History of David B. Robinson, CPA--Personally and Professionally

David B. Robinson, CPA is the only person legally authorized by the Commonwealth of Virginia to refer to themselves as a "greatcpa™." As far as the industry standards go for CPAs--he is the trademark!

Born in Richmond, Virginia in 1962 into a family of entrepreneurs, David Robinson graduated from Henrico County’s Douglas Freeman High School in 1980 and The University of Richmond in 1984. From 1984 to 1989 he was employed by the International "Big-4" firm of Deloitte Touche.

In early 1990, David B. Robinson, CPA founded a sole proprietorship accounting and business consulting firm, "David B. Robinson, CPA," operating from a home office with five clients. Through his own marketing effort, the Firm had about 30 clients two months after the commencement of operations. By December 1990, with another significant increase in the number of clients forthcoming during the busy tax preparation season, David B. Robinson, CPA moved to a one-room office location in retail space in Market Square Shopping Center in Brandermill, a large residential community in Chesterfield County, Virginia. In May 1993, after more significant growth, the offices were expanded to include more office space and a conference center. In September, 1996, the offices of David B. Robinson, CPA relocated to the Ivymont Manor House in the Ivymont Shopping Center in the Village of Midlothian. This 1850s plantation house had to undergo extensive renovations to restore the home to its original design with some more modern additions to provide a professional setting to meet with clients in a creative and synergetic atmosphere.

By August 2005, Robinson’s firm had grown to approximately 1,300 clients with seven part-time employees. Robinson merged his firm, "David B. Robinson, CPA" with Chaney & Associates, Inc. of Blackstone, Virginia to form the firm known as "Chaney Robinson & Company, Inc." Robinson’s former Midlothian office--a restored 1850s plantation house in the Village of Midlothian known as "Ivymont," became Chaney Robinson & Company’s Midlothian office.

After the acquisition of his firm, Robinson started a new company--Custer Robinson, LLC--based in Petersburg, Virginia with the specific task of working with established businesses to provide target marketing and entrepreneurial architecture services.

In September 2005, concurrent to the founding of Custer Robinson, LLC, Robinson accepted the position of Vice President and Chief Financial officer of Diversified Restaurant Management and Consulting, Inc., the management and holding company for four Virginia restaurants--Ruth's Chris Steak House in Richmond and Virginia Beach, Claiborne's Restaurant in Fredericksburg and Bottega Bistro in Midlothian.

Back in 1994, in the early days of the Internet, David’s website, www.greatcpa.com, won an award from Harcourt Brace Professional Publishing Company as one of the "Top 5 Accounting Websites."

From 1999 to 2002, he hosted and produced almost 300 live radio shows on several Richmond radio stations. His show was called "The Entrepreneurs’ Hour Radio Show."

Though he has been an editorial adviser to two national magazines, the Journal of Accountancy and LaPosta, he is also a writer himself. His first paperback booklets, written in 1977 about his great-grandfather, Charles M. Robinson, a master Virginia architect, are now kept by colleges and universities and state libraries in their rare book rooms because they are definitive works on Virginia architecture. For more about Charles M. Robinson, please visit www.CharlesMRobinson.com

He wrote a weekly newsletter about entrepreneurialism from 1993 to 2005 (over 620 issues) and has written two small paperback pamphlets (production run 10,000 each) entitled "Tales, Ideas and Quotes from a greatcpa™" that were distributed on college campuses nationwide. He has been compiling many of his ever-evolving entrepreneurial thoughts in an as-yet unpublished manuscript entitled Tales, Ideas and Quotes from a greatcpa™--THE BOOK!

He has been nationally recognized for his expertise in marketing and as a Certified Public Accountant. In 1997 Inc. magazine chose the Accounting and Business Consulting Firm of David B. Robinson, CPA as a finalist in its "Marketing Masters" award competition. Robinson was selected by the United States Government’s Small Business Administration as its 1998-1999 Virginia Accountant Advocate of the Year. Robinson was selected by Virginia Business Magazine in 2002, 2004 and 2005 as a "Super CPA," a designation conferred by CPAs upon fellow CPAs. Approximately 2-3% of Virginia CPAs receive this award each year.

Robinson is a seasoned public speaker and guest lecturer. He has previously taught Principles of Accounting at the college level as an adjunct professor, but currently confines his classroom activities to guest lecturing for a select group of professors. He also consults with other CPAs about target marketing and practice management issues.

Robinson is proud to be the Treasurer of several different Virginia not-for-profits including Art180 (www.art180.org), The Firehouse Theatre Project (www.firehousetheatre.org), Ms. Wheelchair Virginia (www.mswheelchairva.com). He also takes a leadership role with the finances of The James River Writers (www.jamesriverwriters.com). He also is the pro bono adviser and tax preparer for five additional Virginia charities.

Robinson is also a board member of the Holocaust Education Committee of the Jewish Federation of Richmond (appointed in 1997) and of Randolph Macon College’s Board of Associates (appointed in 2001), where he services as the 2005-2006 Vice-Chair. At R-MC, he is also Chair of the College’s Committee on Careers and the Board of Associates’ Committee on Counseling and Careers.