Inspiring Progress: A Look at the State of Women in Accounting

While women remain underrepresented in leadership positions at the world’s largest businesses, the data for women specifically in accounting has turned encouraging. In recent years, the accounting profession has seen a rise in gender diversity within leadership, with women holding 39% of partnership positions at U.S. CPA firms, up dramatically from just 23% two years earlier, according to the AICPA’s “2021 Trends” report released in spring 2022. Overall, women make up 46% of employee counts at CPA firms.

The latest data from executive recruiting firm Crist | Kolder Associates’ “Volatility Report 2022” further highlights a significant increase in female corporate leadership. The report analyzed 681 companies from the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 and found that the percentages of female CEOs and CFOs are at an all-time high. In 2022, 11% of CEOs and 25% of CFOs were women, up from 4% and 11%, respectively, a decade ago.

While this data illustrates that progress has been made in advancing the roles of women in accounting, challenges for achieving parity still exist. As the CPA profession continues to confront inequity head on, four female CPAs share their take on how organizations can make change and inspire, grow, and maintain a robust and resilient pipeline of women accountants.

Promoting Real Work-Life Balance

Jessica Freiburg, CPA, managing partner at Sassetti LLC, believes the COVID-19 pandemic has led to more opportunities for women in the partnership ranks. More specifically, the pandemic opened doors to new ways of working—think more flexible schedules and hybrid or fully remote work options—which many firms are continuing to embrace even as the pandemic begins to fade from being a day-to-day concern for many.

“These work options have created more opportunities for women to be able to step up and fill a role perhaps they or their superiors didn’t feel like they could fill before because they’re now allowed a new level of flexibility,” Freiburg says, who started at Sassetti right out of college and became one of the firm’s first female partners. By the end of next year, Sassetti, a firm comprised of 50 accountants, will be majority women owned.

“It’s exciting,” Freiburg says. “It happened a little bit by chance, but I also think it’s because we genuinely promote work-life balance. I know a lot of people say they have that, but we work hard to make sure that it’s a real thing.”

The pressure to balance work and child care, as one often cited example, is very real for many women. There are decades worth of research showing that the responsibility of child care typically falls on mothers, but that burden deepened during the pandemic due to school closures and loss of child care. Women with children ages 12 and under spent an average of eight hours a day on child care, while at the same time working an average of six hours per day in their jobs, according to a July 2021 Brookings Institution analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“No matter how you slice it, women still have, by and large, the greatest responsibility of their families. That’s just a fact,” says Natalie Manley, a seasoned CPA and member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing District 98. “I don’t know for certain if that’s tied to the historically low number of female CPA firm partners, but I think a mom is a mom and it’s hard for us to reach that level—as much as we want be in the game, as much as we want to be successful. Not everybody has a spouse or someone else to help them care for their kids.”

Illinois Rep. Amy Elik, CPA, representing District 111, says she faced this challenge at her firm while pregnant with her first child. “I was very torn about what to do and, thankfully, the firm worked with me,” Elik says, who was employed at the time by C.J. Schlosser and Company LLC. “The attitude, forgiveness, and grace they gave me when I needed to be at home meant the world to me. Accounting is certainly a challenging field with lots of late nights, weekends, and busy seasons, which frankly aren’t even seasons anymore— it’s all year long.”

Because of the flexibility and supportive work environment Elik experienced, she stayed with the firm for 20 years, calling it her home. For Freiburg, having that same level of flexibility and respect from her firm made a tremendous difference as well. Not only is she a mother to four children, but she’s also an active member of her community, focusing on initiatives impacting women, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with multiple sclerosis. She’s currently on the board of trustees at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and is involved in the Council for IWU Women at Illinois Wesleyan University, where she mentors students and prepares them for interviews. She’s also volunteered with the Chicago Foundation for Women and the Illinois CPA Society’s (ICPAS’) Women’s Initiative Task Force, where she helped create the Women’s Mentoring Circles.

“I was able to have opportunities outside of work that the partners were always really supportive of, whether it was volunteering or doing something with my own family,” Freiburg says. “When you find a place where you have that balance, it makes everything feel that much better, more worthwhile.”

Besides a family-friendly environment and flexible schedule, another reason why Freiburg has stayed with the same firm for nearly 20 years is because of the positive work culture.

“I always felt like the partners really showed me a lot of respect and were willing to listen to my ideas,” Freiburg says, noting that she helped the firm create its employee handbook, parental leave policies, and a revamped scheduling system. “I saw there was opportunity for making positive change that was there for the taking. I just needed to put in the effort, develop the leadership skills, and continue working my way up.”

Aligning Core Values

Wendy Kelly, CPA, president and managing principal of CDH PC, believes in the power of finding an organization whose values align with your own. CDH, an international accounting and consulting firm that employs more than 100 professionals, prides itself on four core values: accountability, individual responsibility, integrity, and growth.

“If you’re at an organization where your personal values and vision for the future aren’t in alignment with the firm’s, go find a place where you can be elevated to be your best self, succeed, and become a leader,” Kelly urges.

Freiburg stresses that her ascent to partner is highlighted by her personal values fitting well with the core values of her firm: “It makes it easier because there’s a comfort knowing that the decisions the firm makes are in alignment with the decisions you would make.”

“Unfortunately, some women who go into public accounting end up at a firm that doesn’t click for them. Instead of finding another opportunity that fits them better, they choose to leave the profession,” Kelly says. “I choose a place where I don’t feel like being a woman holds me back. I chose this place.” Kelly, who’s been in the accounting profession for more than 30 years, and with CDH since 2010, became the firm’s first female partner. Today, her firm is “proud of the number of women” in its talent pipeline.

Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders

Throughout her career, Kelly has been heavily involved in women’s initiatives. She was once the chair of ICPAS’ Women’s Executive Committee and a board member of the Exclusive Professional Women’s Networking Group. Today, she’s more focused on diversity and inclusion for all. But that’s not to say that she doesn’t still believe in advocating for women—far from it. She believes one of most impactful ways to build up women and help them succeed, especially early on in their careers, is to be a mentor.

“Be someone willing to identify and develop your up-and-coming women leaders to help them springboard and move forward in their careers,” Kelly says. “Let them know they can do it. Help them understand how they can do it.”

As one who embraces a similar mindset to Kelly’s, Manley has hired two full-time female employees into her state office. “When I was interviewing them, I told them that I want to cultivate professionals. I want to help these women become professionals, give them experiences, and challenge them to support them on their journeys,” Manley says. “These women have been great to work with, and I respect their opinions. It’s been super gratifying.”

In a way, Manley is paying it forward. She gives credit to the CPA firm where she worked for 25 years for raising her professionally: Wermer, Rogers, Doran & Ruzon in Joliet, Ill.

“They believed in me. It’s like a family there; they support one another,” Manley says, adding that three out of the four partners at the firm are women. “I think they’re ahead of their time in many ways, as far as giving women and minorities opportunities. They’re a good model for giving everybody a chance and helping people rise to the top regardless of their age, sex, and race.”

Moving in the Right Direction

Reflecting on her career, Kelly has noticed an overall positive shift in gender diversity and how accounting firms treat their employees. “Things were very different when I entered the profession 34 years ago. How everyone was treated in the workforce was different,” Kelly notes. “The world has evolved in the way executives interact with their teams.”

Manley has noticed the same trend. “Thirty years ago, men ruled the accounting industry. There was an unsaid doctrine that men were in charge and the women worked for them. And while I don’t feel that’s the case anymore, it’s worth noting that women have fought to get to the top,” she says. “Encouragingly, a lot of women have made their way up the ladder.”

While progress has been made and more women are in leadership roles, achieving true gender parity is likely to remain an uphill battle. Meaning women’s resilience will be required awhile longer.

“It seems we always have to work a little harder than our male counterparts, but that’s OK because that means we’re better prepared,” Manley says with conviction. “It’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. And so, to be taken seriously, to be embraced, sometimes you have to work harder—but in the long run, your hard work—your resilience—is what sets you apart.”

Related Content:

• What We Lose When Women Leave the Workforce: COVID-19 is forcing women out of the workforce in record numbers. What do we lose when women leave the workplace, and how can we make it possible for them to stay?
• Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: How women in accounting and finance can break barriers and become rising powers in the profession.