Rod Dooley, CPA, PFS, CFF – 2018 40 Under 40 Honoree

Career Highlights:

After graduating from the University of South Carolina in 2006, I came to work for my father in our small CPA practice with offices in Lexington and Columbia, SC.  By November 2008 I had completed the requirements for my CPA and was licensed in SC.  I balanced time in our main areas – individual and corporate tax, governmental auditing, and wealth advisory services.  In 2014, I was named a partner of our firm, which had consolidated our staff of 11 to a single office in Lexington, SC.  In addition to serving in various functions of our practice areas, I now spend a considerable amount of time with firm administration.

What are you doing to make a difference in the profession, your community, the world?

I spend a considerable amount of time serving on local community board, as there always seems to be a need for a CPA to serve.  I have served as Treasurer for the Lexington Beautification Foundation and the West Columbia Police Officers foundation for the last 10 years. More recently, I have started working with Ex Gratia Brewing as their treasurer.  The organization aims to use funds generated from a brewery to aid in the fundraising of other non profits who struggle to generate capital to perform their missions.  We are excited about the project and the local interest has certainly supported the concept.

Favorite books/websites/speakers: For pleasure reading, I am always awaiting the next Gresham or Patterson book.  When it comes to professional, thought provoking reading I enjoy anything by Josh Linkner, Tim Sanders, or Dan Burrus

What do you see yourself doing professionally in 10 years?

Professionally, I see myself focusing more on holistic advisory services for high net worth clients.  Our business model has been to develop the appropriate channels to handle all financial related needs of our clients.  I feel that clients need someone who is willing to explain and assist in managing the integration of wealth generation, insurances, and taxation to ensure that the benefits are fully maximized.  Too often we run into someone who has segmented these services and find that proper communication between all parties is non-existent.  There is too much at stake for all parties to not be on the same page.  With the advancement of technology and AI, solutions for the stand alone processes that we have been performing for years are now able to be done automatically without professional input.  Although the solutions aid the client with certain tasks – how they integrate together will still be a function that our client’s value our opinion on.

What accounting conferences do you normally attend? State society fraud conferences (SC and GA), AICPA EDGE, Cetera’s Connect Conference

What websites/magazines do you use to keep up on news of the accounting profession? CPA Practice Advisor, Accounting Today, various twitter feeds.

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See more of the 2018 40 Under 40 Honorees, and the 20 Under 40 Vendor Superstars.