Title: Practice Leader
Company: Doeren Mayhew
Location: Pembroke Pines, Florida, United States
John J. Murnane, Practice Leader at Doeren Mayhew, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements and leadership in Accounting and Finance.
With a career spanning nearly four decades, Mr. Murnane has established himself as an authority in credit unions and banking within the broader financial services industry. Since 2019, he has served as a practice leader of the Financial Institutions Group at Doeren Mayhew, where he also serves on the company’s management committee. His role includes managing operations for a team specializing in banks and credit unions, overseeing executive-level challenges, such as human resources matters, strategic planning and marketing initiatives. He regularly collaborates with partners and managers to ensure effective business operations and is responsible for planning and organizing three annual corporate conferences. Despite the demands of his leadership role, Mr. Murnane continues to advise a select group of long-standing clients, relationships he values deeply and has chosen to maintain personally.
Mr. Murnane’s journey with Doeren Mayhew began in 2015 following the merger of Orth, Chakler, Murnane & Co., which he co-founded in 1996. As a shareholder since the merger, he is one of approximately 60 to 70 owners of the firm. His expertise centers on providing audit, compliance, and financial accounting services to credit unions and banks through nine lines of business offered by his group. The merger followed a period of sustained growth and industry recognition for Orth, Chakler, Murnane & Co., which achieved the No. 1 ranking among certified public accountant (CPA) firms serving the credit union sector nationwide for 10 consecutive years, according to Callahan & Associates.
The founding of Orth, Chakler, Murnane & Co. in 1996 marked a pivotal moment in Mr. Murnane’s professional life. Alongside two partners who left their previous firm together, he navigated significant challenges during the transition, including going without a paycheck for nine months and enduring a legal dispute that lasted nearly a year before the new practice was fully established. Over the next two decades as a partner, Mr. Murnane helped build the firm from its inception into a leading national practice in its specialty area. This accomplishment stands as his proudest professional achievement and fulfilled an ambition first articulated during a job interview in 1987, a moment still remembered by his future partner.
Mr. Murnane began his career at Nearman & Lents, PA, joining immediately after graduating from college in 1987. During his tenure until 1996, he specialized in serving banks and credit unions, an area that would define his entire professional trajectory across three organizations over nearly 40 years.
Mr. Murnane’s educational background laid the foundation for his career achievements. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and finance from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where he played collegiate golf before graduating in 1987. His academic training equipped him with broad-based knowledge across both disciplines, skills that have proven invaluable throughout his work with financial institutions. In addition to his academic credentials, Mr. Murnane became a CPA in 1990, a qualification that has enabled him to serve clients with credibility and technical proficiency throughout his career.
Further underscoring his expertise, Mr. Murnane holds membership in leading industry organizations, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These affiliations reflect both his standing among peers and his ongoing commitment to professional development within the field.
Beyond his primary professional responsibilities, Mr. Murnane is actively engaged in civic leadership and charitable endeavors. He holds leadership roles within his community as the president of his local homeowners’ association and as the treasurer of its master association. His philanthropic activities include participating in charity golf events hosted by clients and corporate foundations, annually attending a major fundraising event in Phoenix, Arizona, that generates between $750,000 and $1 million for Phoenix Children’s Hospital, contributing financially to client foundations partnered with Children’s Miracle Network, and supporting Victory Junction in South Carolina, a camp providing transformative experiences for children with severe disabilities. Mr. Murnane’s philanthropic accomplishments have been recognized through several honors, including securing first place at the Phoenix Charity Golf Tournament Team Championship in 2025, followed by fifth place in 2026.
Throughout his career, Mr. Murnane has demonstrated exceptional commitment to client service, a principle that has shaped both his personal reputation and the culture of every firm he has led or contributed to. He credits much of his success to maintaining a disciplined focus on delivering outstanding client service. Recognizing that technical competency alone does not set a firm apart in the accounting field, Mr. Murnane and his partners built their practice around responsiveness and urgency, ensuring that client needs are addressed promptly and thoroughly at every opportunity.
Looking ahead, Mr. Murnane plans to leverage his business experience, extensive network and passion for sports philanthropy by increasing involvement with charitable foundations after retirement from full-time practice leadership duties at Doeren Mayhew. He also hopes to return to coaching youth baseball, drawing on earlier experiences coaching his son, and is considering coaching golf based on encouragement from colleagues who have benefited from his mentorship on the course. Mr. Murnane’s distinguished record reflects not only technical expertise but also an unwavering dedication to service excellence, qualities that continue to define both his legacy within financial services and his ongoing contributions to community life.
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