HFTP Announces 2018 Paragon Award Recipient - Anna McFarland, CPA, CFE, CHAE, CHTP

The HFTP Global past president will be honored at HFTP’s Annual Convention this October

Anna 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.

"I am honored to accept this award and to join the past recipients who I have long admired and respected," said McFarland.

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.

Previous Paragon Award winners include: Alice Banks, CHAE (1999); Henry "Buddy" Weeks, CHAE (1999); Frank Santos, CHAE, CHA (2000); Katherine Cavanagh, CHAE (2001); Raymond Schmidgall, PH.D., CPA, CHAE (2002); Frank Wolfe, CAE (2002); Len Bartello, CPA, CHAE, CHTP (2003); John J. Cahill, CHA, CHTP (2004); Wendy Zurstadt, CPA, CHAE, CHTP (2005); Richard Braa, CHAE (2006); Robert Patasnick, CPA (2007); George Glazer (2008); Agnes DeFranco, Ed.D., CHAE (2009); Stephen LeBruto, CPA, CHAE, Ed.D. (2009); and Steve Doherty, CHAE, CHTP (2010); Frank Agnello Jr., CMA, CHAE (2011); Howard Field, FBHA, FCA (2012); Joseph McInerney, CHA (2013); Evelyn Adams (2014); Ralph R. Miller, CPA, CA, CBV, CHA, CHAE (2015); Raman (R. P.) Rama B. Com, CHA Emeritus, CHTP, CHAE (2016); Kris S. Shoemaker, CMA, CGFO, CHAE, CHTP, CPFIM (2016); Mary Gerdts (2017).

Annual Convention 2018 will take place from October 24-26, 2018 at Omni Hotel Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky USA. Register to attend. For the latest news, follow HFTP/HITEC on HITEC Bytes, PineappleSearch, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@HFTP), Instagram (HFTP_HITEC), Flickr and YouTube. For more information about HFTP events, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at education@hftp.org, +1 (512) 249-5333. For more information on the Paragon Award, contact the HFTP Communications Department at publications@hftp.org or +1 (512) 249-5333.

About HFTP
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) established in 1952, is an international, nonprofit association, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, with offices in Hong Kong, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Dubai. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with members and stakeholders spanning across the globe. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. It does this via its expert networks, research, certification programs, information resources and conferences/events such as HITEC. HFTP also owns the world's only hospitality-specific search engine, PineappleSearch.com. For more information about HFTP, email membership@hftp.org or download the HFTP/HITEC media kit via the HFTP website. Read industry updates on the suite of HFTP hospitality news sites: HITEC Bytes, Club Bytes, Finance Bytes and HFTP News.