Robert P. Carroll, CPA, CFP®, CDFA®

Bob Carroll, CPA, CFP®, CDFA®
Managing Director
Cincinnati, OH

EMAIL BOB CARROLL

Or call 513.861.1889

“I love working with people on some of the most important aspects of their lives and do it with a client-oriented process rooted in honesty, integrity, and professionalism”

Bob Carroll is the Managing Director in the firm’s Cincinnati office.  He actively listens and discovers what issues are most important to his client.  Bob focuses on the unique financial planning and wealth management needs of his clients and their families. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™, Bob has developed a specialty in helping clients before, during, and after divorce. 

After beginning his career as a Certified Public Accountant at the Cincinnati office of Ernst & Young, he was an executive officer of Fifth Third Bank in the areas of audit, credit risk, mergers/acquisitions, and enterprise risk management. With his professional experience, Bob brings a depth of understanding to a wide range of financial topics for both individuals and businesses.

​Bob serves on the board of the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute at the University of Cincinnati and the finance committee of GLAD House.  He is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).
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In addition to his professional licenses, Bob holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University.

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About Bob Carroll's Designations

CPA – Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountants are licensed and regulated by their state boards of accountancy. While state laws and regulations vary, the education, experience and testing requirements for licensure as a CPA generally include minimum college education (typically 150 credit hours with at least a baccalaureate degree and a concentration in accounting), minimum experience levels (most states require at least one year of experience providing services that involve the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, all of which must be achieved under the supervision of or verification by a CPA), and successful passage of the Uniform CPA Examination. In order to maintain a CPA license, states generally require the completion of 40 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) each year (or 80 hours over a two-year period or 120 hours over a three-year period). Additionally, all American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members are required to follow a rigorous Code of Professional Conduct which requires that they act with integrity, objectivity, due care, competence, fully disclose any conflicts of interest (and obtain client consent if a conflict exists), maintain client confidentiality, disclose to the client any commission or referral fees, and serve the public interest when providing financial services. The vast majority of state boards of accountancy have adopted the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct within their state accountancy laws or have created their own.

CFP® - Certified Financial Planner™
The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® and federally registered CFP (with flame design) marks (collectively, the “CFP® marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”). The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification. It is recognized in the United States and a number of other countries for its (1) high standard of professional education; (2) stringent code of conduct and standards of practice; and (3) ethical requirements that govern professional engagements with clients. Currently, more than 71,000 individuals have obtained CFP® certification in the United States.

To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

• Education – Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP Board’s studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, and attain a Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university (or its equivalent from a foreign university). CFP Board’s financial planning subject areas include Item 2: Educational Background and Business Experience insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning;
• Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one’s ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one’s knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances;
• Experience – Complete at least three years of full-time financial planning-related experience (or the equivalent, measured as 2,000 hours per year); and
• Ethics – Agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for CFP®professionals.

​Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements in order to maintain the right to continue to use the CFP® marks:

• Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education hours every two years, including two hours on the Code of Ethics and other parts of the Standards of Professional Conduct, to maintain competence and keep up with developments in the financial planning field; and
• Ethics – Renew an agreement to be bound by the Standards of Professional Conduct. The Standards prominently require that CFP® professionals provide financial planning services at a fiduciary standard of care. This means CFP®professionals must provide financial planning services in the best interests of their clients.

CFP® professionals who fail to comply with the above standards and requirements may be subject to CFP Board’s enforcement process, which could result in suspension or permanent revocation of their CFP® certification.

CDFA®- Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
The Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) Program is designed to educate individuals on the financial aspects of divorce granted by the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts. Candidates must now have a bachelor’s degree with three years of on-the job experience or, if no bachelor’s degree, five years of relevant experience. Experience has been defined as the following: Financial planning, Family law practice, or Experience in three or more of the following: Tax code, Investment advisory or management, Real estate, mortgage, and reverse mortgage lending, Life and disability insurance, Financial therapist or coach A candidate will have to report their experience and have it approved prior to using the CDFA marks. Experience will be submitted through the candidate’s profile and will be reviewed by IDFA staff. Divorce Financial Planning is the application of the discipline of financial planning to settlement strategies in divorce. The process requires the synthesis of tax, insurance, retirement, and other areas of knowledge with their specific application to divorce. The eligibility requirements were established by the Board of Advisors and reflect the fact that this is not an entry-level designation but an advanced program.