About Us

After attending Virginia Tech, David began a career at the United States Postal Service. Being a numbers and a people person, he started preparing taxes from his home office in 1992. After 18 years of government work, David left the Post Office in 2004 and opened the current Roanoke location. Now, 20 plus years later, we have  additional full time, year-round employees including his son Austin, who manages the second location in Salem. Other than taxes, David is licensed for Life and Disability Insurance and enjoys assisting clients with not only taxes but Retirement Planning. When not working, David enjoys traveling and spending time with family. Maybe the occasional round of golf!

Upon graduating Lord Botetourt and after Virginia Western, Austin Kembel entered the Insurance business before becoming the first full-time family member to join our team. Austin is not only adept at income tax preparation, but he also spends a lot of time with our Life and Disability Insurance clients. He primarily manages the Salem office and keeps both offices up to date with the latest in technology. When he's not working Austin is an avid sports fan. Actually, being a new father, Austin has no more hobbies! His beautiful wife Anna and son Owen keep him pretty busy.

Lisa joined us in the Fall of 2018. We are so excited to have her! She brings 22 years of experience not only preparing income taxes but managing other tax preparation offices. She's an Enrolled Agent, meaning she can represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service. Lisa's experience extends to bookkeeping and payroll services. She's easy to talk to, a good listener and can make the complicated tax code sound a little less intimidating. Lisa works at both our Roanoke and Salem offices during tax season. When not working, her favorite hobby is spoiling her granddaughter.

Tricia is one of the first friendly faces you'll see when you enter the Roanoke office. She has been in office administration for 15 years. Because she can't say no, she's helped David off and on for the past 15 years and now assists all year round. She helps us with administration, bookkeeping, payroll and generally keeps David focused on running the business. When not in the office she enjoys being with her children and making memories with family and friends.

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John is a Roanoke native attending Cave Spring High and Virginia Western.  He has worked in the area of finance for his entire career of over forty years.  Retiring from a local government finance department over ten years ago, he has continued in the private sector processing local, state, and federal returns for the small business community.  He handles payroll, sales tax, meals tax, and sundry locality taxes.  He prepares income taxes during tax season.  He is semi-retired, very much a car guy and enjoys working in his workshop when not at work.

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After a 32 year banking career with Wells Fargo, Kelly joined the Kembel Tax Service team in September of 2023.  Kelly and her husband, John, have also been Kembel Tax Service clients for over 10 years. She is looking forward to seeing new faces along with all her returning clients. Kelly and John stay very busy with their two girls, Paylin and Lakyn, who participate in church, band, softball, soccer, cheerleading, and many volunteer opportunities.

Chad joins the KTS team after 17 years as an office administrator and manager in the jewelry industry. At KTS, he is the dedicated payroll specialist, assisting clients with payroll and various tax needs.  In addition to those responsibilities, Chad will help administratively during the busy tax season. In his free time, he enjoys attending Washington Commanders football games with his brothers and nephews. Over the years , he has become an avid collector of timepieces.

Seth joins us in the Fall of 2024. He met his wife Jessica at Liberty University. Seth is skilled at income tax preparation. He enjoys running and hiking when not working. He is also working on obtaining his Virginia CPA license.