Accounting Today Names RSM's Joe Adams to 2018 Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting List

RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the nation's leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused onthe middle market –  is pleased to announce that its CEO and Managing Partner Joe Adams was recently named by Accounting Today as one of its 2018 “Top Most Influential People in Accounting.”

The publication states that while this list’s members are often praiseworthy, being named to the list “is not in itself meant as praise – rather it’s what the publication hopes is a clear-eyed assessment by its editors of the individuals who are having the biggest impact on the current state and the future direction of the profession.”

The publication goes on to say that during the two decades they’ve been compiling the list, accounting has grown into new areas, attracted new regulators, come to use new work tools and developed new skills. All of these means new areas of influence, and new influencers. Every year, the publication must balance them all, measure their current levels of influence and make difficult choices.

According to Accounting Today, this year’s roster might be one of the most influential ever, as the changes currently underway in the profession are so significant that the decisions they make now and in the coming years and months will have repercussions that will be felt for decades to come.

The publication highlights RSM by saying that the firm remains focused on developing new resources to serve the middle market, while staying focused on the development of its people.

Other luminaries on this year’s prestigious list include: Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas); Jay Clayton, chairman of the SEC; William Duhnke, chair of the PCAOB; Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, immediate past chair of the AICPA; George Farrah, editorial director with Bloomberg Tax; Cindy Fornelli, executive director with the CAQ; and a variety of other influencers.

Adams, who joined RSM in 1971, has been managing partner and CEO for the firm since 2011. He is a member of the Illinois CPA Society, vice chair for the governing board for the Center for Audit Quality, a member of the Board of Trustees for DePaul University and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Adams earned a B.A. in accounting and an MBA in operations management from DePaul University. He and his wife Cheryl have five children.

Accounting Today’s editorial team reviewed candidates and selected the Top 100. To access the entire list, visit the publication’s website.