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.

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.

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.

Jay Wilensky, Sasser Family Companies

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 Barron, Chair, 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.

Following a brief introduction, participants will divide into three breakout groups (banks, captives and independents) and have the opportunity to discuss current trends, challenges, and future opportunities within their lending group.   This interactive session will allow attendees to collaborate with their peers on topics impacting Finance and Accounting professionals today:  Technological Advancements (AI), New Financing Products, Technical Accounting Application, etc.  Attendees will benefit from interacting with others from similar organizations not only from a finance and accounting standpoint, but also from a business development perspective.

Jeff Lezinski, Odessa

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 25^th. Transportation will be provided for those who may need assistance.

In this mainstage talk, Jay Wilensky, ELFA Financial Accounting Committee Chair, opens the morning and gives an overview of the Financial Accounting Committee. We will then hear from economist, Tim Mahedy with a 2025 into 2026 economic outlook. Tim Mahedy is the founder of Access/Macro, a macroeconomic consulting firm delivering actionable insights to financial institutions and businesses. With experience at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, KPMG, Bloomberg, and the IMF, Tim has advised Fortune 500 leaders and policymakers alike. Known for making complex economic trends accessible and relevant, Tim specializes in inflation, monetary policy, and strategic forecasting. At this year's event, he'll provide a forward-looking view of the 2025-2026 economic outlook and what it means for your business.

This session will provide thoughts and perspectives about the 'Day 2' lease accounting considerations for equipment leasing arrangements from the lessor standpoint. The session will primarily focus on the ASC 842-30 lease modification framework upon the occurrence of certain lease amendment scenarios. Additional session topics will include, but not be limited to:

• Identifying whether an arrangement is or contains a lease including when arrangement includes the use of a "free asset";
• Accounting for fixed and variable payment structures including evaluating the classification of a lease per the ASC 842-10-25-3A requirements when there are significant variable payments resulting in the recognition of a selling loss; and
• Allocating the consideration in equipment lease arrangements to lease and nonlease components including the application of the lessor practical expedient.

Therese Babiash, GATX Corporation
Tim Kolber, Deloitte

This session will provide an opportunity for CFOs, Controllers, and senior level management to engage in a peer led discussion covering current market and economic trends, talent development, and other organizational matters.

Daniel Court, Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation
Himanshu Saxena, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
Jay Wilensky, Sasser Family Companies

This training session focuses on Day 2 accounting for lessors, where we will explore our observations and common missteps that lessors may face, especially when dealing with lease arrangements that include both lease and nonlease components, along with variable payments. Participants will gain insights into the complexities at the intersection of ASC 842 and ASC 606, as well as considerations to avoid accounting pitfalls when there are lease modifications.

Marc Jerusalem, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Equipment financing models continue to evolve, introducing complexity while raising questions about the accounting for and management of these types of asset portfolios. This session will describe the types of transactions being seen in the marketplace, including: (1) equipment sale-leaseback transactions, (2) structured three-party agreements, (3) traditional equipment financing arrangements, and (3) equipment leases. The primary focus will be accounting, operational, and control-related considerations for these types of transactions.

Tim Kolber, Deloitte
Rick Thompson, Bank of America Global Leasing

This session explores how CECL applies to equipment leasing, with a focus on credit loss accounting for lease receivables. It will also touch on how lessors can approach residual risk in operating leases, offering a well-rounded view of accounting for loss recognition.

Charlie Shannon, Moss Adams now Baker Tilly
Brian White, John Deere Financial

After more than two and a half days of operational and accounting discussion at this conference, there may be a number of open questions that participants have on their minds. This session will provide conference attendees the opportunity to ask the accounting firm professionals their lingering questions about the application of the accounting standards and related requirements that were discussed during the conference (e.g., lease accounting, sale-leaseback, CECL).

Matt Esposito, Grant Thornton LLP
Tim Kolber, Deloitte
Michael Nesta, KPMG LLP
Jeff Lezinski, Odessa