Maureen Grove, CPA, MBA
Equally comfortable as a hands-on team-player a Forbes 500 company, or running her own small business, Maureen “Mo’ Money” Grove (CPA, MBA) is a highly-talented, professional CPA, offering clients the benefit of her 30+ years of hard-won and unique experience as a detail-oriented, accountability-driven forensic accountant. Over the course of her career, Maureen has been a key player in the acquisition, disposition and refinancing of transactions totaling over $2.5 billion in real estate assets and $2 billion in loans. Maureen has closed on some of the largest, record breaking transactions in Chicago, including the Citigroup Center/Ogilvie Transportation Center, Hyatt Hotel-100 West Monroe, Northern Trust Headquarters 181 West Madison, and the Chicago Motor Club 68 East Wacker.
A native Chicagoan, Maureen grew up on the city’s South Side, attending an all-girl’s Catholic school. With a strong interest and propensity for math and science, a young Maureen dreamed of becoming a doctor, however the special effects of “The Exorcist” caused a major and immediate re-think in her long- term career plans. The practical nuns suggested, practically, that she become an accountant. Graduating Southern Illinois University with a BS in Accounting, at the age of 22, she co-founded the SIU Accounting Society, while studying for her MBA. Coming out of college during the recession, she was fortunate to start her career in audit and tax in public accounting, working for Wolf & Company, CPA’s.
Over the course of her career in accounting, Ms. Grove has worked with numerous lenders and counsel to assess economic damage from stalled projects, insolvencies, and bankruptcies. As the forensic consultant on numerous residential and commercial projects, Ms. Grove uncovered malfeasance through verifications and substantiation of labor costs, detected inflated subcontractor billing, and produced evidence of developer performance issues, resulting in significant project savings. She has exposed such situations as: funds being drawn without vendors getting paid; developer fees getting paid out without authorization, overbilling on HVAC, double billing from master meters, overbilling of corporate jet and erroneously booked related-party transactions. Ms. Grove’s judicious approach to accounting has improved internal controls over the draw process, instilling a sense of “surveillance” and restrictions on cash, and ultimately greater accountability by the developer/owner, thereby earning her the industry nickname, “Mo Money.”
As a female accountant in the 1980s, Maureen was frequently the only female executive in a room full of men. Inspired but never intimidated by either the testosterone nor the challenge, Maureen held her own and proved herself to be a high achieving trailblazer. She also took great pride in mentoring her junior colleagues, many of whom, directly due to her coaching and encouragement, went on to be promoted to senior positions as controllers and finance managers within the real estate and construction industries.
In 2014, Ms. Grove founded Real Estate Shared Services LLC , a boutique accounting firm drawing on Maureen’s nonpareil professional accomplishments to empower, educate and promote her clients. Maureen continues her commitment to mentoring by her work with the Girl Scouts of America and Chicago Youth Services, among other organizations. She is a licensed real estate broker. She belongs to the American Institute of CPAs, Financial Executives International (FEI), and Commercial Real Estate Executive Women (CREW). She is the past President of the Board of Directors for Chicago Youth Programs and continues as a board member.
