Fuego Fino

WRITING CHECKS TO WOMEN: FEMALE FOUNDERS WHO SUPPORT GENDER BALANCE BY WIELDING THE POWER OF THEIR CHECKBOOKS.

founder @ Fuego Fino

Published on Feb 25, 2021

Fuego Fino, an eco-friendly alcohol importation and wholesale company, has hired CPA Becky Gibbs, in a continued effort to give business to firms that promote women in the workplace.

“As we move into the next level of fundraising, it was important to me to find a female accountant. Professional services receive some of the largest checks that a company issues, and if one of the largest checks that I write is to one of the half-a-dozen males who dominate this segment of account services, I have done nothing to further the cause of female empowerment. I never want to be one of those female founders who says that women have a place in this world but when you look up the professionals they support, they are all men. It took me a few months to find a female CPA who provides these services, and that speaks volumes. However, I’m confident that more female CPAs will enter this professional arena and more female founders will step up and start practicing what they preach,” says Jessica Contreras, CEO of Fuego Fino, Inc.

About CPA Becky (Brisendine) Gibbs

Becky is involved in the audit and accounting department for Boyum Barenscheer. She handles audits, reviews, and compilations for small to mid-sized companies and not-for-profit organizations. She works in many different industries such as manufacturing, distribution, construction, and agribusiness, along with various types of nonprofits. Becky also helps clients improve their accounting and internal control functions. Her specialties include accounting, reviews, compilations, audits, consulting, and business process improvements.

“Working with other female business leaders has always been an empowering motivator for me, as I have looked up to these women. I have been able to further my career and become a partner in my firm because of them. I want to continue to help women business leaders as much as they have helped me and be an example to future female executives as they pursue their passions,” says Becky (Brisendine) Gibbs.

The Movement Towards Gender Equality in Accounting

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest association that represents the accounting profession. AICPA has been around for more than 130 years. They develop auditing standards for private companies, educational materials, exams, and compliance. Recently, AICPA created a Women's Initiatives Executive Committee (WIEC). Per the AICPA website, this committee's mission is to “...promote and support the success of women to advance the profession together.” A 2019 Gender CPA Firm Gender Survey showed that 23% of partners at CPA firms were women. Although women are making a name for themselves in accounting, firms with over 10 CPAs do not show equal advancement for women. At some of the largest firms, women cannot make it above the senior associate level to director or non-equity partner.

The survey also showed what was being done to help tackle pay disparities and bias. Thirty-nine percent of firms monitor pay disparity between genders, and 85 percent of those firms acted to close any gaps on these pay disparities. The field also shows progress, with the promise of more women being represented due to initiatives and substantial benefits that are offered with the aim of attracting and advancing women in the workforce.

About Fuego Fino

During the global pandemic, when many companies were turning their strategic focus inward, Jessica Contreras’s women-led company expanded upward. As it has grown, Fuego Fino, Inc. has been a proud sponsor of a gender-balanced workforce, while at the same time pushing the envelope of environmental responsibility by becoming one of the first wine-and-spirits firms to regularly purchase carbon offsets. 

For more information, please visit our website: https://fgfino.com