To contend with a rapidly changing landscape, today’s top accounting firm leaders are required to wear more hats than ever before. Besides embodying the attributes of any great business leader, they often must serve as technologists, deal brokers, and brand ambassadors — not just for their firms but for an entire profession in dire need of attracting more young talent.
Given the current state of transformation in accounting, it’s unsurprising that the eight leaders that make up Accounting Today’s 2024 MP Elite of outstanding firm managing partners are experts at continually adapting and reinventing to not only survive but thrive amid all this uncertainty.
Eileen Sheridan, for example, welcomes the disruption to her firm, Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf. “In the next five to 10 years, our company will undergo significant changes, potentially becoming unrecognizable from its current state,” she shared, paving the way for, among other innovations, implementing new technology and a shift from compliance to advisory and consulting work.
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It’s a future-ready fearlessness shared by her fellow honorees, like Sikich’s Christopher Geier. According to him, “The shifting employment landscape represents an opportunity for forward-thinking companies to redefine what an empowering, trusting and fulfilling work culture looks like in the modern era.”
Opsahl Dawson’s Aaron Dawson has the inquisitive mindset that drives all members of the 2024 MP Elite: “We are a very curious firm,” he said. “I’m a curious CEO. I’m curious about a lot of things. And so I pay attention to little things. One obvious example is that we were an early adopter of private equity.”
PE, mergers and acquisitions, and artificial intelligence are all hot topics for the MP Elite, and it is their curious but mindful approach to these industry trends that make them role models in accounting.
And while their respective firms’ successes have earned them widespread esteem, many of the MP Elite also serve on external boards and committees that only further elevate their leadership in the profession. AAFCPAs’ Carla McCall, for example — a rare repeat honoree on the MP Elite list (having also appeared in 2020) — is currently chair of the American Institute of CPAs, and from this vantage point is enthusiastic about the future of accounting.
“We are super excited about how automation is changing our industry, and it can’t come fast enough. This is such an exciting time to be in our profession, and we hope our young professionals realize the amazing opportunities there are to be a part of this shift, which is creating even more diversity of work and leadership opportunities,” she said.
Overall, the 2024 MP Elite are approaching the future, and all its emerging challenges, with excitement. For Barnes Dennig’s Jay Rammes, this harkens back to the values with which he entered the profession.
“I was obviously drawn to accounting but I feared the stereotypes that came with that: introverted, uncreative and redundant,” he shared. “I promised myself early on that I wanted to come at this profession with my own style, which is passionate, outgoing and unorthodox. I love this profession, this firm, and all those I’ve been fortunate to work with throughout my career.”
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