GREAT TEAMS START WITH GREAT PEOPLE.

Meet Jared Benedict

Please tell us about your professional background. What led you to pursue a career at MorganFranklin?

I started my career in public accounting where I had the opportunity to work as an audit manager at EY, after which I spent two years assisting with an IPO as a director of financial reporting for a mining and chemical processing company. I then returned to public accounting as a transaction services manager at KPMG.

As a transaction services manager, I had the opportunity to assist a client in reviewing and correcting acquisition and consolidation accounting entries. As I assisted my client though that process, I realized that I really enjoy technical accounting. I began working independently as a technical accounting consultant until I had the opportunity to lead the technical accounting practice from Aventine Hill Partners. Aventine Hill Partners was acquired by Vaco, prior to Vaco’s acquisition of MorganFranklin. So, there was definitely a level of dumb luck that brought me to MorganFranklin, but I couldn’t be happier with how it all played out.

What is your role at MorganFranklin, and what do you do?

At MorganFranklin I continue to assist clients in applying accounting principles to complex transactions. I will also be assisting with increasing MorganFranklin’s presence in the Texas region.

What’s the best thing about being a technical accountant?

Technical accounting provides a level of complexity that keeps the job interesting and gives me the opportunity to assist clients with real challenges they are experiencing. The fame and notoriety that comes with the job is also pretty fantastic.

You said that you were very intrigued by the Enron Scandal detailed in the book, The Smartest Guys in the Room. How did reading that book impact your work and career?

That book really started my interest in technical accounting. It gave me an appreciation for how complex accounting literature can be and for how difficult it can be to apply accounting guidance to complex situations. In short, it gave me an appreciation for how general my accounting knowledge was at the time, and an appreciation for the depth and complexity of accounting literature.

From rock climbing to backpacking to skydiving, you enjoy activities that give you a broad perspective! How is that important in life and in your work?

In technical accounting, maintaining a broad perspective is essential to establishing accounting policies that are manageable. For example, clients can often simplify their accounting policies by developing reasonable estimates that are materially consistent with the accounting guidance. I believe maintaining a broad perspective that considers both the accounting requirements and the practical business challenges of operationalizing the accounting requirements is essential to being an effective business partner.

What is your personal motto or mantra?

Doing your best today is how you become better tomorrow.

How would you describe your job to a fifth grader?

I specialize in accounting laws by helping companies ensure they are properly recording information when they do something that is new or complex.

What’s one thing that’s on your bucket list?

I’d like to go backpacking through the Andes mountain range.

What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue a career in technical accounting? 

Maintain a high level of intellectual curiosity and spend as much time studying accounting literature as possible. When you interact with clients, focus on how you can help, not on how much you know.

What was your first job?

Cleaning cars at a car wash