Be Wealthy.

Our Team


Mike Adams, CPA, CA (Partner)

Cranbrook Office

Email: m.adams@apexaccountingcpa.com

Mike is a Partner at Apex Accounting who oversees our Cranbrook office. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant who has been in public practice since 1997. Mike is involved in all areas of client service, including accounting, audit, corporate and personal taxation, and business consultation. Mike enjoys working closely with business owners and managers to minimize tax and improve profitability.

Born and raised in Creston, B.C., Mike worked on his family’s dairy farm before attending College of the Rockies where he obtained a Business Administration Diploma in accounting. He joined the firm in December 1997, acquired his CPA, CA designation in 2002 and became a partner in 2003.

An active member of the community, Mike is the treasurer for the East Kootenay Division of Family Practice and a past president of the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, and JCI Kootenay. He is also a past treasurer for the Cranbrook Society for Community Living and the Cranbrook Youth Soccer Association.

In 2012, Mike was presented with a lifetime membership in the Senate of Junior Chamber International for his work as a member of JCI Kootenay. Mike has also volunteered his time with a number of other local charities and not-for-profit organizations.

In 2017, Mike was honoured to receive the Citizen of the Year award for his work in the community of Cranbrook.

Erin Carr, CPA, CA (Partner)

Creston Office

Email: e.carr@apexaccountingcpa.com

Erin is a Partner at Apex Accounting who oversees our Creston office. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant who has been in public practice since 2002. Erin is involved in all areas of client service and enjoys working closely with her clients to assist in meeting their corporate and personal financial goals.

Erin was born and raised in Creston, as were her parents, and she and her husband have enjoyed living, working and raising their family in the lovely Creston Valley. She attended the University of Lethbridge and obtained her Bachelor of Management degree in 1997.

Erin acquired her CA designation in 2008 and later operated the Creston office as a sole proprietor before merging and becoming a partner with Apex Accounting in 2020.

Erin is the treasurer of the Creston Valley Ministerial Association, received the Rick Hansen Foundation Difference Maker award as recognition of her years of volunteering as assistant coach for the PCSS senior girls volleyball team.

Erin is active in the community, is very family oriented and looks forward to meeting with you. Please feel free to email her at e.carr@apexaccountingcpa.com.

Matt Smith, CPA

Cranbrook Office

Email: m.smith@apexaccountingcpa.com

Matt is a Chartered Professional Accountant who is involved in all areas of client service, including audit, review, compilation, personal and corporate taxes. Born and raised in Cranbrook, Matt received a Business Administration Diploma in accounting from the College of the Rockies in 2012 and a Bachelor of Management Accounting Major from the University of Lethbridge in 2014.

Matt joined the team at Apex Accounting in 2015 and in 2019 obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant designation. Aside from work, when he’s not spending time with his wife Hayley and their three boys, Kayden, Felix and Kasper, he enjoys playing the guitar, playing basketball and coaching youth basketball.

Brenda Van Der Meer, CPA, CA (Partner)

Creston Office

Email: b.vandermeer@apexaccountingcpa.com

Brenda graduated with her Bachelor of Management in 2006 from the University of Lethbridge and then obtained her CPA, CA designation in 2011. She enjoys helping businesses develop strategies to meet their financial goals. Born and raised in Sparwood, B.C., Brenda grew up playing piano and figure skating, the latter of which would often take her to Cranbrook for competitions. She spent time living in Nelson, B.C. and Red Deer, Alberta, before moving back to the East Kootenay and joining Apex Accounting in 2013.

Brenda is an active volunteer whose primary focus has been on JCI. Since 2014, she has held various positions, including president and past president for both JCI Kootenays and JCI BC/Yukon, 2018 National Vice President for JCI Canada and has been JCI Canada Treasurer from 2017 to 2020. Brenda was awarded her lifetime membership in the Senate of Junior Chamber International in 2019.

In her leisure time, Brenda enjoys going camping with her husband, drawing, reading, doing carpentry and spending as much time as possible at the family cabin at Christina Lake.

Amanda Peleshaty, CPA, CGA Manager

Cranbrook Office

Amanda began her professional career in 2008 working in public practice in Manitoba. In 2011 she moved to Calgary to continue in public practice, where she successfully completed her professional designation in 2015.

Amanda’s experience involves all phases of financial statement, tax and accounting engagements for public, privately held companies and not-for-profit organizations. She specializes in assurance work focusing on small to medium size businesses, as well as assisting clients in the setup and training of their company books.

Amanda enjoys spending time outdoors with her daughter when she’s not busy driving her around to her activities.


Staff Members


Cranbrook Office:


Michelle Calland, CPA Student

Michelle obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration from Camosun College in Victoria. She worked in Victoria for about 18 months before joining Apex Accounting in October 2019.


Penny Coyle, ACIA, Senior Accounting Technician

Penny has been with Apex Accounting since 2005. She loves the firm’s “pay-it-forward” culture, and along with her teammates is an active volunteer in the community.


Erin MacAloney, Administrative Assistant

Erin has been ably supporting her co-workers, senior staff and clients at Apex Accounting since 2016.


Mikayla Adams, Accounting Technician

Mikayla is currently enrolled at the University of Lethbridge with plans to complete her Bachelor of Management with a major in Accounting in the spring of 2023. When not doing her course work she has been working part time in our Cranbrook office since March 2020.


Matthew Spears, Accounting Technician

Matthew received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Okanagan College in Kelowna and majored in accounting. He joined Apex Accounting in March 2022

Creston Office:


Deb Woods, Manager

Deb has been managing the Creston office since 2015, after working in public practice for 23 years.


Pam Reider, Accounting Technician

Pam joined the firm in December 2008 after acquiring experience as a tax preparer and bookkeeper/entrepreneur for almost 10 years.


Louise Ducharme, Accounting Technician

Louise has worked at the Creston office since July 1994, and knows the local businesses well. She particularly enjoys working on investment files.


Anna Plotnikoff, Accounting Technician

Anna is an Accounting Technician with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in math. She has been with the firm since early 2019.


Becky Loughran, Accounting Technician

Becky joined the firm in September 2020 and brings a wealth of experience to her role.  She enjoys working with local businesses.


Sigita Friesen, Accounting Technician

Sigita is normally the first face you see when you come to our Creston office.  She began working as our administrative assistant in November 2020


Bea Mullins, Administrative Assistant

Bea joined the firm in December 2021, she is currently working on obtaining her Bachelor of Commerce’s degree with a major in Accounting.


Jennifer Isaac, Accounting Technician

Jenn joined the firm in September 2021, after moving to Creston with her family. She previously worked as a bookkeeper at an accounting firm in Alberta for almost 4 years, before joining Apex.