Firms on the move: BDO ‘pies’ partners for charity

Bennett Thrasher hikes the Appalachian Trail; Clark Schaefer Hackett rebrands; and more news from CPA offices across the country.

Employees from Bennett Thrasher, Atlanta, are hiking the Appalachian Trail, with proceeds going to GiGi’s Play House, a nonprofit that supports and empowers people with Down syndrome. The nine hikes, collectively dubbed by the firm “BT at the AT,” began on May 10 and will go until August, completing the entire Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail. The hikes, while benefiting GiGi’s, which is in the process of opening a second location in Atlanta, will also be a team building exercise for employees of all levels, with updates and photos shared throughout the months.

BDO USA raised $75,000 during a two-week fundraising drive to support National Red Nose Day, May 25, the Comic Relief charity dedicated to ending child poverty. BDO employees engaged in red-themed activities across the firm, including bake sales, casual dress days, and “pie-in-the-face challenges,” to support the charity and as part of the firm’s year-round BDO Counts initiative, an ongoing community outreach program. BDO USA CEO Wayne Berson urged office managing partners to set fundraising goals for each of their offices with the promise to be pie-d in the face if their staff reached the target. Berson and many office managing partners subsequently celebrated National Red Nose Day with a face full of pie. Videos of the various pies in the face are available here, here and here.

Sikich, Naperville, received the Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit’s four-star award at the SuiteWorld17 conference, recognized for its partnership with NetSuite in delivering ERP technology solutions.