Chris Hight is a member (owner) in KraftCPAs. As the member-in-charge of the KraftCPAs assurance services department, Chris oversees quality control and administration for the assurance services practice area. He is also responsible for building and maintaining client relationships, overseeing the work of engagement teams, reviewing ongoing work, approving final reports, and presenting our work to clients’ management teams and boards of directors.
Chris performs a variety of services, including external audits, reviews, agreed-upon procedures, merger & acquisition assistance (M&A), sale side/buy-side quality of earnings calculations, due diligence, and litigation support.
Chris is a practice leader for the KraftCPAs manufacturing/wholesale/distribution (MWD) industry team. He has experience with MWD clients ranging from start-ups to large manufacturers with operations in foreign countries and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies. His MWD clients have included food, chemical, medical equipment, firearm, furniture, trailer, clothing, agricultural equipment, luggage, and injection mold manufacturers, as well as paper product distributors and stamping and metal fabricators/suppliers to the automotive and aerospace industries.
Chris also serves as a practice leader for the firm’s employee benefits team. As such, he oversees more than 30 employee benefit plan audits annually. In this role, he has had extensive experience interacting with third-party administrators, plan custodians, and ERISA attorneys.
Prior to joining KraftCPAs in 2004, Chris was senior vice president and CFO of a cellular tower company where he oversaw two debt transactions of more than $40 million each and the acquisition of the company in a transaction worth nearly $100 million. He also previously worked as an audit manager for a national accounting firm where he managed audits of both public and private companies and assisted with buy-side activities for more than 50 transactions. In total, Chris has nearly 25 years of public accounting and four years of private accounting experience.
As a Columbia, TN resident, Chris maintains an office in KraftCPAs Columbia location as well as the Nashville location.
Involvement
Current Involvement
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants
- Manufacturing CPAs
- Association of Corporate Growth
- Kraft Enterprise Systems, LLC, Board of Directors
- North View Church of Christ, Board of Directors & Deacon
Prior Involvement
- Tennessee Tech University, Accounting Advisory Board
- Tennessee Tech University, College of Business Advisory Board & Executive Committee
- Columbia Academy, President’s Advisory Board
Other Professional Accomplishments
- The Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, Panel Moderator, February 2020