is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). He received a BSc. in Accounting from Golden Gate University, a JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Contact Liam Collins

Experience

Professional History

Experience

  • KPMG LLP

  • ControlMetric

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC)

  • Clare, Chapman, Storey and Bowen LLP

  • Prodapt

Associations

  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)

Education

  • Golden Gate University
  • University of San Francisco - School of Law
  • University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School

Q&A

Q. What was it that drew you to Armanino?
I was attracted by the firm’s entrepreneurial spirit and by the opportunity to build up a national SOC practice. I spent many great years working at the Big Four, and I’m excited that moving to Armanino will provide me with new opportunities. It also enables me to leverage what I’ve learned so far in my career to develop a new approach and more efficiently perform SOC engagements for my clients. The firm’s diverse range of clients, from small businesses to large public companies, was also appealing and is a great base from which to expand.
Q. What keeps you up at night?
Nothing―I sleep very well. I’m not completely worry-free, but life is too short to be overly stressed.
Q. Describe your work style.
I like to give my teams guidance and then give them the leeway to show what they can do and to be successful. I try to manage people the way I like to be managed, and demonstrate respect for their professional abilities. I also like to promote diversity in my teams, so we get multiple viewpoints on any given issue.
Q. What’s your proudest moment?
In my career, being admitted to the partnership at Armanino and to the partner group at KPMG were both very proud moments. Getting my MBA and my JD―both while working full-time―are also achievements I’m very proud of. Personally, I’m very proud and fortunate to have an amazing family and friends in my life.
Q. What is the toughest decision you have ever made?
Leaving KPMG to join Armanino was really tough, because I was happy at KPMG and worked with great people there. It was a difficult decision, but coming to an entrepreneurial, fast-growth firm like Armanino was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Q. Who is (or was) the most influential person in your life
My eldest brother, because he showed me it was possible to be successful. We grew up in Ireland in a working-class family, and he was the first to branch out and succeed professionally. My first boss in public accounting, who showed me the value of building strong relationships, also had a big influence on my career.
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Liam's Thought Leadership
White Papers
White Paper
Managing supply chain risk has become an increasingly critical issue for companies and their stakeholders.

August 06, 2020
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As more companies voluntarily issue sustainability reports, in response to growing interest from investors and lenders,...
Blog articles
Article
Recent technical Q&As from the AICPA help explain why auditors continually question and test internal controls during a...