Phil Tahey

Phil is an independent consultant to higher education institutions with more than 35 years of experience and service to the higher education community. His areas of emphasis are assisting boards and finance committees in financial strategy, financial planning and metrics, financial reporting processes, and understanding stewardship responsibilities related to donor funds. He has also assisted institutions in their business processes, IT systems, grants management, debt management, and accounting and finance areas. He is a retired partner from KPMG, LLP, having served more than 100 colleges and universities as an auditor and consultant. While at KPMG, LLP, he also served public and private clients in other industries such as real estate, real estate finance, financial institutions, high technology, and manufacturing. He also served for a number of years as Controller at Johns Hopkins University. Having worked with a large number of boards of companies and higher education institutions, he brings perspectives from multiple industries and entity size to his clients. Mr. Tahey has co-authored several editions of Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education: Identifying, Measuring & Reporting Financial Risks, which is the source publication for the Composite Financial Index (CFI). He is also a co-author of Bridging the Strategic Gap: Toward Effective Finance Committees (2018). He is a frequent speaker at NACUBO, NCURA, and other industry association meetings.