- Key Insight: Uncover how top-ranked accounting firms are redesigning traditional work cultures for female advancement.
- What's at Stake: Women risk being excluded from leadership roles without structured pathways to partner level.
- Forward Look: Look for firms to implement formal succession planning to elevate women to partner level.
In a profession known for its rigid deadlines and long hours, some accounting firms have forged themselves into excellent environments for women in particular.
Accounting Today's
But first, rewind a couple decades. Being a woman in accounting looked very different from what it looks like today, beyond trading out the pencil skirt and heels for jeans and a nice shirt.
"It was very difficult, and I missed a lot," Lelah Walters, director of operations at LevitZacks, told Accounting Today. Based in San Diego with 54 employees (35 of whom are women), LevitZacks regularly features on the list of Best Firms for Women, this year ranking No. 5.
Walters continued, describing her husband who took on more childcare responsibilities because of his more accommodating hours, "He would go on the field trips, and he would do pick-up from school and get homework started because I wasn't there. There was no flexibility. I had really great bosses, and they were very understanding if something like an emergency came up, but otherwise there was the understanding that this is the industry. This is the work. This is what you do, and everybody just did it."
Of course, this kind of imbalance still exists for many, especially at larger firms where the personal touch is sometimes lost. But the status quo has changed over the years as the culture at large turns its focus to things like wellbeing and work-life balance. But behind this shift in the accounting profession are also women who know how hard it was from first-hand experience and want to make change for the better for younger generations.
"We were reminiscing about what it was like when we were young with families, and I think that's what's helped our perspective — so much of the stress that we went through," Sue Watson, chief operating officer and partner at LevitZacks, told Accounting Today. "You couldn't be one minute late to work. There was no such thing as a flexible schedule. I did take my computer home, but that was to work extra hours after my kids went to bed or on the weekends."
This juggling act is by no means new; being pulled in two directions without being able to give 100% to either is the well-known plight of working parents. But women in particular still face this challenge as the traditional primary caregivers. Data shows that women make up over half of the accounting workforce yet comprise roughly of only one-third of leadership.
At LevitZacks, the firm intentionally creates pathways for women to be reflected at the partner level by implementing formal succession planning. Watson said that a firm without formal succession planning closes doors. Currently, LevitZacks has two people pinpointed for succession — both of whom are women.
Doling out trust
Trust is the bedrock of all of the policies and initiatives at the Best Firms for Women, with hybrid or remote work as well as flexible schedules being a common policy among the best firms.
LevitZacks began offering remote capabilities and flexible hours over 10 years ago. Watson said, "Our first toe-dip into the water on flexibility and people-focus was to go to the flexible schedule and put core hours into place. And we were pretty avant-garde for doing that."
Edwards & Associates also had these capabilities long before the COVID pandemic. Based in Dallas with 24 employees, Edwards ranked No. 3 on this year's list, moving up from its No. 9 ranking the previous year.
"As long as you're getting your work and time in, you can schedule your time however works for you," Lynn Ledbetter, director of operations at the firrm, told Accounting Today. "The culture is pretty open about expectations as far as your work. So the demands are still there, and we've been pretty clear that as long as those parts of the work are met that we're going to be understanding of the other aspects."
This flexibility is a boon to many women with families balancing children and aging parents with work and deadlines. Ledbetter described employees who get to the office before 9 a.m. to avoid traffic, or those who do the converse and arrive later so they can drop their children off at school. This is a simple yet effective policy that also opens up opportunities for advancement.
At TRM CPA, based in Jupiter, Florida, and ranking No. 2, flexibility looks a little different. Its 22 employees are completely remote. As such, the team is very communicative over its messaging platform, and regularly has one-on-one meetings.
"We absolutely encourage an open-door policy," Breanne Barber, senior executive assistant at TRM, told Accounting Today. "So even if it's at the end of the day or first thing in the morning or any time in between, anytime anybody needs us, we respond with enthusiasm"
But with that comes a weekly "quiet hour," where communication is paused for four hours every Wednesday.
"We're all people at the end of the day," Barber said.
'No jerk' culture
The best firms also have a clearly defined ethos — a friendly and positive work environment and zero tolerance for jerks — and they aren't afraid to stick to it.
"We have a 'no jerk' policy. It's for clients and employees, and we've actually let people go because they just didn't fit our environment," Watson said. "They were always negative and they put people down and they just were not uplifting. And we've fired clients for the same reason."
"You don't treat people without respect, and I think that is what makes us successful," she continued. "Our culture is about positivity. It's welcoming, and we embrace everyone that comes in."
Edwards' Ledbetter described a similar environment: "There's no underlying passive aggressiveness of, 'Oh, this person's out all the time,' or, 'This person comes in three days a week so we really value that one more than the person who is coming in one day a week.' There's none of that, and there's none of the games. We're a very low-drama firm. That's part of the way that you put those things to rest."
Similarly, TRM said it creates a high standard of culture by being highly selective with the employees it hires.
"We're so picky, and there are times when we wish we could bring people on just because sometimes we need it in the big waves of tax season," Barber said. "But it's served us well to not hire even when we are desperate, and because of that, we have such a strong team and the culture shines through."
"We're trying to find a cross section of somebody that has the experience on paper, but also has more of a unique personality than a stereotypical accountant," she said. "We gravitate to people that are a bit more — I don't want to say outgoing — but somebody that you want to talk to over Zoom. Somebody that you know is forthcoming with information. They're friendly. They're warm. That, in combination with the experience, is the secret sauce, if you will, because there are countless people that look great on paper, but if they're relatively dry, then it's just not a culture fit."
"It can seem a bit rigorous, but it has definitely paid off for us because we genuinely all love working together," she added. "It's one of those things where this comes from the top down from our firm owner. He's always said if you take care of your people, the rest takes care of itself, and that couldn't be more true."
The attitude check even extends to leadership at Zomma Group in Coral Gables, Florida, with 43 employees. The firm ranked No. 3 on the Best Firms for Women list, and No. 1 on the Best Firms to Work For in the Small Employer Category.
"We used to be scared of our bosses. It was very authoritative," Cynthia Ow, tax partner at Zomma Group, told Accounting Today. "Now it's very collaborative, and I think that this generation has a lot of new things to teach us."
Still human
Edwards & Associates understands that work is just one aspect of a person, with family usually being the other big part. But the firm encourages its employees to have a life outside of the office, too. Edwards provides what it calls a yearly "non-professional education" stipend of $1,000 for each employee to spend at their own discretion, whether that be guitar and cooking lessons, or herbalism and flower-arranging classes.
"We're always looking for the new thing that we can do to take care of these people because they're our biggest resource," Edwards' Ledbetter said. "It's not the computers, it's not the technology, it's not any of that — it's our people."
To take it one step further, the Best Firms recognize the importance of their employees while remembering that, at the end of the day, their employees are still human beings. Emergencies happen, family milestones occur, vacations are taken, and more.
Zomma Group's Ow repeatedly described the attitude she fosters on her team, and the attitude of the broader firm: "We got you. Go do what you need to do," even if it's in the middle of tax season, she said.
The importance of treating people with trust, understanding and flexibility — and the rewards and opportunities it yields for women in particular — cannot be understated.
"We've been categorized as being maybe too soft sometimes, but it does help people," LevitZacks' Watson said. "People love being at our firm. They enjoy it because we care. We treat them like family. We treat people with respect."
Introductory bullet points created by AI with editorial review.
