Tom Prothro

Tyler-Area CPA Appointed To State Board
By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor, Tyler Paper

Tyler certified public accountant Thomas Prothro has done something that his peers have not done for at least three decades.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Prothro, president of Prothro, Wilhelmi & Co. Certified Public Accountants of Tyler, to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, pending Texas Senate approval.

If approved, Prothro will be the first board representative from the area in more than 30 years, according to at least one prominent local accountant.

"What it means to me as a certified public accountant in Texas is one of the highest honors you can have," said Prothro, 51, whose first meeting is set for May 28. "I just got my first agenda book."

Prothro said he expects the Senate to approve his appointment, with members serving a six-year term.

Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass, a partner-officer for Gollob Morgan Peddy & Co. in Tyler, also called it a prestigious appointment.

"Having a member appointed to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy from our region is enormous," Ms. Bass said. "This is the first appointee from the East Texas chapter of TSCPA that I recall in my 30-plus years in the CPA profession."

Prothro's appointment was announced in a Gov. Perry news release Thursday.

The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy serves as a regulatory body over Texas certified public accountants. Its duty is to examine, certify and license CPAs and review complaints and lawsuits involving them.

Prothro is a Tyler native who graduated with an accounting degree in 1979 from the University of Texas at Austin.

He spent four years working for a Dallas firm before joining a Tyler firm in 1983, staying there almost a decade. He founded his own firm here in 1992.

Prothro is a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the East Texas Chapter of TSCPA.

He also is past president of the Rose City Kiwanis and a member of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler Development Board, City of Tyler Tax Abatement Committee and Leadership Tyler.

Prothro, who lives with his wife, Kimberly, in Tyler and has two grown children and three grandchildren, said accounting has more variety than people think.

In addition to accounting work, his company handles taxes, audits and consulting, he said.

"I like the variety of the work," Prothro said.

He said his way to the state board came via application, and the governor's staff conducted a telephone interview with him.

When asked why he would want to serve on a state board, he said, "It's my way of giving back to our profession. Texas has some of the best CPAs in the nation, and I want to help keep it that way."