About Brandlin & Associates · Los Angeles
Brandlin & Associates is a Los Angeles-based strategic financial advisory firm founded in 1980 by Jeffrey E. Brandlin, CPA, CFF, CIRA & CM&AA. The firm exclusively serves senior lenders, mezzanine funds, private equity groups, attorneys and middle-market companies, specializing in financial workouts and restructurings, forensic accounting, financial due diligence, litigation support and operational consulting. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, Brandlin & Associates is widely regarded as a top-tier boutique where every engagement is led by senior professionals with decades of practical experience deciphering complex financial and operational performance metrics.
Brandlin & Associates (B&A) was founded in 1980 by Jeffrey E. Brandlin after a successful career in the Los Angeles professional accounting community, including a stint as an audit manager at Coopers & Lybrand. From its downtown Los Angeles offices, the firm carved out a niche as an exclusive provider of strategic financial advisory services for capital sources and counsel, working almost exclusively for senior lenders, mezzanine funds, private equity sponsors, attorneys and middle-market operating companies. Over more than four decades, Jeff Brandlin and his team have restructured and rehabilitated distressed credit situations involving more than $10 billion of real estate and operating-company projects, and have provided financial due diligence in support of hundreds of successful debt and equity transactions. The firm's core practices are Workouts & Restructuring, Financial Due Diligence, Litigation Support, Forensic Accounting and Accounting/Operational Consulting. Jeff Brandlin is a nationally recognized expert witness whose testimony has helped clients win multi-million-dollar verdicts and binding arbitration awards, and he has pursued numerous financial frauds, accounting malpractices and trust-fund embezzlements, including work done on behalf of the SEC under enforcement actions pertaining to the EB-5 Program. Clients across entertainment, manufacturing, oil and gas, food service, health care, construction, retail, financial and professional services turn to Brandlin for cash-to-accrual accounting conversions, margin analysis, revenue-recognition reports, 13-week cash-flow forecasting, business and intellectual-property valuations, fraud investigations and receivership support. The firm is small, senior and hands-on, and its work is consistently cited by lenders, court-appointed receivers and trial attorneys as the gold standard for forensic and restructuring accounting in Southern California.
- In business
- Founded 1980 (over 45 years)
- Owner
- Jeffrey E. Brandlin, CPA, CFF, CIRA & CM&AA — President & Founder
- Serves
- Primarily Los Angeles and Southern California; engagements have spanned the United States for senior lenders, private equity groups, mezzanine funds, attorneys and middle-market companies nationwide. A New York office is also referenced at 104 West 40th Street, Suite 400, New York, NY 10018.
Firm Overview and History
Brandlin & Associates Accountancy Corporation (B&A) was founded in 1980 by Jeffrey E. Brandlin after he had built a career as a litigation consultant in the Los Angeles professional accounting community and previously served as an audit manager at Coopers & Lybrand. The firm carved out a deliberately narrow niche as an exclusive provider of strategic financial advisory services for capital sources and counsel — serving senior lenders, mezzanine funds, private equity groups, attorneys and middle-market companies rather than the general small-business market. Over more than four decades, Jeff Brandlin and his team have restructured and rehabilitated more than $10 billion of real estate and operating-company projects and have provided thorough financial due diligence in support of hundreds of successful debt and equity transactions.
- Founded 1980 in Los Angeles
- Founder Jeffrey E. Brandlin previously an audit manager at Coopers & Lybrand
- Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles
- Modeled as a senior-led boutique — every engagement is run by experienced professionals, not by junior staff
Practice Areas and Services
The firm organizes its work around five core practice areas that map directly to the website's top navigation: Workouts & Restructuring, Financial Due Diligence, Litigation Support, Forensic Accounting, and Accounting & Operational Consulting. Together these cover the full lifecycle of a distressed credit, a complex deal, or a contested lawsuit — from initial financial investigation and underwriting, through restructuring or refinancing, all the way to expert testimony in court, arbitration or mediation. Brandlin's teams are known for delivering concise, demonstrative, court-ready analyses and for staying on budget while keeping clients continuously informed.
- Workouts and Restructuring
- Financial Due Diligence
- Litigation Support
- Forensic Accounting
- Accounting and Operational Consulting
Workouts and Restructuring
When a borrower fails to comply with loan covenants or otherwise disappoints its lenders and investors, Brandlin & Associates steps in to stabilize the relationship and the business. The firm builds 13-week cash-flow reports, comprehensive financial projections and lender-ready analyses that support negotiations with existing lenders and refinancings with new ones. Clients credit Brandlin with translating complex operations into concise financial models and with mastering multiple intense negotiations at once.
- 13-week cash flow reports and forecasting
- Comprehensive financial projections
- Lender negotiations and refinancings
- Workouts for covenant breaches and stressed credits
Financial Due Diligence
Lenders, creditors and equity investors rely on Brandlin to validate the financial picture of lower middle-market companies that typically have weak systems and limited infrastructure. The firm moves quickly to deliver cash-to-accrual accounting conversions, margin analyses and revenue-recognition reports that let capital providers complete underwriting on time. Real-time, field-level updates — instead of waiting for a formal report — are a recurring client request that the firm has built its reputation on.
- Cash-to-accrual accounting conversions
- Margin analysis
- Revenue recognition reporting
- Real-time underwriting updates for capital providers
Litigation Support and Forensic Accounting
In the 'dark world of forensic accounting,' as one long-time lender describes it, Brandlin & Associates is consistently called first. The firm serves as forensic accountant, expert witness and mediation consultant in commercial disputes, fraud cases, accounting malpractice actions, family law matters and class action litigation. Jeff Brandlin is repeatedly cited as a credible, persuasive expert whose demonstrative charts make complex conclusions easy for juries and jurists to follow. After winning a lawsuit, Brandlin also helps unsecured creditors and class action plaintiffs actually collect on the award.
- Fraud investigations
- Accounting malpractice analysis
- Damage calculations
- Expert witness testimony and demonstratives
- Post-judgment collection support for creditors and plaintiffs
- Mediation consulting
Accounting and Operational Consulting
Beyond transactions and disputes, Brandlin & Associates partners with operating companies to maximize cash flow and profitability, spanning from the executive suite to the operating floor. The firm designs and installs accounting and operational systems, processes, policies and procedures; builds business plans, projections, forecasts and budgets; and serves fractional-CFO and outsourced-accounting roles for clients like Metapa and Final Draft. Engagements frequently blend strategic advisory with hands-on implementation work over multi-year relationships.
- Competitive intelligence and market evaluation
- Business plans, projections, forecasts and budgets
- Business and intellectual property valuations
- Performance benchmarking and process re-engineering
- Executive advisory, board advisory and governance retreats
- Compensation planning and financing negotiations
- Outsourced accounting department services
Industries Served
From its founding the firm has served a deliberately broad range of industries so that its professionals can draw cross-sector insight when assessing a borrower or an investment. Public, private and not-for-profit organizations across California and the U.S. have relied on Brandlin for transactions, restructurings and litigation in entertainment, manufacturing, oil and gas production/refining/distribution, food service, health care, construction, retail, financial services and professional services.
- Entertainment industry
- Manufacturing
- Oil and gas production, refining and distribution
- Food service and food distribution
- Health care
- Construction
- Retail
- Financial and professional services
- Asset-based and corporate lending
- Not-for-profit organizations
Leadership and Team
Brandlin & Associates is a deliberately small, senior boutique. The team page lists founder Jeffrey E. Brandlin as President & Founder, with Managing Director David Bell and Associates Sarah Su, Felipe Corrado, Charles Lee and Richard Lieu. Bios emphasize deep tenures in public accounting, private industry and transactional services — typically 20+ years each — and the firm's pitch is that every client engagement receives senior-level attention rather than being delegated down.
- Jeffrey E. Brandlin — President & Founder; CPA, CFF, CIRA, CM&AA; licensed 1976
- David Bell — Managing Director; nearly 25 years across public accounting, private industry and transactional services
- Sarah Su — Associate; over 25 years across public accounting, private industry and transactional services
- Felipe Corrado — Associate; nearly two decades as owner/operator, CFO, management consultant, financial analyst, practicing CPA and auditor
- Charles Lee — team member
- Richard Lieu — team member
Professional Affiliations and Recognition
Jeffrey E. Brandlin maintains an unusually deep set of professional affiliations for a boutique practitioner, including the AICPA, the California Society of CPAs (CalCPA), the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the Special Asset Management Association (SAMA), the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers (NAFER). He has served on TMA's Southern California board (2004–2010), on SAMA's event-planning committee since 2010, and as Secretary and Treasurer of NAFER, which in November 2024 honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
- AICPA — Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
- AIRA — Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA)
- AM&AA — Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA)
- ACG, ACFE, CalCPA, SAMA, TMA, NAFER memberships
- NAFER Lifetime Achievement Award, 2024
Case Studies, Presentations and Thought Leadership
The Brandlin website organizes client wins into Case Studies and presents sample engagements through a Public News & Presentations archive. Jeff Brandlin is a frequent speaker to industry organizations and law firms on fraud, forensic accounting and financial statement analysis. He has served as an expert witness in engagements involving financial frauds, accounting malpractices, trust-fund embezzlements and SEC enforcement actions under the EB-5 Program. Valid8 Financial has published a Brandlin case study in which the firm used Valid8 tools to identify $4.5 million in fraudulent transfers within a week during a Chapter 11 assessment.
- Case Studies library on brandlin.com
- Public News and Presentations archive
- AIRA 2017 Panel of Receivers materials — EB-5 fraud work on behalf of the SEC
- Valid8 case study: $4.5M fraudulent transfers identified within one week in a Chapter 11 matter
Client Testimonials
Brandlin's Testimonials page is one of the firm's most powerful marketing assets because it features named senior executives and attorneys across lending, private equity, mezzanine finance, receiverships and operating companies. Recurring themes across the quotes are senior-level attention, fast and accurate work product, clear demonstrative analyses, expertise as expert witnesses, and the firm's reputation as the 'first call' for forensic accounting and financial due diligence in the lower middle market.
- Geoff Bland, Managing Director, Wedbush Capital Partners — recurring due diligence partner
- Jason D. Drattell, Managing Partner, Praesidian Capital — called Brandlin his 'fraud expert of choice' for 20 years
- Matthew Grimes, Sr. Managing Director, Encina Business Credit — due diligence quality
- Scott Johnston, Managing Director, Cerberus California — workouts on a syndicated portfolio company
- Henry (Hank) J. Hajdas, Senior Consultant, Comerica Bank — workouts and reporting
- David Kantes, Former President, Special Assets Division, GMAC Commercial Finance — long-standing lender relationship
- Jon Herbst, Principal, Key Principal Partners — workouts and restructuring
- Scott Steele, JMH Capital — financial due diligence for underwriting
- Celso Lopez, President & CEO, Ocean Garden Products — operating company engagement
- Marc Madnick, President & CEO, Final Draft — fractional-CFO / advisory relationship
- David Powell, CEO, Metapa, Inc. — fully outsourced accounting department
- Gerard Jara, President & CEO, Candor-AGS — workouts and restructuring
- Lloyd Coppedge, CEO, Alamac Investors — business interruption claim against insurer
- Kenneth Krasne, Court-Appointed Receiver — receiver-side forensic accounting
- Timothy L. Neufeld, Esq., Neufeld Marks — multi-million-dollar binding arbitration win
- Laura K. Stanton, Esq., Trial Counsel — expert witness praise
- John Belcher, Esq. — concise and well-organized analysis
- COO & CCO, Private Equity Fund — fraud litigation support
Office Locations and Contact
Brandlin & Associates' principal office is in downtown Los Angeles. The current brandlin.com site footer lists 545 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1134, Los Angeles, CA 90072, while the firm's founder CV, LinkedIn profile and several directory listings indicate a long-standing office at 12100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1120, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (Westside). A New York presence has also been noted at 104 West 40th Street, Suite 400, New York, NY 10018. The general phone number (310) 789-1777 has been consistent across all locations and listings.
- Primary phone: (310) 789-1777
- General email: [email protected]
- Founder direct: [email protected]
- Downtown Los Angeles address listed on current site: 545 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1134, Los Angeles, CA 90072
- Long-standing Westside address on founder CV/LinkedIn: 12100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1120, Los Angeles, CA 90025
- New York presence: 104 West 40th Street, Suite 400, New York, NY 10018
Getting Started and Engagement Model
Engagements are typically initiated through a short call or email to the firm's main number and [email protected] mailbox, after which Brandlin proposes a senior-led team and a tailored scope. Because the firm serves capital sources and counsel almost exclusively, prospective clients are usually senior lenders, mezzanine or private equity investors, attorneys or operators of lower middle-market companies needing underwriting, restructuring or litigation support. The firm emphasizes timely, action-oriented deliverables and continuous senior involvement from kickoff through any required expert testimony.
- Initial contact via (310) 789-1777 or [email protected]
- Engagements scoped per project (due diligence, workout, litigation, consulting)
- Senior-led delivery model — no offshore or junior-heavy staffing
- Deliverables typically include written report, financial models and optional live testimony/mediation support