Jeffery Mowery’s career in accounting began after college where he served as a tax manager for five years before earning his JD from Loyola University and LLM in Taxation from DePaul University and practicing as a tax attorney. After joining another CPA firm, he met his current business partner Keith Schoenfeld and the two joined forces in search of a better, more personal way to serve their clients with a focus on continuously acting as their most trusted advisor.
Mowery & Schoenfeld was co-founded in 1996 and Mowery has served as the managing partner since 2008. Mowery & Schoenfeld is a full-service, innovative public accounting firm specializing in tax, assurance, accounting, consulting, wealth management and technology with a mission to help clients and the team achieve success.
Under Mowery’s leadership, the firm has grown to 160+ employees across eight service lines and expanded service offerings and growth to a 925 percent increase in revenue. Mowery moved the headquarters to Lincolnshire and opened three additional satellites, with the firm now operating in the Chicago Loop, Florida and the Philippines. During Mowery’s tenure, the company has acquired six firms and has branched out into offering clients managed IT services.
“Jeff has built our wealth management practice to the top 150 of accounting firm wealth management practices from the ground up and we never stop listening to the needs of our clients to drive growth,” said his colleagues. “Jeff has worked to ensure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong within our firm’s leadership, leaving endless opportunities for growth, expansion and success into the future.”
As an entrepreneur, Mowery is known for never saying no to an opportunity, no matter how unconventional it may be. “He inspires the entrepreneurial spirit in his staff and colleagues, encouraging our managers, senior managers and other partners to take chances, make mistakes and celebrate the victories.”
Mowery has also inspired an award-winning philanthropic initiative – M&S Cares – with a mission of helping charities help children. As a result, the firm has been recognized with the Illinois CPA Society’s Time and Talent Volunteerism Award and the Association for Accounting Marketing’s AAM to Serve award. Personally, Mowery has been named the Accounting Today Managing Partner Elite and the National Academy of Public Accounting Professionals Top 10 Public Accounting Professionals in Illinois.
As a leader, Mowery has put high emphasis on the culture of the company. “I have tried to instill a people-first culture in our firm because our success has resulted from building the team and continually working to improve it,” he said. “We are always seeking to improve the firm and are never satisfied – we reject the status quo.”
For his unwavering entrepreneurial spirit, Mowery has been named a titan.
