Jan LewisCPA, CGMA

Jan Lewis is a Tax Partner with BMSS Advisors and CPAs in Ridgeland, MS.  Her responsibilities include income and estate tax planning, research, and compliance for individual and business clients.  Her areas of practice include healthcare, oil & gas, construction, real estate, and high net worth individuals.  She has taught continuing education classes throughout Mississippi and nationwide to CPAs in the areas of income tax planning, business tax matters, and S Corporation tax matters, and has given presentations on financial literacy, tax reform, and other tax issues to various groups across the country. 

Jan has authored articles on tax matters for the Tax Adviser publication and has served as a webcast presenter for the AICPA’s Tax Division. She has been interviewed by Fox Business News, NPR, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Bankrate, and the Detroit Free Press for her insight on various policy and practice matters affecting taxpayers.  She was selected as one of Forbes Top 200 CPAs in America in 2024.

Jan is active in the Mississippi Society of CPAs, previously serving as President of the Society, a member of the MSCPA Board of Governors, an officer of the Society’s Central Chapter, and a trustee of the Mississippi Tax Institute. Jan currently is a member of the MSCPA’s Long Range Planning Committee and the MSCPA’s Young CPAs Liaison Committee. 

Jan has held many leadership roles within the AICPA throughout her career.  She has served as the MSCPA’s elected representative to the AICPA Council, and on the AICPA Life Insurance and Disability Plans Committee.  She was a member and chair of the AICPA’s Tax Practice and Procedures Committee, and member and chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, the senior committee overseeing the work of all Tax Division committees and technical resource panels.

Jan has been named the 2026 Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the national professional organization of Certified Public Accountants in the United States. Beginning in June, she will also serve as Chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, which combines the strengths of the AICPA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and represents more than 574,000 members in 150 countries and territories. Jan has served on the AICPA Board of Directors since 2023 and as Vice Chair in 2025. Her appointment marks a historic milestone as the first AICPA Chair from Mississippi and reflects her longstanding leadership, service and dedication to the CPA profession.

Jan is a native of Jackson, MS, and a 1985 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Mississippi State University.  She is a member and past chair of the Adkerson School of Accountancy Advisory Board at MSU and was selected as the MSU College of Business’s Alumni Fellow for 2016.  She was chosen as MSU Beta Alpha Psi Alumnus of the Year in 2000.  

Jan and her husband, John, live in Jackson with their spoiled dachshunds, Connie, Rocky and Snoop.

Education

• Mississippi State University
  • Bachelor of Accountancy

Memberships

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
  • 2026 Chair of the Board of Directors
  • AICPA Governing Council
  • MSCPA’s Elected Representative to the AICPA Council (Past)
  • AICPA Life Insurance and Disability Plans Committee (Past)
  • Member and Chair of the AICPA’s Tax Practice and Procedures Committee (Past)
  • AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee Member, Vice-Chair and Chair (Past)
• Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
  • Board of Directors
• Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants
  • President (Past)
• Central Chapter of the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants
  • Officer (Past)
• Mississippi Tax Institute
  • Trustee
• Long Range Planning Committee
• Young CPAs Liaison Committee

Awards

• MSU College of Business’ Alumni Fellow for 2016
• MSU Beta Alpha Psi Alumnus of the Year, 2000
• Forbes – America’s Top 200 CPAs, 2024
• AICPA & CIMA Global Women to Watch Honoree