Karl was educated at Rice University, where he received his BA degree, and at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University where he received his MBA. He has over forty years of business experience in petroleum, real estate and public accounting in the areas of accounting, finance and information technology.

A Certified Public Accountant since 1975, Karl started his own practice in 1994. He has extensive QuickBooks^® knowledge and experience and has been installing and supporting the software since 1996. Additionally, he is a Certified QuickBooks^® ProAdvisor^SM and is required to update his certification annually by participating in a certification process overseen by Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks^®. Karl is an adjunct instructor of accounting at Texas A&M University-Texarkana.

Karl is a licensed CPA in Texas and Arkansas. He is a member and former president of the Texarkana Chapter of CPAs, and a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is currently the treasurer and member of the board of directors of the Kiwanis Club of Texarkana, and he is a past chairman of the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau Serving Central Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex. Karl was named an outstanding committee member by the Dallas Chapter of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is a member of Mensa.

Karl and his wife, Peggy, are residents of Texarkana, Arkansas and are members of First United Methodist Church, Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council (TRAHC), Friends of the Texarkana Library, Tex*Rep, and the Texarkana Museums System.