Meet the Apis Hive

Working as a hive is an essential piece of the Apis business model. We have gathered an exceptional team of professionals who are truly advocates for the small business owner and entrepreneur. We take our business seriously but believe that having fun together makes us perform even better.

  Suzy Schutz - President and Co-Owner, SBFO®, Certified QuickBooks® Pro Advisor

Over the past 22 years Suzy has established herself in the bookkeeping and accounting industry.  In 1997 after 8 years in the field, she founded her first private accounting and bookkeeping practice. Based on that experience, she partnered with Nancy Barnett to create Apis Business Solutions, LLC in August 2008. She is very passionate about useful and accurate information in a way that matches the needs and style of the individual business owner.  Suzy believes integrity is vital to building the trust with our clients. Her dream is to standardize the bookkeeping industry through the development and certification of the Small Business Financial Officer (SBFO®) position and by the way of example with Apis Business Solutions enabling business owners to be confident that their bookkeeping and accounting professionals are competent and qualified. Suzy teaches financial business classes at the SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Metro Denver and at Apis as well. She and her husband Richard have three grown sons and two granddaughters.  In her spare time, she enjoys music, theater, gardening, cooking, traveling, as well as learning and teaching new things.

  Nancy Barnett - Vice-President and Co-Owner, SPHR, SBDC Consultant, NxLevel Certified Instructor

Nancy has 25 years experience in corporate training, human resources, and vocational business training. Nancy’s passion is helping business owners start or improve their businesses by understanding all the components to build a strong business foundation.  She takes great pleasure in helping owners with strategic planning and business plan development.  She spent ten years at National Education College in California, as a teacher, Business Department Chairperson and Director of Education, as well as 14 years with AAA Colorado as Director of Corporate Training before joining Suzy to create Apis Business Solutions. She is a trainer and consultant at the SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Metro Denver focusing on small business development and start-ups. She also designs and manages the business training delivered through Apis. She and her husband David have four grown children and eight grandchildren.  In her free time, she enjoys genealogy and collecting and selling antiques.

  Marla DiCarlo, Project Director,  SBFO®, Certified QuickBooks® Advisor

​Marla is the Apis Project Director and is a Small Business Officer (SBFO®). She has been a professional accountant for over 20 years, in both corporate and small business environments, and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Originally from Arizona, Marla and her family moved to Colorado in 2007 and loves living in such a beautiful state.  Marla has worked for both big corporations and in small business, but her passion is to help small business owners succeed.  Using her experience in cash management, strategic planning, operations and budgeting, she is able to help the Small Business Owner build a successful business.  Prior to joining Apis Business Solutions, Marla was the Director of Accounting for an investment group.  While there, she was responsible for new business deals, investments and financing.  Marla has owned and operated a small business accounting consulting firm working with various industries.  She also held executive positions in accounting with various real estate and property management companies.  She was responsible for the administration of scheduling staff, technical training, recruiting and projecting, budgeting and monitoring results of operations. In addition to her work experience, Marla has formal training working with accounting software such as Microsoft Dynamics Great ​Plains, MRI, SAP and has extensive experience in accounting software conversions.  As a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, she has both the knowledge and experience to handle a multitude of accounting projects.

​Marla is proficient in Financial and SEC Reporting, Sales Tax, Employee Benefit Plans and Internal Control Systems. She also has extensive experience in understanding and documenting a wide variety of accounting information systems and analyzing and designing internal control systems to include both preventative and detective controls.

Sue Levine, Senior Accountant, Certified QuickBooks® Pro Advisor

Sue has been in the bookkeeping and accounting industry for over 20 years. According to Audrey Thoutt, President of Thoutt Bros. Concrete Contractors, Inc., whom she has worked for as an accountant and consultant for the past twenty years, “She is a dedicated, hard-working individual who pays close attention to detail and making sure a task is completed correctly rather than cutting corners and risking mistakes. Thoutt Bros. Concrete Contractors, Inc. recommends Sue Levine highly.”

Sue is attracted to small business accounting because she can see how her expertise impacts the lives of the people she services. Her professional philosophy is to be the best at what you’re doing, whatever it is, but in a fair and moral way. She prides herself on balancing a healthy life for herself and her family.

  Tommie Mailey, Senior Accountant, Certified QuickBooks® Pro Advisor

Tommie is a seasoned finance and management professional with 18 years of comprehensive accounting experience as well as eight years of management experience with the private sector. She graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Minor in Computer Information Systems. Prior to joining APIS Business Solutions she was the Director of Finance for a Healthcare Company with ten Skilled Nursing Facilities and two Rehabilitation Hospitals with average revenues of $75 million.

Her key competencies are the ability to analyze and improve processes to perform more effectively and efficiently, ability to manage simultaneous projects effectively and timely, well developed organizational skills with goal directed results and expertise with government regulations and compliance.

Tommie has joined Apis Business Solutions to continue doing work she has a passion for, but find a balance between work and family life. She enjoys spending quality time with her three young children and skiing.

 Kendra Larson, BizKeeper

Kendra is another one of those people who gets excited about "organizing all those numbers and putting them in their proper place". That turns out to be a key skill for a great bookkeeper. Kendra is currently pursuing her Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration. She says "She loves numbers and finances, but taxes drive her a little nuts!" That sounds like something we can all relate to.  She has worked with many different industries, including travel, sales, semiconductor and other professional services.

Kendra spent the first 19 years of her life as a member of a 4th generation family living in the White Mountains of Arizona, which has the same elevation as the Denver area. Her next 19 years were spent in the Phoenix, AZ. When her husband decided to start his own contracting business, they decided to head to Colorado where he had gone to college. So in March of 2011 they eagerly packed everything up and moved to Denver. Both feel like they have returned home again!

Kendra loves life best when she can balance her bookkeeping duties with her hobbies outside of work. And hobbies she has...She loves outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, fishing, horseback riding and snowmobiling.  She also loves to play the violin; keep her pets smiling, and is finally getting back into the yoga scene.

. Dick Hanna, BizKeeper

Dick genuinely likes mucking around in the numbers conundrum that many business owners fear. It challenges him and he relishes challenge. He says "It makes me smarter and I like getter smarter. That helps my clients too--there's nothing wrong with a sharp-as-a-tack professional doing your gnarly bookkeeping work."

Everyone from your second grade teacher to your grad school prof has given you the same hard-to-follow advice: do what you love and love what you do. As a graphic designer and marketing professional for over 15 years, Dick has always loved being a vital partner in helping businesses grow and reach their sales and marketing goals. As a bookkeeper Dick continues to help business owners reach their goals and enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that while they may be in business for themselves, they are NOT in business by themselves.

Dick's career as a businessman and artist give him a broad base of experience and a unique set of competencies. Operating his independent graphic design business Studio One Design for over a decade, he was able to combine a passion for creativity with practical problem-solving skills to produce successful marketing communications for clients in a wide variety of technical, industrial, manufacturing, retail and non-profit organizations.

  Barbara Johnson, BizKeeper

Barb Johnson has many years’ experience working with small businesses in the retail, manufacturing, distribution, service, and insurance industries.  She has held positions of trust working for her employers as well as with the clients she served when operating her independent public accounting business.  Her expertise in inventory and asset management is a strength that has been tested by various taxing authorities with financially favorable results for her employers. Additionally, her knowledge of insurance and human resources has proven to give her additional insight and solutions for the many challenges facing many small businesses today.

As a professional, she has held titles of Director of Finance, Accounting Director, Accounting Manager, Benefits Manager, and Payroll Manager.  Her broad scope of responsibilities included strong working relationships with banking and financial institutions as well as other accounting professionals.

Although hailing from Texas, she has adopted Colorado as her home state for the last 30 years and has no intention of ever living anywhere else.  This has been proven by the community service she has performed as President of the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education, her seven-year term on the City of Aurora Citizen’s Advisory Budget Committee, as a past member on the Community College of Aurora Accounting Accountability Committee, and an alumnus of the Aurora Citizen’s Police Academy.