ASL Named to Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance 2022 Best CPA Firms for Equity Leadership and Best CPA Firms for Women Lists

Campbell, CA (November 2, 2022) – Abbott, Stringham & Lynch (ASL) was named to Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance 2022 Best CPA Firms for Equity Leadership list for the fourth year in a row, in addition to the 2022 Best CPA Firms for Women list, based on the Accounting MOVE Project.

The new “career fluid” work culture presents deep currents for growth for women and firms in the accounting and advisory profession, according to results released by the Accounting MOVE Project. In the MOVE cohort, women have solidified their presence at 31% of firm partners and principals, validating the innovations sparked at CPA firms by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More responsibility, earlier in their careers: that’s what younger women want. Accounting MOVE Project firms are meeting that ambition with new forms of career development, matched by new ways to pace career advancement for sustained success.

Along with this year’s report, the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA) released its two lists of exemplary CPA firms, based on the Accounting MOVE Project results: the 2022 Best Firms for Women list and the 2022 Best Firms for Equity Leadership list. ASL was honored to be named to both lists.

“Now more than ever women need a third-party stamp of approval like the MOVE Project lists and the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance to find firms where they can grow and thrive. Traditional career paths are changing so quickly that firms can hardly keep up. The 2022 Move Project shows fresh avenues of advancement,” said Cindy Stanley, Executive Director of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance.

Abbott, Stringham & Lynch (41% of the Firm’s partner group is comprised of women) is sustaining a culture of close collaboration as remote work takes hold. As part of its evolving culture, it continues placing an emphasis on pursuing projects which prove fulfilling for its staff.

And rebalancing work into a steady flow year-round solves problems for everyone — employees and clients, points out Laura Mays, director of human resources and employee development with Abbott, Stringham & Lynch. Unrelieved work intensity leads to burnout, while sustained engagement keeps people productive. It’s up to firm leaders to set client expectations as they realign workload and deadlines for everybody’s benefit.

If the ping-pong of endless deadlines ever energized some workers, those days are over. “You have to get to the root causes to take the next steps to make it better,” says Mays. They [employees] want to trust their management, so we work hard to stay on top of that and look at trends. I think this is how you keep your employees happy and engaged in their work.”

An executive summary of the 2022 Accounting MOVE Project is available here: 2022 Accounting MOVE Project Report

MOVE 2022 Best Firm for Women LogoMOVE Best Firms for Equity Leadership Logo

About Abbott, Stringham & Lynch (ASL)

Founded in 1977, ASL offers a wealth of experience in delivering high-quality services and specialties to its clients. The Firm works with emerging- and middle-market privately held businesses to help them thrive in their markets. It also partners with high net worth individuals – owners, founders, and executives – to help them protect and grow their wealth. ASL identifies untapped opportunities, challenges, and solutions, enabling clients to make the effective and timely decisions today that lead to a fuller and more secure tomorrow.

Designed to facilitate quality decisions, ASL’s services cover corporate tax planning and compliance, assurance and accounting, estate and gift tax planning, litigation support, succession planning and valuation. The Firm’s services are contextualized by its specialties in real estate, construction, technology, family wealth and individual tax, emerging businesses, manufacturing and distribution, nonprofit organizations, renewable energy, and recreation and entertainment. 

About the Accounting MOVE Project

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

M – Money: fair pay practices;

O – Opportunity: advancement and leadership development;

V – Vital supports: work-life programs that remove barriers;

E – Entrepreneurship: operating experience for managing or business ownership

Methodology
Since 2010, the Accounting MOVE Project has measured and supported the advancement of women at accounting and consulting firms. MOVE is the only annual benchmarking project that both counts and advocates for women in the profession.

The MOVE Project advisory board includes leaders from association partners the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance and founding sponsor Moss Adams.

MOVE is made possible by support from its sponsors and by administrative fees paid by participating firms. Firms receive benchmarking reports based on the MOVE Project.

See the archives of MOVE Project reports at Accounting MOVE Project Archives.

About Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance

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.

The Accounting MOVE Project is the basis for two recognitions of excellence for women in the accounting and advisory profession, both awarded by the AFWA:

  • 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” or members of any identity group to have individual impact. The Equity Leadership list recognizes firms that have achieved that milestone through any combination of culture, programs, initiatives, and growth.

About CPAacademy.org

CPAacademy.org offers an easy-to-use platform for knowledge sharing and idea exchange through the marketing and presenting of the most up-to-date educational content and developments important to the accounting profession. On CPAacademy.org, members have access to the highest quality webinar presentations by thought leaders in the profession.

About bbr companies

bbr companies was founded on the knowledge that not all firms need the same level of marketing resources, leading to my part-time CMO offering. Whether you need to create a strategic marketing plan, help managing projects your current team can’t handle, mentoring or coaching for young marketing team members, or help with DEI training or program development, my goal is to deliver comprehensive, effective insight and services so you can reach – and exceed – your growth goals. Now with the addition of the Accounting MOVE Project, we are excited to continue helping firms gain competitive advantages by delivering the most comprehensive data and guidance on finding, retaining, developing and advancing diverse talent.