FORTY Under 40: Robert Gaddy

Robert Gaddy, senior tax associate RH CPAs.

Gaddy was born in Misawa, Japan. His mother was in the navy when she had him. He originally went to school for engineering but later realised he should have gone into accounting to begin with. He went back to school starting at Central Piedmont Community College before returning to the University of North Carolina to finish his bachelor’s then master’s degrees in accounting. 

Looking back at your journey over the past year, what accomplishment are you most proud of, and how has becoming a FORTY Under 40 finalist influenced your perspective on that achievement?

The accomplishment I am proud of is my knowledge of captives and life insurance. Through continuing professional education (CPE) credits and working with more experienced accountants in insurance, I have been able to go from asking many questions to answering the questions of others on the details of captive insurance tax work.

“Reviewing the work of others required me to show patience and a willingness to guide others to the right answers.”

What key challenge did you face in your work this year? How did you overcome it and what did it teach you about leadership at this stage of your career?

Going from preparing to reviewing projects, as I work toward becoming a tax manager, being able to do the different parts of the job is essential. Learning to review returns required more understanding of the client than an understanding of the tax rules. In addition, reviewing the work of others required me to show patience and a willingness to guide others to the right answers as well as teach them how to find the answers for themselves, rather than simply give them the right answer.

In what ways have you tried to push innovation or rethink traditional approaches within your sector, and what impact has that had on your team or organisation?

I have been pushing for more automation of tax work through programme than do the basic entry using AI or basic coding within the framework of our tax software. This allows staff to focus on accuracy of client data and provide more one-on-one service over traditional data entry of a tax return. The impact on my department has been to increase efficiency for those who want to learn the new process.

How do you see your role evolving over the next three to five years, and what initiatives are you most excited to pursue as you continue to grow professionally?

As I do plan to be promoted in the next year to manager, I see my role not only evolving because of that but also with the increase of AI and automation of basic task which will push the tax profession to be more individual client oriented instead of “churn and burn”, trying to complete returns quickly rather than providing one on one service. AI is likely the biggest thing shaking up the tax profession now days like so many other occupations, I am excited to see how such tools will improve my ability to serve our clients and expand our available services that are readily available.

Many of the FORTY Under 40 winners are recognised for both business success and broader impact – how do you balance professional excellence with contributions to your community or industry landscape?

I am not currently very involved in the broader captive community, though as my role at the firm changes, I hope to change that and be more active within the captive insurance industry and the many events that are available to be a part of.

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