Jim Kennedy is a Business Advisor at Creative Planning Business Services, bringing over 25 years of finance and accounting experience across both public and private sectors. His expertise spans financial modeling, budgeting and forecasting, month-end reporting, variance analysis, acquisition support, and strategic business partnering. Jim is also known for his leadership in people management and standardizing financial practices across complex organizations.
Jim began his career at Ernst & Young LLP, where he participated in more than 50 financial statement audits across industries including retail, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and non-profit. He then joined the City of Bloomington, Minnesota, as an Internal Auditor, where he led cross-departmental audits and compliance reviews to improve financial reporting and internal controls.
He spent over 16 years at Thomson Reuters in roles of increasing responsibility, leading initiatives in technical accounting, M&A due diligence, intangible asset valuation, and strategic financial leadership across departments. Most recently, Jim served as a senior finance leader at SPS Commerce, a SaaS company in the supply chain space, where he led a team responsible for expense oversight and provided financial guidance to executive leadership.
Jim holds a BBA in Accounting and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He earned his CPA designation in 2000 (currently inactive) and is a member of the Turnaround Management Association. Earlier in his career, he also held the CIA, CFE, and CMA designations. In addition to his professional work, Jim serves on the Board of Directors for two nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities area.
