# David Chandler Thomas

> David Chandler Thomas (1954–2021) was an American economist, software entrepreneur and educator who co-founded Intacct with Odysseas Tsatalos in 1999 and served as its founding CEO. After software and technology-industry leadership roles, he completed economics degrees at San Jose State and George Mason and joined Ball State University in 2015. His research with James E. McClure examined business cycles, new-product development and hidden investment.

- **Role:** Economist, software entrepreneur, technology executive and university professor
- **Organizations:** Intacct Corporation (later Sage Intacct), CYMA Software, McGraw-Hill Financial Software Division, Software and Information Industry Association, TechAmerica, Ball State University, George Mason University, Faqtors Consulting
- **From:** Phoenix, United States
- **Nationality:** American; also held British citizenship
- **Education:** Business studies; left before completing degree, Arizona State University, BA in Economics, cum laude, San Jose State University, MA in Economics, San Jose State University, PhD in Economics, George Mason University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Intacct, an early web accounting company, and served as its founding CEO., Built an accounting software company acquired by McGraw-Hill and led its Financial Software Division., Completed BA, MA and PhD economics degrees after an established business career.

## Career timeline

- **Late 1970s** — Left business studies to pursue his accounting software startup, later acquired by McGraw-Hill.
- **1999** — Co-founded Intacct with Odysseas Tsatalos and became founding CEO.
- **2000** — Intacct secured a $10 million funding commitment and launched web accounting services.
- **2001** — Intacct announced a $21 million funding round.
- **2004** — Concluded his tenure as founding Intacct CEO; later served as SIIA executive director.
- **2009–2010** — Served as an executive vice president at TechAmerica.
- **2010** — Completed his economics BA at San Jose State.
- **2012** — Completed his economics MA at San Jose State.
- **2015** — Earned his George Mason economics PhD and joined Ball State.
- **2017** — Co-authored research on tulipmania; Sage agreed to acquire Intacct for $850 million.
- **2018** — Published new-product R&D research with James E. McClure.
- **2021** — Died on December 28, aged 67.
- **2025** — The Great Correction of 1929 was published posthumously with co-authors McClure and Horwitz.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Intacct, an early web accounting company, and served as its founding CEO.
- Built an accounting software company acquired by McGraw-Hill and led its Financial Software Division.
- Completed BA, MA and PhD economics degrees after an established business career.
- Co-authored peer-reviewed studies of new-product R&D, tulipmania and investment-trust pricing.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Aaron Harris discussed meeting Thomas and joining early Intacct in an October 13 episode of The Unofficial Sage Intacct Podcast.

## Links

- Website: https://sites.google.com/site/davidchandlerthomas/home
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-chandler-thomas-8069bb
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dcthomas4679

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-chandler-thomas
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-24