Celebrating Diversity
We’re in the homestretch of this year’s first busy season, and everyone is in high gear, with the April 15 tax deadline just days away. But as stressful as this time of year always is for accountants, there is actually a reason to celebrate April, which is Celebrate Diversity Month. Diversity & Inclusion is a big theme at Marcum, and busy or not, we’ve found ways to join the celebration.
Food is one of the best ways to experience different cultures, and since we serve dinner seven days a week leading up to Tax Day, in this final week of busy season each of Marcum’s offices served different cuisines every night.
And while everyone is in their local Marcum lunchroom or cafe, they can take a minute to sticker the Marcum Heritage Map to indicate the country of their family’s roots or with which they most closely identify. Our HR team will aggregate the results later this month and share them Firm-wide, which will be a great way to visualize and recognize the breadth of diversity on the Marcum team.
Taking that idea a step further, we are also conducting a “This Is Us” raffle, where associates can win a free DNA testing kit by submitting a short paragraph about their families and what makes them special. The submissions will be shared on our internal Diversity & Inclusion portal, which will introduce many (hopefully) of our people around the country to each other. And who knows what the raffle winners might learn about their own families? As regular readers of this column know, family is very important to me. We actually did 23andMe last year and every month I get an email with new distant relatives I didn’t know existed.
As if the end of busy season and the approach of summer aren’t enough reason to celebrate, we may have more reason to look forward to Memorial Day than most people. Memorial Day is Marcum’s first office holiday of the year. We work straight through the other days that many companies take off in the first months of the year, with our eyes trained on the end of April. We face many deadlines during the first part of the year; February 28 (broker-dealer financial statements), March 15 (corporation & partnership tax returns), April 15 (individual tax returns), April 30 (private company financial statements) and May 15 (public company quarterly reports). Our associates have more than earned their long weekend break, with those enticing summer weeks stacked up right behind it, and I hope they all take full advantage of the chance to kick back, relax and recharge. Hang in there, team! We’re almost there!
Another thing we’re looking forward to is Marcum’s annual Summer Leadership program. This is when we bring in the best and brightest senior accounting students from colleges across the country to give them a taste of what life at Marcum is like.
We’re an entrepreneurial firm that serves entrepreneurs, and the curriculum is geared to give the students a deep dive into areas like leadership, team-building, and problem-solving in true roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on entrepreneurial spirit. It’s always fascinating to meet the diverse group of student-stars who spend this time with us. And it’s certainly a window into our profession’s next generation, where their talents lie, and the things that are important to them.
Speaking of talent, it’s been a particularly complicated tax season, our first since the new tax law took effect, and I’m grateful every day to our incredible team. I’d be remiss without acknowledging their hard work and dedication. Let me close by thanking each and every one of them for the extraordinary effort they put in to serve our clients during busy season and throughout the year, and the sacrifice they and their families make. And to thank you, our clients, for your confidence and trust in Marcum. It is a privilege to be your accountants and advisors.
