Jessica Velazquez is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in Illinois & Nevada and Partner of Indiva Advisors LLP, a full-service accounting firm for cannabis and hemp businesses

Jessica assists business owners navigate through unique accounting, tax, and financial industry challenges. She guides c-suite executives achieve their goals by providing guidance on tax and general business matters. She brings with her a wide array of experience, working with closely held businesses as well as publicly traded multinationals, across a variety of industries such as gaming, retail, and manufacturing.

Jessica hails from traditional business, having worked for public accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, as well as Zappos.com. In 2013, Jessica started her own practice with an emphasis on income tax planning and strategic business consulting for closely held companies. After identifying a gap for qualified professionals in the cannabis industry, she sought advice from state and federal oversight boards and realized that her past experiences gave her the ability to understand the needs of both large and small, and decided to take the leap.

Jessica is Indiva Advisors’ main authority in 280E and general tax matters for individuals, partnerships, and corporations. She is responsible for representing clients in federal audit and collection cases and has a wealth of experience with state and local tax matters. She enjoys problem-solving and working with clients to achieve their tax and business goals.

Jessica holds a Master of Science in Taxation degree from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Southern Illinois University. She is actively involved in several professional organizations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Tax Professionals.

GMR Executive Spotlight Q&A – 

Full birth name: Jessica Velazquez

Title: Managing Partner

Company: Indiva Advisors LLP

Years at current company: 3 years (via business restructures)

Education profile: Master of Science in Taxation, Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Most successful professional accomplishment before cannabis: Being a mom and that gift was from my daughters – Maya & Nayeli.  Raising my girls has taught me so much – patience, understanding, strife, humbleness, frustration, problem solving, fearlessness, adaptability, curiosity and how to dream big like a kid again!  

But professionally… I would say it was being part of an elite leadership team and building a tax dept as Corporate Tax Director for SHFL Entertainment Inc. I started as a Tax Manager and over the course of 4 years, I would work my way up to management level, develop and implement dept processes and procedures, participate in launching 4 different foreign offices and implement a new financial ERP system across 3 continents, with a team of 3 amazing team members that I hired and trained!

Company Mission: Our mission is to transform our expertise and understanding of the evolving cannabis industry into innovative, value-added solutions for our clients, our business partners, and our community.

Company’s most successful achievements: One of the things I’m most proud of is the team of talented professionals at Indiva, did I mention 75% of our employees are either women or minorities!? 

Our recent acquisition of Missouri Cannabis CPA, our continued growth and the success of our clients!

Has the company raised any capital (yes or no):  NO

Any plans on raising capital in the future?  Maybe

Most important company 5 year goal:  GROWTH