As a CPA, Tom worked with several of the Big 4 CPA firms in the audit and tax areas. He served as President of the Virginia Society of CPAs, which currently has over 13,000 member CPAs. He also served four years on the Governing Council of the American Institute of CPAs.

Tom left public accounting to found Don Richard Associates of Richmond, a staffing firm specializing in placing Accounting & Financial Professionals. After 25 years, he merged his firm with ACSYS, a publicly traded firm.

He continued his career, founding an executive search firm, conducting retained searches for members on Boards of Directors.

Tom completed his working career, serving for 5 years as the Finance Manager of First Baptist Church.

He has authored three articles that were published in several statewide CPA society publications. These analyzed the US Government Financial Statements. Tom has made numerous presentations on the topic.