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Troy Merkel

Partner, Assurance Digital Strategy Leader

About Troy

Troy Merkel is a real estate partner that leads the national real estate consulting practice at RSM where he leads the strategic growth and development of the RSM real estate consulting practice. In addition, he provides a variety of assurance services to RSM’s real estate clients.

Troy is also the national assurance digital strategy leader, where he is responsible for digital strategy, including the use of automation, generative AI and other transformative technology for all assurance services at RSM.


Experience

Troy has more than 20 years of experience providing assurance and consulting services to the real estate industry. Troy serves all types of real estate companies, including developers, operators and investors across all asset classes. He consults with clients to address structuring and business needs and help optimize their operations and team performance. He has experience advising clients on income tax basis and in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, international financial reporting standards, and National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries and Pension Real Estate Association reporting standards. He is also experienced in accounting for asset acquisitions and complex leases and focuses on tax-advantageous and government-subsidized deal structures.

In his national assurance digital strategy leader role, Troy focuses on digital strategy for RSM’s assurance practice, which includes setting strategy and goals for deployment of the digital experience, leading delivery of the digital experience and representing the firm’s assurance practice in enterprise-wide digital initiatives. Troy brings a unique insight to this role as he continues to serve clients which allows him to maintain a deep and practical connection the practice. In connection to this important leadership role, Troy is a member of the firm’s digital integration group (DIG), technology collaboration council, and RSM’s assurance practice’s executive team that guides resource allocation related to digital strategy.

A self-professed “eternal optimist,” Troy sees opportunity in each new day. He is passionate about professional development and training the next generation of RSM leaders. Outside the office he is a husband and father to four sons. He is a passionate youth coach across several youth sports for more than 20 years and now enjoys coaching his sons. He attributes his time coaching youth sports to helping him develop his leadership skills. While he can’t score a goal or land new business for someone out in the field, he can coach his team to be in the best position to be able to do so. Seeing the success of those he has had a chance to mentor is the most rewarding experience of his life.

Troy has been involved with RSM’s Family First employee network group (ENG) since its inception. As a working dad, he tries to set an example with his team to demonstrate the successful balance of both roles. He also supports the firm’s AACE ENG to support Black professionals, where he finds the dialogue around diversity and racial understanding vital to the growth of the firm.


Professional affiliations and designations

  • Certified public accountant
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, member
  • National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries, member
  • Pension Real Estate Association, member

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, accounting, University of Massachusetts
  • Master of Science, accounting, Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business