“What do I want to actually do?” It’s a question that many college students contemplate at one point or another. Benjamin Breed, BBA ’25, MPA ’26, has asked himself that several times over the course of his education. 

McCombs, he says, has helped him find an answer. It’s given him the freedom to explore multiple avenues for his future — all through the study of accounting.

It allowed him to try different aspects of the field, to integrate old interests with new ones, and ultimately to chart a path that combines several of his diverse passions — for automation, tax accounting, and teaching.

From Engineering to Accounting

If there are two constants in Breed’s winding educational path, they are open-mindedness and curiosity. These seeds were planted early for him: He was born to a military family, which took him across the country before he settled in San Antonio.

“Moving around like that gives you a frame of reference for how big the world really is,” he says. “That naturally made me curious about how things work beyond just where I was.”

That curiosity eventually led him to question his original career plan. His father was an engineer, and Breed loved STEM courses. But the more he studied engineering, the more he began to feel limited. He felt drawn to business, which led him to McCombs.

During his first year at McCombs, Breed immersed himself in foundational coursework before deciding on a major. He started a process of elimination, until he found what was right for him: accounting. 

The subject proved to be a strong match for his adaptability and analytical mindset. “You’ll hear a million times over the phrase, ‘accounting is the language of business,’” he says. “You peek under the hood of how most things work. If you understand that, then you could translate it to all the other sub-disciplines.”

Through his coursework and internships, he encountered two sides of the profession: the stereotypical “number-crunching” and more complex business strategy and leadership. Breed used his engineering background to solve for the more time-consuming data entry problems.

“A lot of the work is very data-processing oriented. I quickly spiraled from, ‘Man, I hate doing this,’ to, ‘I wonder if I could make it faster.’” He cultivated his skills in information technology and artificial intelligence to automate accounting tasks — he even joined McCombs’ Excel Collegiate Challenge Team, where he and his peers came up with new ways to master the software for problem-solving and complex data analysis. 

Breed says he hopes to continue using what he learned. “By automating that work, accountants can focus more on strategy and higher-value decision-making, which is where we can have the greatest impact.”

The MPA Experience

Breed took advantage of two key benefits McCombs offers for accounting students. 

He took specialized coursework in forensic accounting, leading him to a long-term internship with the U.S. Department of Justice. 

During his junior year, he applied for the integrated Master in Professional Accounting (MPA), a program that lets undergraduate students take graduate-level courses and earn a bachelor’s and master’s in five years.

Entering the MPA degree program gave Breed more space to explore the vast accounting ecosystem at McCombs. “Graduate courses are where professors really get to let their chops loose,” Breed says. “I’m an absolute fiend for learning from professors teaching their favorite niche subjects.”

Graduate studies also gave him the opportunity to develop his own chops teaching. He served as a teaching assistant for a managerial accounting course taught by clinical assistant professor Saad Siddiqui, providing support for students whose shoes he had
recently been in.

“Ben is one of those rare students who’s funny, smart, and great to work with,” Siddiqui says. “He’s an Excel wizard and has a natural aptitude for technology and accounting. I hope he becomes a professor someday. He’d be exceptional at it.” 

What’s Next

The last year of college marks another big “What do I actually want to do?” moment in a student’s life. As Breed worked through his final semester at McCombs, he kept an open mind. 

In the short term, he’s preparing for the CPA exam and stepping into a corporate role with a job at PwC Austin. Longer term, he’s hoping to explore the field of international taxation and combine his forensic accounting and IT knowledge to design tax automation technology. 

He’s also enthusiastic about teaching — something he sees as a possible chapter later in his career. “I do like the idea of coming back to teach at some point,” he says. “That’s very much a passion of mine, but you kind of have to wait and see.” 

The stereotype of accounting is that it’s a limiting or “safe” choice for a career. McCombs has shown Breed the opposite. He’s found that an accounting education can lead to a diverse array of career paths, in directions that fulfill him personally. 

“The world of business always has so many layers and complexities. As someone who has a large degree of interest, I think that McCombs has been the only place where they come together. I get to carve out my niche.”

—Amanda Waxman 

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