About Tom Ratcliffe 

Thomas A. Ratcliffe Ph.D., CPA

Helping CPAs do things right when they try to do the right things.

Follow Tom on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tomrkeys 

Thomas A. Ratcliffe is a national-scope accounting and auditing thought leader, writer, and advisor helping CPAs throughout the country understand and appropriately-implement the accounting and attest engagement authoritative technical literature.   

Tom served as a member of the Auditing Standards Board [ASB], the AICPA senior technical committee responsible for developing auditing, attestation, and quality control standards, during the development of the clarified and converged auditing and quality control standards.  During his tenure with the ASB, Tom also served as a member of the Audit Issues Task Force [AITF].  

Prior to joining the ASB, Tom served as Chair and as a member of the AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee [ARSC], and he served on the AICPA Council.  He also is the primary contributing author to the AICPA Guide for Compilation and Review Engagements.  He served as a founding member of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee [PCFRC].  In addition to many other service roles, Tom still serves as a member of the Auditing Panel for The Journal of Accountancy.    

Tom serves as the accounting and auditing technical advisor to six different associations of CPA firms.  He authors the Bisk Education monthly Accounting and Auditing Report, the widely-used monthly update of accounting and auditing issues that is distributed nationally to CPAs in public practice and industry.  Also, Tom is a regularly-featured speaker through web-based programs, including those offered through his Plain-English Accounting membership program.  

Tom earned his Ph.D. at The University of Alabama. He has published more than 100 technical works in accounting and auditing, including several books and other documents that are widely-utilized in practice.  In 2004, based on both the quality and the quantity of his publications, Tom was recognized as one of the most prolific authors in the accounting profession.   

Tom has received numerous research and teaching awards throughout his career, including the Alabama Society of CPAs Outstanding Professional Educator award.  After winning that award for seven consecutive years, the Alabama Society of CPAs renamed the award in his honor, and he no longer is eligible to receive the award.  

In addition to his advisory and technical consulting roles with the various associations for firms, Tom serves as senior accounting and auditing technical advisor for Warren Averett, LLC, and he is Director Emeritus of the School of Accountancy at Troy University. The combination of his experiences as a practitioner and as an educator enables him to explain complex practical issues in a manner that is easily understood by fellow practitioners.