Yeo & Yeo Named a Best Accounting Firm for Women

Women are gaining traction at public accounting firms

Yeo & Yeo CPAs & Business Consultants was named to the Accounting MOVE Project Best Public Accounting Firms for Women list, which recognizes firms by their women’s initiatives, female leadership, and driving results.

“Since 1987 when we elected our first female partner, we have recognized the importance of promoting women to leadership roles and it has only continued to grow,” said Thomas Hollerback, CEO. “Today, women comprise 71% of our senior manager group – the future leaders of our firm.”

In its sixth year, the 2015 Accounting MOVE Project reports a significant boost in the proportion of women partners and principals at the 47 CPA firms participating in the project—an average of 22%, up from 17% five years ago. The Best Public Accounting Firms for Women list was released by the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA) and American Women’s Society of CPAs (AWSCPA).

Career paths are not do-it-yourself at Yeo & Yeo, thanks to maps and structures that show employees multiple proven routes to success. With the high proportion of women on partner-track in the firm, Yeo & Yeo is restructuring its mentor program to include more peer mentoring led by women principals. The firm is also amplifying its business development program to provide more mid-level training to best equip the firm’s emerging leaders.

“We are headed in the right direction, but we need to continue to create awareness, advocate and advance women in the accounting field,” said Carol Patridge, managing principal and member of Yeo & Yeo’s board of directors. “The firm’s Career Advocacy Team works to provide equal access to career development and advocacy experiences, assists women in advancing to leadership positions and promotes the successful integration of personal and professional lives.”

The 10 firms named to the Best CPA Firms for Women list demonstrate three characteristics:

• Consistent, measurable progress in advancing women.
• Proven and continually evolving programs that retain and advance women.
• Evidence that the firm’s advancement of women is intrinsic to its growth and succession goals.

The AFWA and the MOVE Project are dedicated to efforts that empower women in the industry and assist in advancing women to senior roles with equal pay. Top trends from the 2015 Accounting MOVE Project include:

• Pay equity is the topic that won’t go away. Celebrities and politicians are advocating for pay equity transparency and accountability. Firms have a chance to make pay equity a point of strength and trust.
• CPA firms are inviting millennials to join senior staff in networking and business development training, in turn making those processes more democratic.
• Firms that have gained momentum in their advancement of women use their women’s initiatives as strategic growth drivers.

“Women are a differentiating factor for firms competing intensely for new clients,” said Joanne Cleaver, president of Wilson-Taylor Associates, Inc., the content and communications firm that manages the Accounting MOVE Project. “Most employers are concerned with advancing women, and they want to do business with CPA firms that share those values.”

Our women leaders share their story

Women leaders of Yeo & Yeo will share their stories on how they balance the challenges of work-life flexibility via the firm’s website and social sites.  Visit our webpage, Our women leaders share their story to read their stories.

Follow Yeo & Yeo’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages for their advice to emerging women leaders in the accounting profession.