Ben Brackmann - Audit Staff

Debbie Sessions, PKM partner and COO, was quoted in an article that mentioned the firm in Catalyst Magazine’s September 2008 issue. The article titled, “Do Happy Employees Equal a Better Bottom Line?” talks about PKM and how our firm promotes the psychological health of our employees as a top priority.

The article states, “Consider Porter Keadle Moore, an accounting firm that promotes the psychological health of its employees as a top priority. The company mandates vacations before heavy tax seasons and has early release Fridays in the summer. Employees are encouraged to put their families first and are offered part time, flex time and work from home options to do so. Employees are mentored, given opportunities for professional development in and out of the office, and follow a Career Track Planning Guide.”

To read the entire article written by Collette McKenna Parker, click here.

Debbie Sessions - Partner and Chief Operating Officer

PKM has won its fourth annual Practice Innovation Award from Practical Accountant magazine. This is the ninth year the magazine has recognized firms that take a lead in developing new or improved services and in promoting efficiency in the practice of public accounting. Thirty-two firms were recognized this year in the categories of staffing initiatives, focus on business development, enhanced firm culture & operations and technology tools.

PKM was recognized in the staffing initiatives category. Here’s a snippet of what Practical Accountant had to say.

“PKM has done a lot to ensure that it remains a ‘Psychologically Healthy Workplace,’ for which it recently garnered an award from the American Psychological Association and the Georgia Psychological Association. Their efforts have kept turnover well below the national average and kept the results of employee-satisfaction surveys glowing.

PKM has implemented a number of steps to make sure that their being ‘psychologically fit’ isn’t a one-off. Employees are surveyed for anonymous feedback on how the organization can be improved, and the results are shared with employees along with specific initiatives that will be developed to address improvement areas. The firm promotes work/life balance with remote/home office technology to help in teleworking, as well as flexible schedules, and part-time employment, and the firm prepares staff for stressful periods by mandating pre-busy season vacations and early-release summer Fridays.”

To see what else the magazine had to say about PKM, read the entire article here.

Debbie Sessions - Partner & Chief Operating Officer

In March of this year PKM was very delighted to receive the 2008 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) in recognition of our firm’s workplace practices that promote employee health and well-being. PKM qualified for this award because the firm is a previous winner of the Georgia Psychological Association’s state-level Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award.

PKM is one of only five organizations from across North America to receive the award this year and is the only public accounting firm in the history of the awards to be honored by the APA. A recent article written in the Atlanta Business Chronicle highlights our firms achievements. Visit the website to view the full article.

Laura Snyder - Director of Marketing

At PKM we pride ourselves on standard-setting service with a personal touch. We have broken away from the industry stereotypes and created a work environment that is based on flexibility, communication, and fun! Having such an enjoyable work environment makes life much more enjoyable for our employees and clients.

On March 9, 2008 our efforts at creating such a unique culture were rewarded when PKM was presented with the American Psychological Association’s 2008 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award. PKM was one of only five organizations from across North America to receive the award this year. The firm won in the for-profit category for businesses with fewer than 100 employees. PKM is the only Georgia company and the only public accounting firm in the history of the awards to be honored by the APA.

At PKM we promote employee involvement through programs that encourage ideas and innovation to flow in all directions. These programs also facilitate employee solutions to business issues through fun, game-like competitions that develop individual problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. PKM also promotes work-life balance by recognizing our employee’s productivity rather than hours worked. We strive to maintain and improve tailored solutions, such as flexible scheduling, part-time employment, and work-from-home options.

The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists. The APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare. Their Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards are designed to showcase the very best from among the award winners recognized by APA’s affiliated state, provincial and territorial psychological associations. Nominees for the awards are evaluated on their workplace practices in the areas of employee involvement, health and safety, employee growth and development, work-life balance and employee recognition.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a psychologically healthy workplace or applying for an award for your organization you can visit the PHWA Website at www.phwa.org.

Laura Snyder - Director of Marketing

In a time when corporate scandals continue to make the headlines, it is so rewarding to work for an organization that is recognized, not for its unethical behaviour, but instead for doing the right thing. Today, Howard Wolosky, the Executive Editor of a leading accounting publication, Practical Accountant, commended PKM’s Managing Partner, Phil Moore, in his article entitled “Choices by a CEO, a CFO, and an Accounting Firm.” The article, which outlined the legal ramifications of two highly publicized corporate scandals, provided a glimmer of hope to readers at its conclusion. Hope came in the form of knowing that not all companies are unethical. He said, “in all three situations, conscious decisions were made and there was probably no expectation by the participants that that they would eventually receive public recognition at the same time, or that they would have the direct and indirect short- and long-term consequences that they will have.” Thanks, Howard, for seeing the connection and focuses on the positive and not just the negative.

Patrick Kim - Manager

Yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to attend an awards ceremony where PKM received the 2006 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award. This event was hosted by Ed Baker, publisher of the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Dr. Joni Prince of the Georgia Psychological Association. I am very proud of our organization and always have been, and to have an outside organization publicly recognize PKM for doing what we do was a great moment for me. I believe that we always try to make the office and the work environment a fun place, which creates a positive work environment. The 2006 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award recognizes our ability to acknowledge the link between organizational performance and employee health and well-being and the practices we are active with to not only recognize that link but also make that connection.

Laura Snyder - Director of Marketing

PKM’s very own, Debbie Sessions, is featured predominently throughout an article in the current issue of Accounting Today entitled, “Look Out Below! Taking a Hammer to the Glass Ceiling.” Debbie, in her role as Partner and Chief Operating Officer, helps the firm to develop internal programs that enable women (and men) to better manage work and personal responsiblities. Through flexible work schedules, teleworking and reduced schedules, PKM demonstrates its understanding of the importance of maintaining healty work/life balance.

Debbie is well versed in the field of work/life balance and has been involved on state and national levels with gender and work/life balance initiatives within the CPA community. Through a series of workshops, she consults with other firms on the issue of work/life balance and helps professionals:

• Understand and value gender differences
• Utilize gender-based strengths to embrace new challenges and opportunities
• Build a business case for alternative work patterns
• Achieve a healthier, long-term work/life balance

Laura Snyder - Director of Marketing

You really never know how far the Internet can reach, until you’re trading e-mails with someone overseas at 9:30 PM! Last night, I discovered that PKM’s Off the Ledger recruiting blog was read by an accounting professional in the UK. Dennis Howlett posted a comment to our blog and featured our site in a post on his blog at www.accmanpro.com. He commented “Yours is the first firm I have come across anywhere in the world that is not only open, but understands the value of innovation to the business and its clients. Great stuff.”

Off the Ledger was also mentioned on the blog authored by Rick Telberg at the Bay Street Group at http://www.telberg.com/telbergblog/archives/476-Porter-Keadle-Blogs-for-Recruits.html#comments. He commented “Hats off to PKM…” for starting a recruiting blog.

Greg Foster - Partner

At PKM, we believe that ideas and innovation should flow in all directions, not just from the top down. To encourage this thought, the firm developed a unique problem-solving program called INNOFIX - short for Innovation Fixation. This program recently earned PKM a Practice Innovation Award from Practical Accountant , one of only 30 firms throughout the nation recognized for its achievements.

INNOFIX allows the firm to unleash the problem-solving ability of its employees by giving all employees a chance to make a difference. Through periodic competitions, INNOFIX helps to identify “problems” within the firm and define “solutions” for improvement. INNOFIX affects all aspects of the firm (i.e., recruiting, retention, compensation, culture, services, scheduling, work/life balance, marketing, client relations, education, quality control, technology).

We believe that all employees have the power to innovate, to change the client experience, to give the firm a competitive advantage, to make the firm more productive and profitable, to reenergize the firm and set examples for the industry.

To that end, we also believe that you have the power to help us innovate. We want this blog to be helpful to you. So, please let us know what we can do to make it better.