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We made the list! “Top Workplaces” awards RoseRyan for the third straight year

For three years running, RoseRyan is being recognized as a Top 100 Workplace! This year, we’re ranked 11th in the small companies category, surging up the Bay Area News Group’s Top WorkplacesTM list by 25 spots.

What did it take to get here? It’s all about our employees—they filled out confidential surveys and gave us high marks. Their votes of confidence in our organization is affirmation of our distinctive culture and how we do things. The survey takers concluded RoseRyan has strong overall organizational health and job satisfaction.

Finding the right fit

It feels right. When consultants join our firm, that’s the sense they get. They’re in the right place, at the right time in their career. They’ve accumulated the level of skills and experience in finance and accounting to seamlessly become a valuable part of finance teams in some of the world’s fastest moving companies, leaning on their past experience to deftly solve problems and tackle tricky transactions. Our consultants come in at just the right time to bridge a gap or to help clients get things done. We help companies build solid finance foundations, take the next step forward, meet their milestones and make the right finance moves.

Top Workplaces 2017

The sense of accomplishment our gurus feel as they get things done in the field is just one of the many reasons why our employees are happy here. And it contributes to why, even in this tight talent market, we are able to attract so many new consultants to our dream team.

A magnet for top talent

At RoseRyan, our consultants work in the best of both worlds—stimulated by a variety of challenging assignments at cool companies while also taking part in our own firm’s culture that’s open, supportive and connected.

This year’s Top 100 Workplaces survey results highlight three stellar strengths about our workplace:

  • Alignment: It’s all about teamwork and positive attitudes. Our culture is built upon a clear set of values. Employees feel their work is appreciated and meaningful.
  • Connection: We have a distributed workforce—most of our employees are continuously embedded in various client sites—but we all manage to keep bonded and well-informed about what’s going on, thanks to regular communications from CEO Kathy Ryan and a variety of employee-led special projects and activities.
  • Effectiveness: To achieve the best possible results for clients, we actively encourage different viewpoints from consultants. It’s a smart way of carrying out due process on a solution—and it keeps fresh ideas flowing when employees know their opinions are meant to be heard.

We have a reputation for helping with the right finance skills at just the right moment to calm the chaos or restore order when needed. Perhaps a company is going through a rough patch or needs a gap filled on the team. Our gurus’ natural tendency to “get things done” fast and efficiently from doing it so many times before translates into happy clients. And the positive feedback our consultants receive adds to their job satisfaction.

We love getting things done here in Silicon Valley and it shows. We excel at helping innovative companies reach their milestones, shift gears quickly and surge ahead. And we’re thrilled it’s getting noticed.

Like what you see here? If you think you’d fit right in with the RoseRyan culture and you have the right stuff, we’d love to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for top talent—full-time and part-time. Contact Michelle Hickam at [email protected].

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Round of applause for Salena Oppus, winner of RoseRyan’s TrEAT Award

Efficient, reliable, respectful and inspiring—those are a few of the words that immediately spring to mind when describing senior consultant Salena Oppus, the recipient of this year’s RoseRyan TrEAT Award, which honors the guru on our dream team who best exemplifies our values (Trustworthy, Excel, Advocate and Team).

The TrEAT Award is a coveted honor within our firm. Our four values are part of our overall culture’s foundation and guide RoseRyan’s gurus as they work together, help clients and contribute to our firm’s overall success.

They’ve helped us form a supportive culture made up of people who consistently go above and beyond in helping clients, collaborate with one another, and are team players in every scenario. The evolution of our cultural journey has enabled us to launch consultant-led initiatives, to have more innovation and risk-taking, to be more open in our communication and to build a stronger community. We have been named a Bay Area Top 100 Workplace for the past two years, and on a national level, we were named a Great Place to Work. These awards are based on employee input and largely reflect our culture and how our employees feel about it.

The large number of nominations over the past year spoke to the common thread that our culture encourages. Each one gave a reason why a consultant should be considered for the award.

“They all described ways that we each live our values each day—how we support each other, support our clients, enhance our reputation in the market and contribute to the growth of the organization,” said RoseRyan VP Pat Voll during a company meeting when Salena was announced as the TrEAT winner by RoseRyan CEO Kathy Ryan.

Salena’s TrEAT prize is a gorgeous hand-blown glass bowl in the shape of an open shell that can be admired as itself or stuffed with special treats.

Congrats to Salena Oppus!

As the ultimate team player in our office and within her clients’ finance organizations, Salena was noted by her peers for being quick to volunteer for projects, expressing her opinions in an honest, straight-forward and respectful manner, and being a creative thinker.

Feedback from our clients demonstrates Salena’s talents in being able to “hit the ground running,” thoughtfully observing client workflows and offering insightful recommendations for streamlining and efficiency moves that the client hadn’t considered. These are qualities we look for in all our consultants, who have the can-do attitude, nimbleness and deep set of finance skills to seamlessly fit in with technology and life sciences companies around the San Francisco Bay Area. Salena becomes an integral part of her clients’ finance teams to solve problems and get the work done.

A well-deserved honor

Salena thrives when helping clients (which have included Nvidia, Onmeon, Netflix and Quantum) reach their goals, and in turn her clients benefit from her enthusiasm, out-of-the-box ideas and problem-solving skills. She can dig into the details and then pull back and assess improvements a company needs to make, such as ways it can make the most of its resources and time.

“She lives the values of honest communication, being reliable, having the courage to say the things that might not be well received, doing what’s right for our clients and, above all, being a good friend,” a coworker wrote when nominating Salena for the TrEAT Award.

The inclination to bring the best ideas forward and be helpful in every situation fits right into our collaborative and supportive culture. “I was so excited when I heard I won the TrEAT Award,” says Salena. “I am gratified that my colleagues took the time to nominate me, as I truly admire and am inspired by their expertise and talents every day.”

As one of those colleagues said, Salena is an “amazing teammate.” Thanks for being a part of our team, Salena!

Like what you see here? If you think you’d fit right in with the RoseRyan culture and you have the right stuff, we’d love to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for top talent—full-time and part-time. Contact Michelle Hickam at [email protected].

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A defined culture and a clear strategy: How the two are a “winning” combo

Here’s a tip about growth (we have many up our sleeves): The smartest strategy ever won’t work if the company’s employees are unclear about the execution plan and don’t hum as a team.

At some companies, particularly those bound to crash and burn, senior management and employees operate on divergent paths, not completely understanding one another or what’s going on. They’re muddled by a disconnected culture.

More than 20 years in this business, we’re experiencing the opposite at RoseRyan, united by a defined culture that’s earning its fair share of accolades. We are enormously pleased to have received a spate of fabulous honors that recognize our awesome, distinctive culture, our mix of talented people and our innovative spirit. Wahoo!

 

Recognized as a high-trust, high-performing workplace

RoseRyan has recently received a new national distinction—we’ve been certified as a Great Place to Work® based on anonymous surveys by our employees. The folks behind the Great Place to Work certification come up with the annual Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For®” list every year.

Employees rated us highly for management credibility and integrity, high levels of respect and a warm sense of camaraderie, and they are proud to say they work for RoseRyan. They also feel extra effort and great work are recognized.

 

Scored a spot on the “Top 100 Workplace” list for the second year

The Bay Area News Group has once again included us on their Top 100 Workplaces list. The list is based solely on what our folks say about our leadership, direction and execution.

Our consultants raved in particular about how they know our strategy, understand how we get things done efficiently and how senior managers have a grip on what is really happening at our firm. We have a long-term strategy in place, and everyone is well informed. We’re forthcoming about our plans and keep our employees informed through regular all hands meetings, virtual chats and casual get-togethers.

 

Founder Kathy Ryan noted as an innovator

RoseRyan founder and CEO Kathy Ryan received honorable mention for CPA.com’s Innovative Practitioners 2016 Award thanks to our in-house developed software application that manages our scheduling, timesheets, skill sets and more behind the scenes. This award recognizes innovations in process, services or technology implementation in accounting firms. Our Dream Team System (DTS) has been spearheaded by Matt Lentzner, who heads our IT efforts.

 

RoseRyan tops equity list for women

For the second year in a row, we ranked high on a national equity leadership list for the accounting sector. Each year the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance and American Women’s Society of CPAs recognize firms with high proportions of women partners and principals in the accounting field. Our executive team is composed entirely of women: Kathy and vice presidents Maureen Ryan and Pat Voll—a rarity in the industry.

 

Why our culture sets us apart

Since she founded the firm in 1993, Kathy’s mission has been to gather a diverse and really smart, talented group of finance aces who provide outstanding work every time. We hire people based on experience, brains and how well they align with our values. Our emphasis on diversity and working with amazing people are both aspects of our culture.

Grounded by four core values (to be Trustworthy, to Excel, to Advocate, and to be a great Team player), RoseRyan’s winning culture is something that is reinforced and nurtured over the years by a special internal team creating special programs. It doesn’t “just happen” but is the culmination of lots of internally orchestrated effort. Our values are our center of gravity, how we get things done, and how we interact with each other and clients. It’s teamwork and open communications all the way.

Our culture is also one of the main reasons we’re able to attract and keep top people in this time of a war for talent. They like a place that is exceptionally friendly, flexible to their needs on employment arrangements, and is supportive and teamwork oriented. Not many companies are truly this way. It’s quite a feat to create this kind of company in today’s hypercompetitive world.

Like what you see here? If you think you’d fit right in with the RoseRyan culture and you have the right stuff, we’d love to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for top talent—full-time and part-time. Contact Michelle Hickam at [email protected].

For more about our winning culture, read all about how it developed, in a recent Accounting Today column by RoseRyan Vice President Pat Voll.

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5 reasons I have no regrets about leaving the corporate world and becoming a consultant

I recently left the corporate world after nine years. I loved my job as a controller, but my life had become my work. Working 16- to 18-hour days, plus weekends, practically nonstop, left very little room for time with my 15-year-old son and no time for me. I kept thinking things would ease up. Until one day I decided to stop waiting and do something about it.

I had barely started applying for other positions when I heard from Michelle Hickam, our wonderful recruiter at RoseRyan. After my first conversation with Michelle, I knew that I wanted to be with the RoseRyan family. Michelle talked about the sense of camaraderie at the firm, which was something I had yet to truly encounter in my career. Once she gave me the insight regarding the consultant life, I instantly started visualizing myself with RoseRyan.

Months later, I’ve only been here for a short amount of time, and I am so happy that I am with such a great company and great people. Here’s what I picked up about RoseRyan in just my first few weeks:

1. No politics to be found. With RoseRyan folks, newbies are supported as much as the veterans. Everyone I’ve encountered so far has made me feel welcome and part of the family. I was nervous meeting CEO Kathy Ryan for the first time, but she was very welcoming and made me instantly feel like this is where I belong. She gave me the impression that we are all in this together—our individual successes help us as well as our clients.

2. Siloes don’t exist. Over time, some companies build impenetrable walls between departments, leading to an attitude of every team for itself. That’s not an issue here. As consultants, we sometimes work separately, with different clients, but we’re all part of one big team. Everyone has been so helpful by letting me know I can reach out to any one of them if I have any questions or concerns.

3. Work/life balance is possible! I didn’t give “work/life balance” much thought until I joined RoseRyan. But around here, people talk about their activities outside of work. They’re all hard working but they make time for life too. My son and I can reserve Sundays for whatever we want to do—together. Vacations are no longer nonexistent or at risk of getting canceled at the last minute.

4. Morale is a positive one. Uplifting encouragements are a constant at RoseRyan. Other employees have introduced themselves and have offered me tips and assurances. I feel like they’re rooting for me.

5. We’re continuous learners. One of the things I love about RoseRyan is the emphasis on love of learning. RoseRyan offers training that enables consultants to advance their skills, keeping them marketable and competitive. RoseRyan makes sure that we all have the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful.

I’m grateful for my time in the corporate world. It’s where I learned how to deal with tough situations, and where I refined methods for consolidating financials, budgeting and forecasting, managing cash and making currency conversions. But it was time to move on, to try new things, and learn something new. It was time to see what the consulting world had to offer me.

And, most importantly, it was time to reconnect with my son (time with a teenager ticks fast!). Working for RoseRyan has made me realize that I can still work very hard without having to sacrifice my family and the things I love to do.

Anna Cruz joined RoseRyan as a consultant in April 2016. She previously was a controller at Playphone, regional accounting manager at Culligan and an accounting manager at Pepsi Bottling Group.

We’re always on the lookout for top talent—full-time and part-time. So if you like what we’re about—and you have the right stuff—contact Michelle Hickam or call her at 510.456.3056, x134. See our current job openings here.

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How to best manage a finance project with several consulting firms involved

Naturally, at some point, a company will yell out a widespread call for “help!” Faced with a complex project or a tricky transaction, they will need to rely on outside experts and consultants who can get them through it. Companies generally don’t have round-the-clock full-timers who can fill every need that pops up.

The call for assistance may require more than one resource, such as legal expertise, an audit firm or consultants, who can dig into a complex technical accounting matter (like, ahem, RoseRyan). When managing multiple firms on a special project, it helps to consciously build good relationships from the get-go. The service providers can mutually benefit and so can you. I noticed this firsthand during a recent engagement with one of our enterprise clients.

I can’t speak for other service providers, but I have found that teamwork during these projects is truly powerful. It can require a conscious effort to work well together, which in the end can result in better efficiencies and superior results for the client than otherwise may have occurred.

1. Prepare for the unexpected. I was recently working on an ongoing fixed assets project that involved very manual processes. Then everything changed. The client announced a big structural move that put all hands on deck and all milestones on super-crunch mode. Tight deadlines were immediately established. Everything became time sensitive.

When you’re overseeing a big finance project involving multiple people from different firms, whether the team is onsite temporarily or you’re dealing with full-time staff, everyone will look to you—you set the tone. When you’re prepared for potential issues, you’re more likely to be calm when there is a shift in strategy and you can get everyone focused on what they need to do next.

2. Request everyone document new processes. This takes some up-front work but can be a big time saver in the long run. New processes get developed as the team works with managers and other employees, and those new processes should be documented in detail and with illustrations. This was a common practice during the work we were doing and saved us whenever we need to get a new team member up to speed. When everyone has a point of reference, double work can be avoided and so can redundant discussions.

3. Encourage teamwork. When you have a mix of talent from different firms, you’re getting the best of everyone—their particular specialties all at once. You’re also creating a scenario where the people involved may not instinctively act and behave like a team. By letting everyone know you expect them to work closely with each other, keeping everyone and you in the loop, you’ll create a team even if your time together is fairly brief.

Sometimes this can be as simple as setting up a respectful atmosphere and treating everyone like a cohesive unit with multiple people on your status emails as well as regular group meetings. It’s more efficient when everyone is on the same page, and you benefit by getting a coordinated effort by your business partners.

At the beginning of one of the projects we did for this enterprise client, a RoseRyan team member identified a way to automate a process, and she shared that knowledge with the entire team. She could have kept the information to herself and let others on the team try to figure it out for themselves, but that would have slowed things down. The greater good (the end results, efficiencies and project success) should rule the day, not personal agendas or letting one service provider look better than another.

On this project, we heard from the client afterward that we all made a great team. We had “a perfect combination,” according to the client, of experienced consultants from RoseRyan who supported and trained the more junior-level team members from another firm.

The result: The client’s budget stayed on track, we met the deadlines, and the formation of a great team won us great trust all around. We’re team players through and through.

As one of RoseRyan’s finance aces, Susan Tan specializes in general accounting, consolidation, FP&A and financial modeling. She has been with us since 2010.

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Meet the Boomerang Bunch: 5 RoseRyan alumni return home

RoseRyan is thrilled to welcome back five finance aces who worked with us earlier in their careers. In the time since their last stint with us, these returning employees have sharpened their skills and gained new insights. They’ve worked at high growth, fast paced companies, experienced acquisitions firsthand from the inside, and had amazing, once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities. And now they have come back. Why? To experience the positive points of the consulting life.

Who knew we’d have five RoseRyan alumni coming back out of the corporate world during an all-out talent war. We are pleased as punch to get these savvy finance pros back in the fold.

We’re not the only ones getting reacquainted with some all stars. In a survey of over 1,800 HR professionals by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc. and WorkplaceTrends.com, 85 percent of respondents said former employees have sent them job applications over the past five years, and 40 percent said about half of those former employees were hired. Taking back “boomerangs,” the report revealed, didn’t used to be so common, but has become more acceptable for industries in the middle of the battle for talent.

A big draw for any of our consultants is the variety of assignments at high tech and life sciences companies, the ability to jump in and actively grow a company, the latitude and individual autonomy to get things done, and a predictable schedule so that they can have a life. It’s OK to actually take vacation, spend time with their families and tend to their hobbies, we think. Not many companies think that way. It also helps that we’re an award-winning firm that our employees believe is headed in the right direction—evidenced by our earning a coveted spot on this year’s Top 100 Workplaces list in the Bay Area.

So who’s returning? We’re delighted to re-introduce these folks: 

LIZ BARCLAY

An expert in SEC reporting, technical accounting, SOX, revenue recognition, M&A and international accounting, Liz left us for several years for some exciting international assignments and adventure. She worked the SOX front at Maxtor. Liz was also the SEC reporting manager, SOX manager and AP manager at Power Integrations, most recently handling SEC, accounts payable and international due diligence work in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. “I was drawn to RoseRyan for its work/life balance and more flexible work options,” she says. “Consulting leverages my career’s wide and deep experience while giving me the opportunity to make family events.”

LYNN CHRISTOPHER

Lynn first got to know RoseRyan as a client, when she was the controller at Blue Coat Systems. She’s joining us after an eight-year gap with a solid résumé of controllerships at Force 10 Networks, Responsys and most recently Adap.tv, which was purchased by AOL. Lynn is a force to be reckoned with when clients need revenue recognition expertise, SEC reporting help or assistance going IPO. 

CLARISSA ENANY

With audit prep and technical accounting among her top talents, Clarissa gives the rest of us a reason to visit the Seattle area, her home base. A KPMG alum, she most recently was the assistant controller at DocuSign, where she managed the month-end close process, accounts payable and payroll. Clarissa was with us for over three years taking on SEC filings, stock-based compensation work, and assignments for our Technical Accounting Group. “I love having the opportunity to work with multiple clients and see a variety of issues each week,” Clarissa says. “My work with RoseRyan allows me to spend time with my family while maintaining my professional edge in accounting.”

LAURA MAGALLON

Laura brings a mix of senior leadership thinking and nitty-gritty accounting expertise to everything she does. Since her first consulting tour with RoseRyan, she has held VP of finance and controller positions, and she has fine-tuned her passion for startups and newly funded companies. She loves setting up financial structures and ramping up companies from the start to grow phase of their lifecycle. Laura’s specialties include the month-end close process, FP&A, accounting systems, SOX, revenue recognition and audit prep. What brought her back to us? She loves the flexibility that comes with being a consultant plus the benefits package we provide our gurus. Plus, the camaraderie and support she gets here can’t be beat. “I really like working for Kathy Ryan—she’s a great boss and mentor,” Laura tells us. “And we have a great team of consultants!”

SUSAN WONG

Susan was here at RoseRyan from 2007 to 2012, working closely with startup clients. She knows the controller and CFO roles inside and out for both small businesses and midsize companies. Her expertise includes cash flow management, audits, business strategy, budgets and debt/equity financing. To top it off, in her spare time she teaches finance at UC Berkeley Extension and Menlo College, where she is an adjunct accounting professor.

All of our seasoned pros want to stretch and grow professionally. We love to provide them with a variety of assignments and challenges to help them do just that. They strive to stay on top of their game. They have found a supportive place in RoseRyan, where we have a healthy learning and development focus, an enviable list of clients, and our culture is known for being friendly and respectful, and for doing the right thing. No sharks here!

Sure, we’re always disappointed if a consultant jumps off for a hot corporate job. But we’ll be here to welcome them back.

LI profile pictureDoes RoseRyan sound like your kind of place? We are hiring! Check out our current opportunities here. As Talent Manager at RoseRyan, Michelle Hickam is always looking for finance and accounting pros who have strong technical chops as well as “soft skills” for melding into our clients’ corporate cultures. She’d love to hear from potential candidates. Email her at [email protected].

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