Meet the Silver Harbour Team
Fernande Marie Bencze
Founder
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After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point and serving as an Army Officer Fernande Marie earned her MBA from Boston University. Fernande Marie then put her experience to use in the financial services industry for over 25 years. Fernande Marie has extensive knowledge of consumer and commercial banking and lending, mortgage underwriting and lending, and consumer finance. Fernande Marie's experience makes her uniquely qualified to prepare and analyze Silver Harbour client's business financial reports/records for accuracy, work with clients to establish a sensible business forecast/ spending plan, create and implement an orderly and timely client invoicing (AR), vendor bill bay (AP), and establish a financial reporting system.
Kara Karsten
Senior Accountant/Analyst
Kara loved her first 20 year career as a computer programmer and project manager in a multinational high tech firm. But she also loved numbers, so she started taking accounting classes for fun, which was where she met Fernande in 2000.
She also loved helping people with their personal finances, so she got licensed as a Financial Representative, but she didn’t like selling insurance and mutual funds, so she formalized her accounting education with a Masters in Accounting and passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam on the first try. She moved quickly from entry level accountant jobs that she did part time while earning her 2nd degree, to FP&A (controller/planner/analyst) positions at various international corporations. For her final year in that role, she was controller for 15 overhead departments in the US headquarters of a multinational green energy company, working remotely from WA state with colleagues on the east coast and in Italy.
When Fernande heard that her old friend Kara was semi-retired, at the same time Silver Harbour was ready to expand, she contacted Kara and quickly put her to work in her happy place, analyzing numbers and solving accounting mysteries, and helping small business owners remotely the same way she helped her 15 department managers. Fortunately, Fernande loves sales and networking, and is happy to share responsibility for Silver Harbour's more complex clients with Kara.
Bradley Bencze
Account Manager
As a Computer Science student at Portland State University, Bradley developed a strong foundation in problem solving and an eye for detail. When Silver Harbour was looking to expand, he was interested in applying those skills in a new way by supporting small business owners. Bradley has been part of the Silver Harbour team for two years, primarily working on transaction categorization, financial reporting, and account reconciliation to keep clients’ books accurate and up to date. He specializes in working with businesses that focus on technology and communications. Behind the scenes, Bradley focuses on keeping things running smoothly so clients have one less thing to worry about. He enjoys the consistency and problem solving that come with the work, and appreciates being part of a team that helps business owners stay organized, and enables them to focus on what matters most.