After graduating with a second class first division honours degree in Economics from Queens University, Belfast in 1972 Robert trained as an Irish Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse, qualifying in first place in his final examinations in 1975. Subsequently he was employed as the Financial Controller of ICB, a subsidiary of Shell (UK) and as a personal assistant to the partners in James Baird & Co (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers). In 1981 he was appointed a Director of Business and Accounting Training in Dublin where he embarked on his academic career, teaching mainly on the professional examination courses for ICAI, CPA, CIMA and ACCA in Belfast and Dublin. In 1985 he joined Queens University as a full time lecturer and moved to the Ulster University in 1992 as a Senior Lecturer. In 1994 he was appointed to the Chair in Financial Reporting at Ulster.
Robert specialises in the teaching of and research into the development of accounting standards in the United Kingdom. He has published 18 books and numerous articles in both academic and professional journals. Three of his publications are currently core textbooks for two of the main professional accounting bodies in the United Kingdom. His publications include IFRS:A Quick Reference Guide (October 2008), a fourth edition of Accounting Standards in Depth (January 2003), UK Accounting Standards: A Quick Reference Guide (December 2004) and the first edition of Topical Issues in Financial Reporting, all published by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Elsevier. He has written International Financial Reporting Standards in Depth which was published by Elsevier/CIMA Publishing in July 2005. This has been translated into Russian. He co-authored A Case Study Approach to International Financial Reporting Standards published by The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland. He was also the editor and main author of the university's quarterly publication "Irish Company Reporting" (1992-2001) which outlined current practice throughout the island of Ireland using a 150 company database. This was grant aided by the Irish Accountancy Educational Trust.
