DANIEL P. PHILLIPS CPA

Dan has more than 25 years of experience in all areas of domestic and international tax planning for both privately held and publicly owned businesses.

Dan provides services to firm clients that include the development and communication of tax strategies to management and international tax planning and compliance, incorporating structuring for outbound and inbound transactions. He serves many clients owned by private equity firms and has advised in all types of mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence and acquisition structuring, in a variety of industries.

Dan’s industry expertise includes transportation/logistics, manufacturing, professional services, real estate and construction. He is actively involved with the firm’s Transportation and Logistics Industry Group.

Professional and Community Involvement

Member—American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public
Accountants

Member—Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association

Member—Schneider Downs Transportation and Logistics Industry Group

Member—March of Dimes Western PA Market Board

Member—Leadership Pittsburgh XXV

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Do you have a hobby or personal passion?
I love hockey.

What was the best advice you’ve ever received?
When dealing with others, place yourself in their shoes to gain perspective

What was your childhood dream?
To be an inventor

People would be surprised to know that I…….

have been skydiving

What is the best or most interesting thing about your career?
The planning and problem solving that we do every day.

What was your first job?
Hills Department Store – putting price tags on clothes

Do you have a “motto?”
Always be positive. Always be optimistic.

Do you have advice for young professionals?
When it comes to your career – focus on the long term and the big picture.

Our Thoughts On

FEATURED

Big Problem: Cybersecurity Defenses Compromised By Employees’ Passwords


Big Thinking: Significant Updates To The Cybersecurity Environment.

Shareholder ERIC WRIGHT has been involved with Information Technology with Schneider Downs since 1983 and oversees the firm’s thriving Technology Consulting and IT Audit & Compliance practices. Through this role, Eric brings extensive experience in assessing IT infrastructure and identifying cybersecurity risk and exposure.
One of our clients felt fairly good about their existing cybersecurity defenses. But they were still afraid of the unknown and newer cyber attack techniques. Through our regular audit procedures, we inquired about their current cyber controls and their confidence in withstanding an attack. We then performed a network penetration test which simulates an external adversary hacking their network. This procedure identified the client's unknown weaknesses in their defenses through a live test. “Within 48 hours, we were able to guess the passwords of close to 10% of their employees, effectively giving us VPN access to their corporate network and certain employee utilities, like email.” Eric said. "We also found that their corporate intranet site was visible over the internet and susceptible to login via the bad passwords. After identifying these issues, we worked with the client to make significant changes to their environment to make it harder for an attacker to break in." Schneider Downs provides Big Thinking and Personal Focus in delivering a variety of services for large and small businesses, both publicly and privately held, as well as nonprofit organizations, government entities and more. Through our commitment to thought leadership and knowledge management, we deliver the solutions our clients need with a personal commitment to service.

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