Who We Are at Griffin & Furman, LLC

Stephen Griffin and Robert Furman began their careers in public accounting in 1992 and 1991 respectively. In their early years, they worked together at a certified public accounting firm in New Orleans, Louisiana. In September of 2000, after his son was diagnosed as severely autistic, Mr. Griffin started his own practice.

Not long after, he and a contract employee discovered fraud at a Credit Union in New Orleans. The Board of Directors at the Credit Union was forced to fire the Credit Union’s entire accounting department and asked Mr. Griffin to staff it for them. Thus began the firm of Griffin & Company, LLC.

Mr. Furman joined the firm as a partner in 2001 and the firm evolved into Griffin & Furman, LLC. The firm offers attest, accounting and tax services to credit unions, for-profit businesses, not-for-profit entities, government entities and individuals.

Dedicated Certified Public Accountant Team

No more evident was the firm’s dedication to their clients than during the time following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Days after the hurricane struck New Orleans, the Board President of that same Credit Union in New Orleans called Mr. Griffin and Mr. Furman and asked them to return to the city and obtain a backup tape from the Credit Union. Management had evacuated with the wrong backup tape. And so they did. Mr. Griffin and Mr. Furman entered New Orleans via boat with an armed escort to reach the Credit Union.

That same dedication to their clients remains today and is demonstrated by the partners and staff of the firm. Please allow us the opportunity to exceed your expectations.

Call Us for Tax and Accounting Services

Certified public accountants for credit unions, small businesses and nonprofits, state retirement systems and tax accountants for businesses and individuals.

(985) 727-9924

Meet The Team

Stephen M. Griffin
CPA, Managing Partner

Mr. Griffin is the founding member of the firm. He began his career in public accounting upon graduating from the University of New Orleans in 1992. His emphasis is on credit unions, state retirement systems, accounting, individual & business taxation, and a variety of attest services. Mr. Griffin is a member of the American Institute of CPA’s and the Society of Louisiana CPA’s where he has served on their financial institution committee. He also recently served on the Finance and Capital Campaign Committees for Raphael Village in New Orleans. Mr. Griffin enjoyed coaching high school basketball for many years, and the girls’ team he coached at Christ Episcopal High School in Covington won a state championship in 2018. He was selected by City Business as one of their 2018 Money Makers.

Robert J. Furman
CPA, Partner

Mr. Furman has been a partner in the firm since 2001. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Alabama in 1991. Since that time, Mr. Furman has accumulated diversified experience in accounting, auditing, and tax matters in a variety of industries including construction, healthcare, non-profits, governmental entities, and credit unions. He oversees all of the firm’s opinion audit engagements. Mr. Furman is a member of the American Institute of CPA’s and the Society of Louisiana CPA’s. While he spends much of his spare time keeping up with the activities of his eight children, he does find time to volunteer his time and talents to several school organizations and the Mandeville Soccer Club of which he has been treasurer since 2007.

Jessica S. Benjamin
Director of Tax and Accounting

Mrs. Benjamin received her accounting degree from Spring Hill College in 2006. After working for a public accounting firm in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama for two years, she relocated to the Northshore area and joined Griffin and Furman, LLC. As Director of Tax and Accounting, Mrs. Benjamin has oversight of our individual and small business clients. She really enjoys the daily interaction with those clients and loves getting to know them on a personal level.

Racheal D. Alvey
Director of Credit Union and State Retirement Services

Mrs. Alvey began her career in banking upon graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2009. She has served as Manager for the past several years, where she has had direct oversight of our attest and accounting services. Racheal loves to work on site with our clients whenever possible. She especially enjoys using her Excel knowledge to help streamline monthly and quarterly services including Call Report preparations and data entry. Most recently she has helped various Credit Union’s with prepaid setup, accrual posting, and updating their Fixed Asset listing.

Michael R. Coate
CPA, Director of Baton Rouge Services

In 1980 Mr. Choate obtained his accounting degree from LSU, and in 1989 received his Masters in Business Administration also from LSU. In 1981, he passed all four parts of the CPA exam; a feat achieved by only 10% of US candidates. Michael was named one of Baton Rouge’s top “40 Under 40” by the Baton Rouge Business Report in 1995. Michael is licensed with the State of Louisiana to sell life and health insurance. He is also a registered representative and holds a series 6 license. His professional organizations include the Louisiana Society of CPAs, the AICPA, the Baton Rouge and St. Tammany West Chambers of Commerce, the Baton Rouge Better Business Bureau and the EBR Lions Club (past President). Michael was born in New Orleans and has lived in Baton Rouge for over 50 years. His hobbies include LSU sports, golf, travel, and spending time with family and friends. He and his wife Laura, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Tenured Full Professor at LSU, are members of Grace Life Church. Michael and Laura have a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Abigail.

Leslie R. Gainey
Manager of Tax and Accounting

Mrs. Gainey began her career in accounting in 1988 after graduating from Delgado in New Orleans. After working in various industries over the years and acquiring unique work experiences by wearing many different hats, she found her home with Griffin and Furman in 2016.

Angela M. Warden
Manager of Credit Union Compliance

Mrs. Warden is part of the Auditing Staff for the firm. She graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2014 and began her career in the Credit Union world in 2015. She quickly learned her way through the operational positions of a Credit Union and worked her way into Operational and Branch Management. Mrs. Warden works remotely for the firm where she enjoys performing the behind the scene preparation for the team on most of our Credit Union attest engagements. She is also in charge of the majority of our Credit Union Compliance engagements. She enjoys assisting the Credit Union with the convenience of performing their audits remotely with less interference in the Credit Union’s daily operations.

Linda M. Alford
Tax & Accounting Supervisor

With a Business Administration and Management degree from Delta State University, Mrs. Alford was the broker/owner of her real estate agency where she found her niche in commercial and HOA property management. After 14 years managing her agency, she served as CEO/Manager of a Mississippi credit union and spent over a decade overseeing the financial institution and the needs of its members. She has a strong QuickBooks and bookkeeping background and brings a deep well of management and financial industry knowledge and experience to Griffin & Furman.

Blake C. Scott
Audit Senior

Mr. Scott joined our auditing team starting in January 2021 after graduating from LSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. At LSU, he specialized in Internal Auditing and is continuing his education as he pursues his MBA through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Since starting at Griffin and Furman, Mr. Scott has enjoyed interacting with clients and looks forward to future work with clients.

Griffin A. Hakenjos
Audit Senior

Mr. Hakenjos graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Prior to joining Griffin & Furman, he gained three years of audit and accounting experience at a CPA firm in South Louisiana. Mr. Hakenjos enjoys working with and getting to know the audit clients that we serve.

Lisa Raynal
Tax and Accounting

Ms Raynal is a skilled QuickBooks accountant and income tax preparer with over 14 years of experience with CPA firms in Baton Rouge. Lisa graduated in accounting from LSU.

In her leisure time Lisa likes to read, watch the Food Network and Animal Planet, play with her dogs, and visit with friends and family.

Noah S. Griffin
Staff Auditor

Noah is a graduate of Loyola University – New Orleans, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance. Noah received the prestigious Dean’s College of Business Award at graduation and was an All Conference Academic member of the Loyola basketball team. Noah’s previous work experiences include working with Northwestern Mutual.

Andrew J. Barré
Staff Auditor

Mr. Barré graduated Southeastern Louisiana University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. After an internship with a local CPA firm, Mr. Barré joined our auditing team in January 2022, where he enjoys attest and audit engagements.

R. Keith Griffin

Tax & Accounting

Mr. Griffin started his career in Austin, Texas, in the quality control department for a start-up product manufacturer. He quickly worked his way up to Production Supervisor and Processing Lead, and he brings those skills to our office in West Monroe: analyzing data, investigating issues, and identifying solutions. He brings unique perspectives and experiences to Griffin & Furman.