Looking back and moving forward

A message for the new year from RSM US LLP Managing Partner & CEO Joe Adams

2020 promises to be a special year, marking the 20^th year of the third millennium, the 20^th year of the 21^st century and the first year of the 2020s decade. The summer Olympics will be held July and August of 2020, and we’ll have a U.S. presidential election in November.

While we’re looking forward to the exciting opportunities the new calendar year will present, I’d like to invite you to join us in a brief stroll down ‘memory lane’ as we reflect on some of our highlights from 2019:

We enhanced our ability to serve the middle market.

• We gathered insights from 700 middle market C-level executives to inform our quarterly Middle Market Business Index, which provided our clients with economic insights, including:
  • The Trade War Spills Over Into the Middle Market.
  • Middle Market Leaders’ Outlook Soars Due to Robust Economic Performance.
  • Middle Market Leaders’ Outlook drops amid economic skepticism.
• We worked with Avelead to automate the revenue cycle for middle market health care providers to reduce processing errors and protect revenue.
• We joined forces with St. Petersburg-based Gregory, Sharer & Stuart to expand our presence in the growing Tampa Bay market.
• We announced a partnership with UCLA Anderson Forecast, a quarterly economic outlook for California and the nation, to further elevate the economic insights we provide our middle market clients.
• We released an anti-money laundering survey, which assessed AML departments from more than 200 commercial banks and credit unions to gauge best practices and challenges.
• We released a report exploring cybersecurity concerns and vulnerabilities for middle market businesses.

We innovated.

• We named Scott Wilson as our new audit innovation leader.
• We received Plug and Play’s Cybersecurity Corporate Innovation Award.
• We named Dan DiPlacido as our national automation leader.
• We named Zackery Reichenbach-Carr as our director of data analytics within our Acceleration Center for Innovation.
• We continued to enhance our focus on innovation by naming new national leaders to focus on technology, automation and digitization.
• We announced a strategic partnership with technology and life sciences accelerator, OCTANe, to further drive innovation and fuel growth for companies in Southern California and beyond.
• We launched a technology experience center to empower middle-market business leaders through state-of-the-art technology.
• We announced our CEO Innovation Fund for employee-led initiatives.

We supported our communities.

• We donated more than $3.8 million through our 2019 Birdies Fore Love program, bringing the grand total raised for charities benefitting children and families during the first 10 years of The RSM Classic to more than $17 million.
• Nearly 3,700 of our people participated in more than 100 volunteer activities nationwide through our annual Volunteer Week.
• We joined the PGA TOUR to kick off RSM Birdies Fore Love for the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season, bringing the total raised through the program to more than $1 million this year to benefit children- and family-focused charitable organizations.
• We announced a “Shot at College” program in coordination with the Zach Johnson Foundation and Kids on Course.
• The RSM US Foundation donated more than $258,000 to those in need during our firm’s biennial owners’ meeting.
• We awarded $100,000 in scholarships through our Power Your Education program.
• We joined nearly 200 other companies supporting legal protections for transgender people by signing the Business Statement for Transgender Equality.

We provided opportunities for our people.

• We named Christi Mack as our Southeast market leader and member of our national leadership team.
• We promoted 80 of our people to partner/principal positions.
• We announced our second class of the firm's Industry Eminence Program, our cutting-edge program which positions senior analysts to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the industries RSM serves.
• We helped nine of our people see their dreams come true through our Pursue Your Passion program, which provides nine employees with $10,000 each and nine paid-time-off (PTO) days to pursue a personal passion.

Our people were recognized.

• Jessika Garris, a healthcare senior analyst in our Industry Eminence Program, was recognized by Consulting magazine with a Women Leaders in Consulting award.
• Our very own Sergio de la Fe was named by ALPFA as its 2019 Executive of the Year.
• Kate Seitz, a partner in our Chicago office and national leader of our InspirAsian employee network group (ENG), was awarded the 2019 Ascend Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) High Impact Leader Award.
• The Association of Government Accountants (AGA) named Boston partner Ernie Almonte as president of the national Association for 2019-2020.
• Consulting magazine named RSM’s Ty Beasley, our Dallas office leader, one of its Top 25 Consultants.
• Adam Lohr, partner and life sciences senior analyst, was selected as one of the San Diego Business Journal’s 2019 Next Top 40 Business Leaders Under 40.
• The AICPA recognized Michaela K. Christian from our Des Moines office with its 2018 Elijah Watt Sells Award.
• Consulting magazine named our very own Seth Bacon and Addison Blackwell as Rising Stars.
• Jason Alexander, principal and industrial products senior analyst, was named by Diversity MBA to its 13th annual list of Top 100 Under 50 Emerging and Executive Leaders with Advanced Degrees.
• Dan Peltz, partner in the firm’s transaction advisory services practice, was recognized by The M&A Advisor as a winner of the publication’s 10th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards.

Our firm was recognized.

• We were named to the “Best Employers for Diversity” list by Forbes.
• Channels Futures ranked RSM among the World’s Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers.
• We earned designation as a Great Place to Work Certified Company.
• Barron’s named RSM US Wealth Management LLC to its 2019 Top 50 RIA Firms list.
• Working Mother named RSM one of its “Best Companies for Dads.”
• We were named by Working Mother as one of its 2019 100 Best Companies.
• Consulting magazine named RSM to its 2019 Best Firms to Work For list.
• Modern Healthcare ranked us No. 10 on its 2019 Management Consulting Firms list.
• We were ranked No. 2 on Construction Executive’s Top 50 Construction Accounting Firms list.
• Inside Public Accounting named RSM to its 2019 IPA 100 list.
• We were named to the 2019-20 Inner Circle for Microsoft Business Applications.
• Channels Futures ranked us among the World’s Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers.
• We were recognized as Microsoft’s 2019 MSUS Partner Award Winner for Business Applications – Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.
• Accounting Today ranked us No. 1 on its VAR (value-added resellers) 100 list for 2019.
• Host Analytics recognized RSM as Global Systems Integrator (GSI) Partner of the Year.
• RSM ranked No. 1 on Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs.
• Accounting Today ranked RSM US Wealth Management LLC No. 4 on 2019 Wealth Magnets List.
• Computerworld named RSM to its 2019 list of 100 Best Places to Work in IT.
• We were recognized by Cornerstone with its 2019 Client Rave (Remarkable Achievements and Visionary Elites) Award in the Visionary in Performance Management category.
• We were named by Prophix Software as a Partner of the Year for our innovative use of technology.
• We received Oracle NetSuite’s 5-Star Partner award.
• We were named NetSuite’s Partner of the Year for the seventh straight year.
• We earned top marks in the 2019 Corporate Equality Index, receiving a perfect score of 100 on the nation’s premiere benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
• Accounting Today ranked us No. 5 on its Top 100 list.

We celebrated.

• We celebrated the 10^th anniversary of The RSM Classic, welcoming Tyler Duncan to the RSM “family” as winner of the 2019 tournament, which serves as the ultimate client experience for our clients and friends.

In the coming year, we at RSM look forward to continuing our commitment to understanding the unique issues, challenges and opportunities facing the middle market. We’ll continue to use that understanding to provide innovative, forward-looking insights to help middle market businesses succeed, regardless where in the world they might operate.

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2020!

Note: For more details about our 2019 recognitions, visit the Awards and Recognitions page of our website.  For more details about our firm’s successes in 2019, visit our Newsroom.