The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) has named RKL Partner Bethany Novis one of its four Women to Watch award recipients for 2021. This award program celebrates women who enhance the CPA profession with their personal success and commitment to fostering the success of others. Novis and her fellow honorees were celebrated at PICPA’s 2021 Women’s Leadership Conference, held virtually on June 22.
As clients turn to RKL for guidance on a growing range of challenges, Novis is uniquely positioned to help them prepare for what’s next. As leader of the Consulting Services Group, Novis directs the growth and profitability of RKL’s consulting capabilities and fosters the professional development of a team of more than 50 consultants.
Novis is one of Pennsylvania’s leading forensic accountants and a highly credentialed valuation expert. Rather than imparting her expertise through traditional mentorship, however, Novis created a new model to leverage her leadership role and entrepreneurial vision into compelling development opportunities for her team members.
Continuous, open dialogue lets Novis detect new professional interests among her team. She then connects (or creates) an outlet for the team member’s passion, develops their potential and provides ongoing support. In the past two years alone, Novis’ ability to sync individual interests with emerging demand resulted in the expansion and growth of RKL’s data analytics capabilities and outsourced accounting solutions and Human Capital Management practices.
Novis’ early interest in specialized financial disciplines gave her an advantage in spotting challenges facing organizations. She trains her team to ask deeper questions, discuss broader business matters and suggest bolder ideas. Her success in developing the next generation of engaged business advisors solidifies RKL as a dynamic professional services leader and helps shape the future of the CPA profession.
Novis also makes her mark on the community, holding various volunteer leadership positions with the United Way of Lancaster County over the past three decades. Since 2011, she has served as Chair of the organization’s Women United group. Under Novis’ leadership, Women United adjusted its grant application and approval process to ensure its donations make the biggest impact on the health, education, and financial stability of local women and families.
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