ELFA Mobile

Lease and Finance Accountants Conference

September 08 - September 10, 2025

Denver Hilton City Center, Denver, CO
Lease & Finance Accountants

Monday, September 08

08:30 AM - 11:30 AM STE(A)M Backpacks for Kids: A Team Challenge That Gives Back

Get ready to team up for a high-energy, feel-good activity that blends learning, laughter, and community impact. In this fun twist on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, you’ll compete in teams while assembling STE(A)M Backpack Kits for kids ages 5–10. Each kit supports hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math learning for students at a local charter school and after-school program. Spark curiosity, inspire young minds, and walk away knowing your team made a real difference.

This event is offered for attendees of both conferences. Select your interest in participating during the registration process.

09:00 AM - 09:30 AM Early Registration for the Pre-Conference Sessions
09:30 AM - 10:30 AM Featured Session: Living an Integrated Life

Presented by Sharon Schneider
Philanthropy advisor, impact strategist, entrepreneur, and author of Handbook for an Integrated Life

In the demanding world of accounting and finance, it’s easy to focus on performance, compliance, and technical precision—while losing touch with the deeper values that guide our decisions and careers.

In this insightful session, Sharon Schneider draws from her work advising philanthropists, family offices, and socially conscious businesses to explore what it means to live and work in alignment with your values. As a parent, entrepreneur, and strategist who’s helped deploy over $1.5 billion in philanthropic capital, Sharon brings both professional insight and personal authenticity to the conversation.

She’ll walk us through the 7 principles of an integrated life, offering practical tools to:

  • Align everyday decisions—at work and at home—with your core values
  • Navigate leadership and technical roles without losing a sense of purpose
  • Cultivate integrity, empathy, and balance in a high-performance culture

This session is especially relevant to finance professionals navigating complex responsibilities who want to build not just a career, but a life of meaningful impact.

09:30 AM - 11:30 AM Pre-Conference Session: Equipment Leasing - A Group Discussion on Processes, Controls, and Systems
Companies operating in the equipment leasing space rely heavily on various processes, controls, and systems to support management reporting needs and allow for proper financial reporting. Learn from your peers on what has and hasn't worked within their organization! The roundtable moderators will facilitate a discussion where those attending can share thoughts and perspectives about the processes, controls, and systems in place within their respective organizations.
09:30 AM - 11:30 AM Pre-Conference Session: Life of a Lease
09:30 AM - 11:30 AM Pre-Conference Session: Soft Skills Roundtable

Professional success in our industry is more than just what you do, it’s just as critical how you do it. As information technologies continue to advance and access to expert knowledge increases, it is the ability to master the often neglected soft skills that will distinguish each one of us professionally. In this session, you will have an opportunity to discuss, share and learn from your peers how to better leverage soft skills such as communication, judgment, empathy,  leadership, and overall interactive engagement to increase the impact you can have on your organization and career.

11:30 AM - 07:00 PM General Conference Registration
01:15 PM - 02:30 PM Opening & Keynote Presentation: Five Rules for Innovating in Turbulent Times

In this mainstage talk, Chelsey Barron, Innovation Committee Chair, introduces the NEW Innovation Lab Conference & Exhibition and all the exciting things that await you this week. We will then hear from ELFA CEO & President, Leigh Lytle. Leigh will highlight all that ELFA has accomplished in 2025, what is beyond and how this innovative and active group can participate.

Chelsey BarronChair, ELFA Innovation Committee, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
Leigh Lytle, CEO & President, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association

Rounding out this energetic start to our conference is Safi Bahcall.

Safi is a former public-company CEO, physicist, award-winning entrepreneur, author of the international bestseller Loonshots, and advisor on innovation and strategy.

Five Rules for Innovating in Turbulent Times
Many companies struggle to adapt to rapidly changing markets: the core dominates the new, projects linger too long, and innovation theater proliferates. The apex innovators who avoid these traps and dominate their industry focus on structure not just culture. They build a system to run experiments at pace and scale without sacrificing excellence in their core franchise. Using surprising and entertaining examples from Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, Harley-Davidson, Lego, and the US military, Safi describes five rules you can use to build this system and become the initiator rather than the victim of innovative surprise.

02:30 PM - 02:45 PM Refreshment Break/Exhibits Open
02:45 PM - 03:45 PM Concurrent Session: Tax Strategy
02:45 PM - 03:45 PM Concurrent Session: Does My Contract Contain a Lease or a Service Contract?
In this session we will discuss the accounting guidance that should be applied by financial statement preparers when evaluating whether a contractual arrangement is or contains a lease. This session will take a practical approach to covering the technical accounting that should be considered when assessing whether a lease is present in an arrangement and will include a discussion of examples that may be encountered in practice.
03:45 PM - 04:00 PM Refreshment Break/Exhibits Open
04:00 PM - 05:15 PM BCSC Roundtable
05:15 PM - 07:00 PM Hosted Reception/ Exhibits Open
05:15 PM - 06:00 PM Newcomers Reception
07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Evening Dinner & Entertainment

Unwind and connect with fellow attendees during a lively evening dinner event - an experience included with your conference registration.

This event will be held at a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Get out and see a little of Denver on your way to a fun evening!

Please indicate your interest in participating during the registration process. Registration deadline is August 25th. Transportation will be provided for those who may need assistance.

* All times are in Mountain Standard Time