BRIAN W. MATTHEWS CPA, CM&AA

Brian joined Schneider Downs in January 2007 and has more than 15 years of public accounting experience. Brian has extensive experience providing consulting services including buy side and sell side diligence and financial modeling. Brian will be responsible for the coordination, management and overall delivery of services.

Prior to joining the Business Advisory Group, Brian provided audit and assurance services to a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, transportation and radio broadcasting, in addition to clients in the not-for-profit sector and with publicly traded and private equity owned entities.

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Do you have a hobby/personal passion?  
Hockey and golf

What was the best advice you’ve ever received?  
Treat people as you would want to be treated.

Who is your role model?  
My parents.

What was your childhood dream?  
Professional athlete, but having been a multiple sport athlete, the dream changed each season.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your college self?
After failing the Taxes I mid-term…it’ll all be okay.

People would be surprised to know that I…  
Have a 3rd degree black belt in Tea Kwon Do.  I started at 5 years old and stuck with it all the way through high school.

What is the best or most interesting thing about your career?  
I’m really helping our clients and communities be better.  My career is so much more than the stereotypical accountant.

What was your first job?  
Lot attendant and mechanic’s assistant at my dad’s garage.

Do you have a “motto”? (spoken or unspoken)  
Go for it.

When you have an hour of free time, what do you like to do? 
Relax and just enjoy the down time with my family; there’s not a lot of it!  By relax, I’m probably playing hockey or some other sport with my kids.

Do you have advice for young professionals?  
Find a career, not a job.

Our Thoughts On

FEATURED

Big Problem: A Not-for-profit Client Out Of 401(k) Compliance.


Big Thinking: Allowing More Contributions By Highly Paid Employees.

Shareholder JASON LUMPKIN serves as a Practice Unit Leader for SDAdvantage Retirement Solutions. He has more than 17 years of qualified retirement plan experience, primarily serving middle market, closely held businesses. His background includes plan design, documentation reporting, participant education, and ongoing administration for defined contribution plans, including employee stock ownership plans.
While working with one of our non profit clients, Jason’s team discovered that the organization was failing non-discrimination testing due to poor 401(k) participation among its employees. To address the issue, we recommended the implementation of a second retirement plan, a 403(b) plan, that would cover only the highly paid employees, allowing them to contribute the maximum amounts without concern for the limits imposed by the 401(k) plan’s non-discrimination testing. “These top employees were no longer constrained by the limits of the 401(k) plan testing results,” Jason said. “Plus, the organization no longer had to be concerned about the non-discrimination test. We also avoided implementing a “safe harbor” design in the 401(k) plan, which can result in costly employer contributions and vesting provisions that favor short-term employees.” Schneider Downs provides Big Thinking and Personal focus in delivering a variety of services for large and small businesses, both publicly and privately held, as well as nonprofit organizations, government entities and more. Through our commitment to thought leadership and knowledge management, we deliver the solutions our clients need with a personal commitment to service.

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