Debbie is a Director in the Roanoke office with over 30 years of experience in public accounting. She leads the client accounting and advisory services department for the Roanoke, Lynchburg and New River Valley offices.
She joined BE in December 2004. She is involved in the construction niche on both the audit and tax sides, as her clients are focused on both financial reporting issues as well as tax implications.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
We interviewed Debbie to get to know her, outside of her profession, and we were surprised to learn that she would like to visit every National Park. She has visited quite a few but has many more to go.
I was born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. I moved to Roanoke over 30 years ago.
In my free time, I love spending time traveling, hiking, reading and being with my family. I have three children, one married, one engaged and one who is just getting started with adulthood. They are all scattered, so whenever we are able to all get together, it is really a wonderful time.
For my next adventure, I am planning a trip to Scotland and Ireland. I have never been, so I am looking forward to touring historic sites, exploring many towns and villages, and meeting the locals with my husband.
I am a Tolkien nerd. I love all things Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Simarillian books, movies and TV series. I love how Tolkien was able to create this entire world including different languages for each race. My whole family loves those stories so much that we named our puppy Frodo Waggins (after Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings).
I don't think there is any food that I couldn't live without except for coffee. Coffee is the one thing that I need every morning to start my day.
I took an accounting class in high school. I thought it was fun and easy, so I decided to get my degree in accounting. Little did I know that everything I learned in my high school class would be covered in the first couple of weeks in college! But I love puzzles and I feel like every client's books is just a puzzle that needs to be solved. I guess that's why I end up with clients who come to me for help getting their books cleaned up.