Bauknight Pietras & Stormer CPAs add Bartley and Jerome as firm partners
December 1, 2021
Bauknight Pietras & Stormer, P.A. (BPS), announced that Allyson Bartley, CPA, and Kristen Jerome, CPA, have joined the firm’s leadership team as partners. The new partners will assume new strategic and operational responsibilities for the South Carolina-based, nationally ranked accounting and tax consultancy firm.
Commenting on the announcement, BPS Managing Shareholder Russell Bauknight said, “It is a distinct pleasure to welcome Allyson and Kristen to our leadership team. They truly earned this opportunity. Their respective talents as tax and audit/assurance advisors and their unwavering commitment to our team and our clients, especially over the last 20 months of unprecedented disruptions and pandemic-related changes, proved they have what it takes to lead BPS now and in the future. I could not be more proud of our new partners.”
Bartley and Jerome, both parents of young children under the age of nine—they each have two—credit BPS and its dynamic, inclusive work environment, with helping them achieve the perfect combination of work-life balance in the demanding field of public accounting, a career they both love.
Allyson Bartley, CPA
Bartley joined BPS in 2018 as a senior manager in the firm’s Tax Practice after working for more than a decade with a large regional accounting firm. A mid-career jump is never easy; however, Bartley says BPS welcomed her into the firm and provided the pathway and support to a partnership role while respecting her family commitments. Bartley lives in Ward, South Carolina, and despite the 100-mile round-trip commute and 2020’s pandemic disruptions, she is quick to credit BPS with helping her balance career and family.
Bartley has a wealth of experience advising closely held businesses, multi-state corporations and partnerships, along with high-net-worth individuals. She advises clients on a wide range of tax matters, researches and implements tax planning strategies, and is also involved in the tax implications of acquisitions and divestitures, company reorganizations and succession planning. Bartley is also involved in the development of BPS staff.
A graduate of the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business with a B.S. and a Master of Accountancy, Bartley is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. She is active in the community, serving as treasurer of Richland Springs Baptist Church, board member of the Wyman King Academy, and treasurer of the Academy’s parents association.
Kristen Jerome, CPA
Jerome joined BPS in 2010 soon after graduating from the University of South Carolina and rose from staff accountant with the firm’s Audit and Assurance Practice to senior manager. She has the distinction of being BPS’s youngest partner, an achievement she reached with two children under six.
Jerome is the group practice leader for BPS’ large construction industry clientele. She also provides business advisory services and assurance engagements to clients in the distribution and technology industries. She has a special interest in helping clients solve unique problems and has expertise in special practice areas including transactional services (buy and sell-side), business models and forecasts, executive compensation strategies, IRS and DOL compliance programs, and best practice assessments.
A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Jerome earned a B.S. in Accounting and Insurance/Risk Management, with a minor in Italian. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, and is an advisor to Leadership Columbia as well as a 2014 graduate. Jerome is also a member of Columbia Real Estate Women and a graduate of the Prime Global Leadership Institute. Columbia Business Monthly recently named Jerome among the top 35 Women in Business for 2021.
About Bauknight Pietras & Stormer, P.A. (BPS)
Established in 1991, BPS is among the Southeast’s premier accounting and consulting firms and among the largest locally owned public accounting firms in South Carolina with 50 Certified Public Accountants and 30+ professional staff. BPS is a strategic partner to clients in the insurance, construction and real estate, employee benefits, hospitality, manufacturing and distribution, professional services, telecommunications, and technology industries. BPS is a member of Prime Global, an association of private accounting firms, and was recognized as one of America’s 50 Best of the Best Firms in 2020 by INSIDE Public Accounting, the top tax advisory firm in the U.S. by Captive Review, and in 2019 was recognized by Forbes as among the top recommended tax and accounting firms in America. Learn more at www.bpscpas.com.
