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Nassau/Suffolk Announces 40th Anniversary Award Winners

By NCCPAP Staff posted 09-23-2019 12:00 AM

  

Donald Ingram, CPA; Richard A. Finelli, CPA; Carol Markman, CPA;
and Peter Ciccone, CPA Recognized for Their Contributions to
NCCPAP and the CPA Profession

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) Nassau/Suffolk Chapter is pleased to announce its 40th Anniversary Silver and Bronze Award Winners, as well as a few honored members. Donald Ingram, CPA, CISA, MBA of Woodbury, NY is being recognized as the Silver Winner, awarded to the Chapter member who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to NCCPAP and the CPA community. Richard A. Finelli, CPA, of Babylon, NY is being recognized as the Bronze Winner, awarded to the Chapter member considered to be influential as a leader in the Chapter and the CPA community. Carol Markman, CPA, of Westbury, NY and a pioneer for women in accounting, as well as Peter Ciccone, CPA, of Ronkonkoma, NY and an early advocate for independent CPAs, are also being recognized for their long-standing service to the Chapter and National NCCPAP.

Silver Award Winner:
Donald Ingram, CPA, CISA, MBA

Don joined NCCPAP when he started his own practice, back in 1999, as a way of learning how to best develop and grow a small accounting firm. He quickly became involved in the Long Island Tax Symposium as an extra hand, later becoming its biggest advocate for technology. The popular Tech Day on day 3 became a staple in the profession. Due to his expertise, he was also placed in charge of Accounting Today’s Technology Symposium. Today, he still contributes to ‘all things tech’ for his Chapter, as well as for national NCCPAP. Don has been honored for his tax expertise and a lifetime of involvement in the CPA community as last year’s recipient of the Leon D. Alpern Leadership Award. He has been President of the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter and on the Board of national NCCPAP in various leadership positions. One of his favorite NCCPAP activities is the annual visit to Washington D.C. For the past few years, Don has met with Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, Paul Teller, to ensure that the interests of small CPA practitioners and the government stay aligned. Don is a Vietnam Veteran having served in the US Navy’s Submarine Service.

Bronze Award Winner:
Richard A. Finelli, CPA

Rich, alongside current Chapter President, Andrea Parness, started a Young Professionals Impact (YPI) Group as part of the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter a few years ago as a way to get younger members involved in NCCPAP, develop their professional skills, learn networking skills, and someday perhaps run a CPA firm. Rich’s role is as the liaison between the younger members and the Chapter, as well as a mentor to advise and guide them with their professional goals. He has several younger accountants working for his firm and his adult children also joined the profession, so he comes by this interest naturally. The YPI has been in development for the past few years and is now getting some traction, whereby the organization is now being turned over to one of the younger CPAs. Like his peers, Rich has been very involved in the Long Island Tax Symposium, where he meets with peers and recruits new members. He has been a Board member of the Chapter since 2015. Rich is a graduate of Siena College and is also involved with Fairfield University, where his children attended school.

Honored Member & Former President:
Carol Markman, CPA

In the early 1980’s when Carol Markman was just establishing her CPA firm, she became invested in NCCPAP as a way of advancing her practice. “While the business environment and economy have cycled up and down over the years, the important aspects of NCCPAP have not. We support one another as colleagues, not competitors.” Today, Carol still does tax work, but also has become somewhat of an expert in guardianship accounting where she works with attorneys to prepare annual reports for the court. Her passion to be engaged in meaningful organizations has spilled over into her personal life with leadership positions at Planned Parenthood and her Temple. Carol explains, “This is who I am. I take the skills I learned through NCCPAP and apply them for the benefit of others. NCCPAP gave me opportunities that a woman growing up in the 1950’s would never have had.” Throughout her involvement in NCCPAP, Carol made great connections, volunteered, and held various leadership positions for the Nassau/Suffolk chapter, where she served as President from 1993-1994 as well as nationally, where she served as President from 2003-2005. Learn more about Carol Markman and how she became involved in NCCPAP, here.

Honored Member & Early Advocate:
Peter Ciccone, CPA

A major issue for CPAs in the late 1970s was protecting the interests of the smaller accounting firm competing with the well-known and powerful ‘Big 8’—the top public accounting firms of the day. At the time, there was no independent accounting association to serve the needs of the independent CPA. In 1978, NCCPAP was formed to address this gap. One of the first issues NCCPAP took on was to stop the employment ads in New York requiring ‘Big 8 experience’. “We opposed this because, as smaller firms, we are also fully qualified CPAs, subject to all the same requirements and training.” Peter continues, “We were renegades and decided to do something for ourselves. NCCPAP representatives went to Washington, D.C. and Albany, NY. Then others in the Mid-Atlantic region heard about us and began to establish their own chapters. From these efforts, NCCPAP became national.” Peter continues, “I always wanted to be my own boss. I never wanted to work in someone else’s company. I like to be near the action.” Learn more about Peter Ciccone and how he became involved in NCCPAP, here.

About the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter

Led by Andrea Parness, CPA, CTC, and Owner of A. Parness Company CPA in Belle Harbor, NY, the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter is one of NCCPAP’s largest Chapters, serving single practitioners, small CPA firms, young professionals, and the entire CPA community. The Chapter’s annual Long Island Tax Symposium is the largest, most successful event of its type on the east coast. The Chapter is also a major force at the Accounting & Finance Show at the Javits Center in New York City—having participated as speakers and sponsors for 17 consecutive years. According to Andrea, President of the Chapter for the past two years, “Our main objective is to stay relevant. Our Symposium is amazing—we were one of the first to come out with in-depth sessions about the tax laws. As an organization, we are fully committed to ensuring our members are up to date on developments regarding what we, as professionals, really need to know.” Nassau/Suffolk also boasts a Young Professionals Impact Group within the chapter to appeal to the needs of our next generation of CPA professionals. Andrea is a member of the Intuit Tax Council, has been featured in Accounting Today, and was interviewed by NPR earlier this year.

About NCCPAP’s 40th Anniversary

For NCCPAP’s 40th Anniversary, in addition to the Chapter recognition awards, a single Gold Award designee will be recognized for a lifetime of outstanding service to the organization and CPA community. All honorees will be recognized at a special event on October 23, 2019 at The Fox Hollow in Woodbury, NY. The event will be open to all NCCPAP members and their families, as well as prospective members and the press community. For more information about the 40th anniversary, visit nccpap40thanniversary.com.


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