Anna McFarlandAnna McFarland, CPA, CFE, CHAE, CHTP was selected as the 2018 Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) Paragon Award recipient for her unwavering support of the association and substantial contributions to increase knowledge sharing and promote growth in the hospitality industry at large. McFarland will be honored next month during HFTP's 2018 Annual Convention held at the Omni Louisville Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky USA. Based in the area of Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas USA, McFarland is an entrepreneur and global hospitality consultant that provides relationship-based, boutique-style consulting, internal audits, hotel opening / dispositions and training solutions to hospitality organizations worldwide. She is a global financial services veteran with 30 years of finance and performance management, fraud and compliance experience, derived from her tenure in public accounting, executive positions with high profile hospitality management companies / owners and consulting clients in the United States and internationally. McFarland served numerous leadership positions with HFTP on the global and local level. She served on the HFTP Global Executive Committee, leading as president from 2007-2008. McFarland also served on the board of the HFTP North Texas Chapter and was the chair of the HFTP CHAE Advisory and the Certification Advisory Councils. In addition to her leadership roles, McFarland contributed her expertise in hospitality finance to help develop the HFTP Global Hospitality Accounting Common Practices (GHACP), a searchable, online database of detailed operating financial reporting practices used at lodging properties around the world. She is a frequent university and conference speaker on fraud, ethics, management performance, strategy, innovation and collaboration for industry performance. Established in 1999, the prestigious HFTP Paragon Award recognizes individuals each year who have made a significant and lasting contribution to both HFTP and the hospitality industry. Paragon Award nominees can be HFTP members; representatives of industry-related associations, societies or trade publications; leaders from hospitality businesses, educational institutions and other related disciplines. A panel of industry experts selects the award recipients who will be recognized at HFTP's Annual Convention each October.