Bob Carroll, CPA, CFP®, CDFA™

Bob Carroll, CPA, CFP®, CDFA™
Principal, Managing Director, Wealth Advisor
Cincinnati, OH

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Bob Carroll is the Principal, Managing Director, and Wealth Advisor 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.
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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.

Blogs written by Bob Carroll

About the CPA Designation

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.

About the CFP® Designation

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.

About the CDFA® Designation

The Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) designation is awarded by the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts and focuses on the financial aspects of divorce. Candidates must have a bachelor's degree with three years of relevant work experience or, without a degree, five years of experience in the field.

Relevant experience includes financial planning, family law practice, or expertise in at least three of the following areas: tax code, investment advisory or management, real estate and mortgage lending, life and disability insurance, and financial therapy or coaching. Candidates must submit their experience for approval before using the CDFA designation. 
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Divorce financial planning involves applying financial planning principles to settlement strategies, requiring a deep understanding of tax, insurance, retirement, and other financial matters as they relate to divorce. This is an advanced certification, not an entry-level designation.