Meet TSCPA Member: Joe Decosimo, CPA
This year, TSCPA Life Member Joe Decosimo turns 100 years old, and he is still going strong. When most people retire, they hope to shift away from the profession of their working years – but not Decosimo. Every morning, he can be found at Decosimo Corporate Finance, LLC (DCF), one of the businesses he founded during his career, where Decosimo’s presence at the office – and around his beloved Chattanooga – continues to be an inspiration to all that encounter him.
Early Life
Born to an Italian immigrant father and a French immigrant mother, Decosimo was the first of his family to ever graduate from high school. Thanks to the GI Bill, earned through his service in the Navy during World War II, Decosimo obtained his accounting degree from the University of Georgia. Decosimo then took his Chattanooga bride and fellow 1949 Bulldog classmate, Rachel, to Chicago, where he would earn an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University – “a life-changing opportunity,” according to Decosimo. The young couple, with the first of their nine children, were then summoned home to Chattanooga by his wife’s mother.
All in the Family
After being told by the first CPA who hired him that “he wasn’t cut out to be a CPA,” Decosimo joined Hazlett, Lewis & Bieter. He remained at the firm until 1971, when he formed Joseph Decosimo & Company (JD&Co) with the help of two young CPAs, Jerry Adams and Marion Fryar. The elder Decosimo would soon be joined by his sons Nick, Fred, and Tom and his daughter Rose. JD&Co would grow into one of Tennessee’s largest and most influential CPA firms, employing over 300 people.
Career Expansion
According to Tom, his father “always eschewed the green-eyeshade accountant mentality,” choosing instead to focus on dynamic and entrepreneurial businesses, many of which became large private and public companies. As he assisted growing businesses, clients were amazed at the amounts of capital that Decosimo could raise with a few phone calls. He formalized his investment banking acumen in forming several investment funds and in being the founding chair of DCF, a broker-dealer member of FINRA/SIPC specializing in sell-side advisory, debt and equity sourcing, and business valuation.
Service to the Profession
Decosimo joined the society in 1954, the same year he earned his CPA license. Ten years later, he was elected chair of the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy. He served as chair of TSCPA from 1964 to 1965 and remains a member of TSCPA Council to this day.
A Community Leader
Despite the time dedicated to his work and helping his wife raise their family, which includes 72 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Decosimo has been significantly involved in the civic and cultural fabric of Chattanooga. Among the many honors he has received over the years, Decosimo says his induction into the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Business’ inaugural Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame is one of his most proud accolades.
This article was originally published in the May/June 2025 Tennessee CPA Journal.