Laura Dietzel
Area of Focus
Real estate Audit
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Laura Dietzel

Real Estate Assurance Leader, Partner

About Laura

Laura Dietzel is an assurance partner in RSM US LLP’s real estate practice. She was selected for the firm’s cutting-edge industry eminence program as a senior analyst covering real estate markets, working alongside the firm’s chief economist and other program participants to analyze trends and themes affecting real estate and shaping middle market businesses. As a trusted advisor, Laura consults with clients to develop efficient reporting structures and control frameworks that will help them build and scale their businesses.


Experience

Laura has more than 16 years of experience providing assurance and consulting services for privately held companies and private equity funds specializing in real estate. She has extensive knowledge of financial reporting on fair value, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and the income tax basis of accounting, enabling her to advise clients on challenging technical accounting matters. Since joining RSM in 2005, Laura has worked with commercial, residential, retail, hotel, and real estate opportunity funds, as well as performed due diligence services for real estate funds and various lenders in the real estate conduit markets.

Her participation in the firm’s industry eminence program in 2018 further deepened Laura’s understanding of the real estate industry. She advises clients regarding internal control weaknesses, process inefficiencies, and compliance requirements driven by investors and lenders. She has extensive experience understanding client needs—whether they involve outsourcing of back-office functions or introduction of new technology—positioning her to better understand and respond to macroeconomic trends affecting the industry. Laura regularly presents at conferences and interfaces with the media, serving as the real estate industry voice for the firm.

Curiosity drives Laura to look around every corner to see what’s next for her clients. Her forward-thinking perspective helps her identify technological and digital disruptions that could affect her clients during this dynamic period of change. A lifelong learner, she appreciates public accounting as a profession in which she never stops learning. Within the firm, she challenges RSM teams to view clients with an industry lens and participate in upskilling to become true industry professionals.

Laura participates in the firm’s culture, diversity, and inclusion efforts as a member of the STAR employee network group, established to help advance and retain high-performing women professionals at RSM. She advises female rising stars at the firm and is involved with RSM’s pathways recruitment program to help recruit and welcome new hires. A graduate of Miami University of Ohio, she is involved with the school’s alumni association and recruiting efforts, advocating for academic programs applicable to the accounting profession and valuable for future RSM team members. Laura is also fluent in Arabic.


Professional affiliations and designations

  • Certified public accountant
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • Illinois Society of Certified Public Accountants
  • Junior Achievement

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, accountancy and finance, cum laude, Miami University of Ohio
  • Executive certificate, strategy and innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology