About the Founder
Erica Benedict
I started BMS in 2016 after leaving over a decade long career in small business sales consulting. I enjoyed spending my time doing that but my real passion for business has always been in finance and numbers. Finance is the language of business and financial reports are puzzles that translate into concepts that are very useful in the success of any business. I have always loved a good puzzle. While working full time, I continued to further my education in accounting and finance and ultimately chose to get my BBA in Finance from the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston (Go Coogs!)
When I graduated in 2012, I was ready for a change. I had options in banking and financial management, but nothing could compete with what I had going on in my career at the time. I enrolled part-time in an accounting post-graduate course while I continued working in sales. I could never see myself in the CPA career path, quitting a successful sales career to spend the next several years at a big four firm - overworked and underpaid, with hopes of eventually moving up the ladder. I love accounting, but I love my life outside of work too.
At my work, I often partnered with CPA firms because we shared clients. Two things became apparent very quickly. Accountants have a really hard time speaking outside of their own language and rarely do business owners see the value in their CPA. Whether it was cost or personality, most felt like the relationship was a little more than a necessary evil. They all seemed to be in need of the same thing, someone who could help with the day-to-day and the big stuff at a cost they could afford. And they all had the same problem, they couldn’t find one.
Eventually, it clicked. I love this stuff, have the education for it, and have a real passion for helping small businesses. Starting my own business was the perfect next step for me. I could work with both people and numbers! So that's what I did. Now I have a career doing something I really love to do. I honestly am more and more thankful for it every day.
A native Houstonian, I now live in beautiful Austin, Texas. Although I spend a lot of time working, I do strive to work to live - not the other way around. When I am not nerding out on financial reports (seriously), I am either traveling somewhere new in the world, out enjoying what every Austinite does: live music and nature, or at home focused on my personal passions: studying music, playing piano, gardening, hiking, and boxing.
Thanks for reading my story. If you think we'd work well together, please reach out!
With peace, love, and gratitude,
Erica