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Contact:          Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

Owner/Manager, Accounting MOVE Project

bonnie@accountingmoveproject.com

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Registration Opens for 2024 Accounting MOVE Project Focusing on Private Equity’s Impact on
Accounting Career Paths 

 

Atlanta, GA – April 9, 2024

 

The traditional accounting firm structure, where employees slowly move through the ranks into the partner role, gaining equity and eventually cashing out at retirement, has been turned on its head with the entry of private equity. How does this different financing approach to firm operations impact the profession? How do firms that want to remain independent respond in this increasingly competitive environment? Does it make it easier for more women and people of color to advance into leadership, or will current progress be stymied with greater emphasis on profit than relationships? Will this five-to-seven-year turnover timeline lead to greater career flexibility, more frequent attrition, or something else altogether?

 

The 2024 Accounting MOVE Project, themed “Private Equity’s Impact on Accounting Career Paths,” seeks to answer these questions and encourages firms to register to participate. Results will be released at the annual Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA) Women Who Count conference in Hilton Head, SC, October 23-26.

 

“Private equity is definitely shifting the dynamic of how firms are managed and will certainly impact traditional career paths. We believe this research is important to the profession as a whole, but particularly to women in accounting who are more likely to feel the impacts of these shifts. We encourage firms to participate in the Accounting MOVE Project so we can uncover as many data points and best practices as possible to share with the profession so we can identify new ways for women to succeed on their own terms,” said Cindy Stanley, executive director for the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance, association partner for the MOVE Project.

 

Another theme the MOVE project will explore in 2024 is defending the benefits of DEI. Despite growing skepticism and the proliferation of misconceptions, DEI remains a cornerstone of progressive and successful professional services firms. Accounting firm leaders teetering on the edge must remember there are two kinds of DEI: policies built as scaffolding and those intended as a framework. The difference between the two is one is a mere performative measure that often lacks results or reward, while the other is strategic, measurable, and rooted in conviction and desire for change. We will look at how successful firms build and nurture their DEI framework and identify the initiatives that open access to a broader talent pool, reducing turnover and enhancing problem-solving skills. We will also examine how employees, particularly those in Gen Z, respond to firms that retreat from DEI commitments and how these programs and policies affect client trust and service delivery.

 

“Creating a culture where employees can thrive in their careers without giving up their personal lives, where client needs are met or exceeded, and where the firm as a whole succeeds is not an impossible goal. It does take a commitment to listening to your people, doing all you can to create an inclusive culture, and understanding that one size never fits all. We are excited about this year’s MOVE research and encourage firms to participate so we can have a discernable impact on the profession and the opportunities it provides to all that work within it,” said Tricia Bencich, Inclusion & Social Responsibility Associate Director at Moss Adams, founding partner of the Accounting MOVE Project.

 

Key dates and deadlines for the 2024 Accounting MOVE Project include:

  • April 8: MOVE Project registration opens.
  • April 29: MOVE Project survey opens.
  • May 6, 7, 9 & 10: Virtual mini summit, hosted by CPA Academy, delivered an hour a day at 10am EDT. Sessions include:
    • Empowering Women of Color to Navigate Success in Accounting, Avani Desai, CEO, Schellman
    • How Mental Load Impacts Women in the Workplace, Tricia Bencich, Associate Director, Moss Adams
    • The Future of Work, Carol Ann Nash, Chief People Officer, Armanino
    • Lessons Learned as a DEI Leader, Priscilla Hammonds, Director of DEIBA, BerryDunn
  • July 28: MOVE Project survey closes.
  • October 15: Best Firms for Women & Best Firms for Equity Leadership winners informed.
  • October 25: MOVE Project results and report released in conjunction with the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance Women Who Count conference.

 

Firms can learn more and register for the Accounting MOVE Project by visiting its website: https://accountingmoveproject.com.

 

An archive of  Accounting MOVE Project reports and other resources dating back to 2010 is available here: https://accountingmoveproject.com/archives/.

 

 

About the Accounting MOVE Project

 

The Accounting MOVE Project is based on the MOVE methodology, developed by Wilson-Taylor Associates, Inc., which investigates the factors proven to be essential to women’s career success:

  • M – Money: Pay equity programs, analysis, and measurement. MOVE is not a salary survey but does examine how employers hold managers accountable for pay equity and how employers address equity gaps.
  • O – Opportunity: Leadership, management, and technical training and development, especially operating positions that involve profit and loss responsibility – key for rising to top leadership.
  • V – Vital Supports: Flexible work practices are only effective when they drive business results. MOVE examines the existence of programs such as telecommuting, wellness, and dependent care benefits and how they directly support productivity and business results.
  • E – Entrepreneurship: Hands-on business development and supplier diversity demonstrate a company’s investment in the business-building skills of its women employees and women-owned businesses.

 

Methodology 

 

The Accounting MOVE Project is the only annual benchmarking research and advocacy report that equips accounting and advisory firms to detect, develop, and drive competitive advantages from diversity initiatives and trends. MOVE measures both demographic data and workplace culture to understand what works in today’s economy to advance women and other underrepresented groups into firm leadership.

 

The MOVE Project advisory board includes leaders from association partner the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance and founding sponsor Moss Adams. MOVE is made possible by support from its sponsors and administrative fees paid by participating firms, which receive confidential benchmarking reports that include advice and best practices.

 

The Accounting MOVE Project is the basis for two recognitions of excellence for women in the accounting and advisory profession:

 

  • Best CPA Firms for Women:  To earn a spot on the list, an employer must have both a proportionate number of women at most or all levels of management and proven success with the MOVE factors. An employer cannot win by having a rich array of programs but few women in leadership. We believe that if a firm’s MOVE factors are effective, it will have a healthy and growing proportion of women in its leadership pipeline.
  • Best CPA Firms for Equity Leadership: This list recognizes firms with at least 30% women partners and principals, as roughly a third is the widely recognized ‘tipping point’ where members of any identity group have individual impact. The Equity Leadership list recognizes firms that have achieved that milestone through any combination of culture, programs, initiatives, and growth.

About the Accounting MOVE Project Partners

Founding Sponsor Moss Adams brings more West to business. More than a location, it’s a way of doing business in which innovation thrives and optimism abounds. At Moss Adams, we’re excited by the greatness of possibility and the extraordinary potential for companies and individuals to prosper. With more than 3,800 professionals across 30-plus locations in the West and beyond, we provide the world’s most innovative companies with specialized accounting, consulting, and wealth management services to help them embrace emerging opportunity. For more information, visit www.mossadams.com.

The Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance promotes the professional growth of women in accounting and finance. Members of the association benefit from opportunities to connect with colleagues, advance their careers, and become industry leaders. For 83 years, the organization has proudly upheld its mission to enable women in all accounting and related fields to achieve their full potential and to contribute to their profession. Visit www.afwa.org for more information.

bbr companies delivers comprehensive, effective marketing strategies and services for professional services firms. Bonnie serves as an outsourced CMO, developing strategic marketing plans, helping with overflow and specialized marketing projects, coaching young marketing team members, and much more. Visit bbrcompanies.com to learn more.