How did Senior Manager Aaron O’Dell get his start in Employee Benefit Plan Audits?

Aaron O’Dell is one of the most knowledgeable members of Kruggel Lawton when it comes to Employee Benefit Plan Audits. Watch this short video to learn how he found his niche in Benefit Plans and how his experiences helped him become an expert in the field.

For more information about our Employee Benefit Plan Audit services call 574.289.4011 or visit klcpas.com/services/ebp-audits.

To learn more about Aaron O'Dell and his role at Kruggel Lawton, click here.

TRANSCRIPT

I started employee benefit plans the same way probably a lot of people did, in public accounting. I started at a large national firm, and did benefit plans as “summer filler work.” When I moved to South Bend, I worked strictly in compliance, so I set up plan documents and did compliance testing. I worked on that for a couple months before they realized that I had audit experience. Then they said, “you’re not doing anymore compliance work, you’re going to work strictly on audits.” So I did that for roughly a year, moved back to Knoxville, and worked for a regional firm. I worked on a little bit of everything, but I did a lot of benefit plan audits – I probably did about 20 benefit plan audits a year. When I came over to Kruggel Lawton, I came over with the promise of working on a little bit of everything, but quickly transitioned into strictly benefit plan audits, and I have really enjoyed it ever since I made that transition. It really helps me to focus year-round on all the issues that can come up within a benefit plan audit. Whereas, if I wasn’t focused on strictly benefit plans, I’d be getting pulled into multiple different industries, working on multiple different things, and it wouldn’t give me the level of expertise that I’ve been able to be provided with the opportunities that I’ve been given with Kruggel Lawton.