CPA firm ranks high for women leaders

SARASOTA — Kerkering, Barberio & Co., one of the largest independent CPA firms on the Gulf Coast, has been named a top public accounting firm for women leaders in the country.

The Sarasota-based firm made a list of accounting firms recognized in the 2014 Accounting MOVE Project, a program run by the Accounting & Financial Women's Alliance, a Lexington, Ky.-based organization. The project's name, according to a release, is based on factors the group looks for in the top firms: money and fair pay practices; opportunity and advancement; vital supports like work-life programs that remove barriers; and entrepreneurship and management experience.

Kerkering, Barberio was named to the project's leadership equity and women partnership list, the release states. A top score in leadership equity, the organization says, is a firm with at least 40 employees where women comprise about 38% of top leaders. That's around twice the 19% average for all firms that participated in the 2014 Accounting MOVE Project.