Our Story
More Than Six Decades of Genuine Partnership
The names on the door have grown, but the mission has not changed
RYBD did not become one of Georgia's most trusted CPA firms by accident. It happened one client relationship at a time, over more than 65 years, built on a simple but demanding standard: serve people well, do the right thing, and never mistake a transaction for a relationship.
It started in 1957, when Don Rhodes founded Rhodes & Associates in the Atlanta area with a commitment to financial expertise and client service that would shape everything that followed. Over the decades that followed, the firm grew not through aggressive expansion but through the kind of organic growth that happens when clients trust you enough to send their friends, their partners, and eventually their children.
E. Dale Young became a partner in 1978, deepening the firm's capabilities and its commitment to the clients who had come to rely on it. Brian Black and Royce Duncan joined the partnership in 1986, bringing new energy and expertise to a firm that was growing alongside the Georgia business community it served. In 1991, the firm formally became Rhodes, Young, Black and Duncan, the name that has represented trusted financial guidance across Georgia and the Southeast ever since.
In 1998, RYBD made a move that reflected the direction of Georgia's growth, relocating from Decatur to Gwinnett County, planting roots in one of the most economically dynamic communities in the southeastern United States. Andrew Pourchier became a partner in 2012, Robin Sansone and AnneMarie Scully joined the partnership in 2020, and Josh Fricks became a partner in 2025, each bringing expertise, commitment, and the kind of genuine care for clients that has always defined what it means to be part of this firm.
What Has Always Driven Us
understanding & growing with you
From the beginning, RYBD has been built around a belief that accounting and tax services should do more than satisfy a compliance requirement. They should help people make better decisions, understand their financial picture more clearly, and move forward with more confidence.
That belief shapes how we hire, how we work, and how we measure success. We are not interested in being the firm that prepares your return and disappears until next April. We are interested in being the firm that knows your business, understands your goals, reaches out when something is worth your attention, and brings ideas and solutions to every conversation we have.
Every advisor and accountant on our team invests in understanding the businesses, families, and individuals they serve. Not because we are required to, but because we have found, consistently, over more than six decades, that genuine partnership produces better outcomes than a transactional approach ever could.
Our Core Values
the standards we operate under
The values below are not marketing language. They are the operating principles that guide how our team works with clients and with each other every day.
Act with Integrity
Our firm was founded on a commitment to doing the right thing. That means communicating honestly, even when the conversation is difficult. It means being transparent about what we know, what we do not know, and what we recommend. It means holding ourselves to a standard of care that goes beyond what is required and reflects what is right.
Take Ownership
Every member of our team takes personal responsibility for the quality of the work they deliver and the relationships they are part of. We do not pass problems along or wait for someone else to notice. We own the work, we own the outcomes, and we hold ourselves accountable to the standard our clients deserve.
Improve Daily
We believe that good enough is never good enough. Every day presents an opportunity to improve a process, sharpen a skill, deepen an area of knowledge, or find a better way to serve the people who trust us with their financial lives. That pursuit of continuous improvement is not a program or an initiative. It is simply how we approach the work.
Serve Others
Serving others is not just what we do. It is who we are. That commitment extends to our clients, to our team members, and to the broader community we are part of. We take time to listen, to understand, and to show up in ways that go beyond the work on the desk in front of us.
Create Balance
We believe that a firm that takes care of its people produces people who take care of their clients. We cultivate a work environment that is productive, positive, and genuinely enjoyable, because we have found that laughter, perspective, and a healthy approach to the balance between work and life make everyone better at what they do.
Giving Back to the Community That Has Supported Us
Our history & Community involvement
We have been part of the Gwinnett County community for more than six decades, and we take that relationship seriously. Going beyond the numbers, for us, means making a meaningful impact beyond our office walls. Our team members give their time, their resources, and their energy to organizations throughout the community because we believe that a firm with deep roots in a place has a responsibility to invest in it.
Our community partners include the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, the Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, HomeFirst Gwinnett, Path United, Ronald McDonald House, The Sandwich Project, and Sugarloaf Women's Club Charities.
We are grateful for the trust this community has placed in us for more than 65 years, and we are committed to earning it every day.
