On the move: RSM names a CX leader

May 3, 2024 11:33 AM

RSM US named its first enterprise client experience leader; the Financial Accounting Foundation is looking for nominees for its Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council; RKL named a new office managing partner; REDW appointed three new vice presidents; and other firm and personnel news from across the accounting profession.

ARIZONA

Katherine Bastow

REDW Advisors & CPAs announced three leadership appointments: Katherine Bastow has been named vice president of people operations; Michelle Burdett has been named vice president of finance; and Shawn Fisher has been named vice president of information technology. They will support each of the firm's four offices across Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico, as well as team members around the world. Bastow has been a member of the firm since 2020, most recently as director of people operations, while Burdett has been a member of the firm since 2003, most recently as director of finance. Fisher has been with the firm for 18 years, most recently as director of information technology.

CONNECTICUT

Patrick Dorsman/Financial Accounting Foundation

Will Anding of Florida State University received the 2024 Emerging Scholar Award, which recognizes a proposed doctoral thesis topic with the potential to make a rigorous contribution to an issue of interest to accounting standard-setting, from the Financial Accounting Standards Board. A fourth-year doctoral student in the College of Business at Florida State University, Anding's dissertation topic studies the implementation process used by preparers and auditors when adopting new accounting standards. FASB also honored Colin Tipton of Temple University with special recognition for his dissertation topic, which identifies reporting units within public companies and the amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting units. The Emerging Scholar Award program was established in 2021 to promote interest among PhD students in research relevant to accounting standard setting. Proposed dissertation topics and other nomination materials are judged by a five-person selection committee that includes three current and former FASB post-doctoral fellows and two members of the FASB staff.

Separately, the trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation, which oversees FASB, are seeking nominees for the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council for an initial one-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2025. The 35 members of FASAC advise FASB on projects on its agenda, possible new agenda items, procedural matters and other issues. Candidates can be nominated using the FASAC nomination form by Friday, June 28, 2024. For more information, contact Elizabeth Gagnon at eagagnon@fasb.org or Alicia Manders at aamanders@fasb.org.

ILLINOIS

Donna Sciarappa

Donna Sciarappa has been named the first enterprise client experience leader at RSM US, Chicago, to help the firm expand and leverage client understanding to differentiate RSM as a client experience leader. She is an assurance partner with more than 35 years of experience; she also serves on RSM's executive leadership, markets and operations teams, and is a former member of the U.S. board of directors.

Arla Lach, an audit and assurance partner who has been with Grant Thornton nearly 25 years, has been named leader of the Chicago market for the firm, succeeding Mark Sullivan, who is retiring. She joined the firm in 1999 and has spent her entire career at Grant Thornton, serving in a series of leadership roles, including a two-year appointment as chief of staff to the CEO, as the audit practice leader for the Chicago office, and most recently as Midwest geography leader.

INDIANA

Sarah Steele

Sarah Steele has rejoined Katz, Sapper & Miller, Indianapolis, as director of audit operations. She began her career as an auditor with KSM in 2007, before leaving for various accounting and operations roles with Beazer Homes, Park Tudor and Eli Lilly, and most recently was director of finance and business operations for Interstate Business Solutions.

Miles Talent Hub has become an alliance partner of the Indiana CPA Society. Miles enables public accounting firms to recruit from a pool of experienced Indian accountants to work at U.S. offices on direct payroll with no visa sponsorship.

MICHIGAN

Courtesy of Rehmann

Rehmann, Troy, has been named a 2024 winner of both West Michigan's and Metro Detroit's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the National Association for Business Resources, marking the firm's 22nd year receiving the recognition. For the full list of 2024 recipients, visit https://nationalbiz.org/winners/.

Mathieu Stevenson has been appointed chief executive officer of tax and automation technology provider SafeSend, Ann Arbor. He was previously CEO of Snagajob.

NEW YORK

Ryder Mathias has joined CohnReznick, New York, as a tax partner in the affordable housing practice. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, he brings nearly 15 years of experience providing tax services to clients across the community development spectrum, most recently as a tax partner at an accounting and advisory firm serving real estate clients. Separately, Jenny Brusgul, CohnReznick's sustainability advisory practice leader, has been elected to the board of directors of OSCRE International, a global nonprofit consortium focused on the development of real estate data standards and support of their implementation.

The offices of KPMG in Chicago

Tannen Maury/Bloomberg

KPMG released its 2024 U.S. Impact Plan, detailing its efforts and related metrics in environmental sustainability, social responsibility and governance practices for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023. (See our story.)

PENNSYLVANIA

Erin Wood

Jen Worley

Erin Wood has joined the tax practice of Schneider Downs & Co. as a tax director. She brings over 10 years of experience providing tax planning, consultation and compliance services to all types of not-for-profit and tax-exempt organizations, and previously worked at a Big Four firm, where she specialized in Affordable Care Act consulting with large health systems and other health care organizations, as well as trust tax compliance for tax-exempt defined benefit pension and voluntary employees' beneficiary association trusts.

Centri Business Consulting, Philadelphia, announced it will hold its inaugural Centri Capital Conference on April 22, 2025, at the Nasdaq in New York City. The one-day conference will focus on navigating the capital markets and feature company presentations and investor one-to-one meetings.

Lauren Fenner, an audit principal at Brown Plus, was named one of the 2024 Women to Watch as part of Central Penn Business Journal's annual Woman of Influence awards, which recognize high-achieving women for their career accomplishments, community involvement and commitment to mentorship. The Women to Watch category specifically recognizes women under 35.

Michael Buhrman has been named managing partner of the Chambersburg location of RKL, heading office operations and driving growth in the market. He is a partner in the firm's small-business services group, serving a wide range of clients, including rental real estate companies, pass-through entities and nonprofit organizations.

TENNESSEE

Beth Garner

Beth Garner has joined the partner group of ATA, Jackson. She brings over 25 years of experience in accounting, with an emphasis on employee benefit plan audits. She was previously the national practice leader of the employee benefit plan audit practice at BDO USA, and has significant experience auditing defined contribution, defined benefit, and health and welfare plans, as well as consulting on plan improvements, mergers and acquisitions, plan terminations, frozen plans and correction of compliance failures.