Men on the Scene: Brian Carter

Having a gift for math is what led Brian Carter to become a Certified Public Accountant. What has kept him engaged and excited about his career for the past 23 years is looking beyond the numbers to help clients achieve their missions. Carter is a partner with Mauldin and Jenkins, a Top 100 CPA firm that just celebrated its Centennial last year. He works broadly in tax, auditing and business, but has a specialty in working with nonprofit organizations as does the firm. “CPA firms are expected to do the right job whether that’s an individual tax return or an organizational audit,” Carter says. “We do that, but our firm also has a high degree of partner involvement with clients, and we provide value added services to our nonprofit clients at no charge.” He personally conducts continuing education programs for clients with subjects intended to inform nonprofit leadership about financial topics. Benchmarking is also an important, and sought after, service. “Our clients provide us with organizations they would like to compare themselves to,” Carter says. “Using GuideStar, we show them where they stand across a variety of financial metrics.”In addition to philanthropic support of local nonprofits, he and others in the firm provide substantial volunteer support with quarterly community projects. These have included support for the Salvation Army, Humane Society, Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity. Carter also serves as President of the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature and on the boards of the PACE Center for Girls and Manatee Chamber of Commerce. He’s just approaching his one-year wedding anniversary, and he and his new wife, Bethany, enjoy spending time together on the water and taking advantage of the area’s many other amenities.