Leadership

Leading With Expertise And Empathy.
Meet The Partners Creating The New Standard In Tax and Accounting Firms.

We merged together with a vision to create a Tax and Accounting firm that clients and team members are honored to be a part of. 

We are all different, but alike in purposeful ways that have created this strong and progressive business. Our education, reputation of expertise, proficiency and skill lead the way for our firm.

  • Lisa Johnson, CPA

    Principal

    Lisa Johnson has over 29 years of experience in a wide range of tax services.  She specializes in Non-Profit Organizations, Estate and Gift Taxes, Partnerships, LLC’s and S Corporations.  Lisa is experienced in working with families with complex structures, small businesses, trusts, and foundations.  Lisa maintains awareness of the current laws and proposes ideas to her clients that will be flexible enough to withstand frequent changes, and finds that her clients highly value her meticulous attention to these changes.
    Lisa has been featured as a 5 Star Wealth Manager, an honorable national designation that is awarded in response to high client satisfaction. 

  • Jennifer Messal, CPA

    Principal

    Jennifer Messal provides full service tax consulting and compliance, specializing in federal taxation. She possesses more than 20 years of experience in public accounting. Prior to her career in public accounting, Jennifer worked for two years at a Fortune 500 company, gaining valuable experience in corporate tax structures. Jennifer’s areas of specialization in Federal income taxation includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates and trusts. She values the opportunity to deliver personalized service and create lasting relationships as a trusted advisor. Her industry expertise includes retail, construction, real estate and healthcare. In the ever changing world of tax, the ability to keep up with current laws is a top priority. 

  • Lisa Bristow, CPA

    Principal

    Lisa Bristow has more than 35 years of accounting experience in individual and business taxation in diversified industries. She has been a seminar leader on various tax topics including retirement plan design and administration issues. 
    Lisa provides full service tax planning, consulting and preparation in all areas of taxation. Her extensive experience proves to be a valuable asset to her clients in the highly complex and ever-changing multi-state individual and corporate tax environments.

Our Team

  • Jacqueline Taxdal, CPA

    Senior Tax Manager

    Jacqueline Taxdal has fourteen years of public accounting experience. She started preparing and reviewing tax returns as a volunteer with AARP Tax-Aide while a student at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and developed a passion for working with senior citizens. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant, Jackie is a Certified Senior Advisor and a member of the AICPA and FICPA. Her areas of expertise include individuals, trusts, estate and gift taxes, non-profit organizations, partnerships, corporations, and IRS audits and representation. She breaks down the unique tax and financial situation of her clients into easy-to-understand pieces, providing them the knowledge to make their best decisions. She believes her most important responsibility is being the client’s trusted advisor and counts their success as her greatest achievement.

  • Amariah Dawes

    Operations Manager

    With over 8 year of experience in office administration and customer service management, Amariah uses her organizational skills to ensure smooth operations of our office, assists in facilitating effective communication between our clients and staff, and overall coordination of a broad range of services that allows the firm to operate efficiently.

    When she isn’t at work, Amariah loves hosting dinner parties and game nights with her husband and reading biographies of interesting people.

Gain A Voice.
Have A Purpose.
Excel In Your Career.

We believe we are cultivating one of the most unique teams in our industry. We work with individuals that are reliable, interested in complex tax structures, have a desire to obtain accounting certifications, strong interpersonal skills, problem solvers, team oriented, and take pride in their work. Our team is extremely dynamic and each individual has added to the success of our firm.

At our firm you will feel…

  • At Home

    Feel a sense of belonging. This is your firm, too.

  • Respected

    Enjoy a respectful work environment. All team members are respected at each level.

  • Empowered

    We help you feel empowered to make decisions at the appropriate level. As you excel in your career we’ll help you grow confident in your decision making.

  • Trusted

    When there is trust, there is less of a need for micromanagement. Our team trusts in each other. The Partners and Managers have an open-door policy. We are ready and eager to help where asked, but also trust you to navigate projects on your own.

Work For A Firm That Redefines.

Take the first step to make a meaningful footprint in your career. Working with us means hands-on experience, diving into intricate and unique accounting cases - with guidance that simply can’t be found elsewhere. Click to read some of the common misconceptions of working for a mid-sized accounting firm versus a large accounting corporation.

  • "As a senior accounting student, it was important to gain as much “real world” experience as possible.

    My Tax internship experience really solidified my classroom knowledge. and lead to greater opportunities of learning and developing analytical skills. I gained a new sense of professionalism and teamwork throughout my internship. The collaborative efforts of all the staff were both a highlight and a driving force in my success as an intern. I’m very excited to continue growing with Johnson Messal Bristow as a Tax Staff member!
    -Josselyn W.

  • "This internship has been the ultimate deciding factor for my educational career path!

    This internship provided me with real-life examples so that I could take what I learned from my accounting classes and apply it to real situations. I have excelled in my accounting classes, not only due to the application of learned principles, but also because of the extremely welcoming and patient team that I have had the pleasure to work with.. The best part of any day is getting to interact with our clients, hearing their stories, and helping them to achieve their goals; it makes the “Thank You for your help,” so much sweeter!
    -Tess Z.