Outstanding CPA in Chapter Service Award

This award recognizes NYSSCPA chapter CPA members who have distinguished themselves as chapter leaders through model service within their chapter, the Society and the profession. The award celebrates those who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to, and have made a remarkable impact upon, their Society chapter, through endeavors such as inspirational service in leadership positions; the development of future leaders of the chapter, the Society and the profession; educational efforts; public service; and other activities in their chapter.

Shari E. Berk, the winner of this year’s Outstanding CPA in Chapter Service Award, has been actively involved in the Rockland Chapter since the mid-1990s, almost single-handedly managing its events and CPE sessions.

Berk noted that she has accounting in her bloodlines. “My grandfather was an accountant. He got my father involved in accounting,” she said.

“Growing up, my grandfather had those seven-column pads. He would hand me those pieces of paper filled with numbers (when I was in high school), and he wanted me to add them up for him. I asked, ‘Where’s the adding machine?’ And he said, ‘You don’t need one.’ And he sat there, and he added up the columns, all in his head. I thought, ‘Nah, that’s not for me—I need the adding machine!’”

Much has changed in the intervening decades—and not just that adding machines have become obsolete. Berk became the third generation of CPAs in her family, working for a small firm in Rockland County for two years, then spending another two years at a midsize Manhattan firm, before joining forces with her father in 1988 to co-found Berk & Berk, PC, CPAs, in New Jersey.

After his 1989 passing, Berk formed S.E. Berk CPA PC in New City, N.Y., in 1996. The three-person firm is engaged in various areas of public accounting, including accounting services, management consulting, and tax preparation and planning. Her accounting experience also includes management consulting services, in-depth tax planning, preparation and audit representation, and obtaining financing for client expansion.

Her clientele includes various business entities, medium-to-high-net-worth individuals and other professionals. Business clients include entities in the medical, real estate, retailing, contracting, distribution, legal and engineering industries. Individual clients are executives, doctors, lawyers, teachers, entertainers, musicians, creative artists and investors.

“I do mostly tax and bookkeeping,” she said. “The majority of my clients are professionals.”

Berk joined the NYSSCPA and its Rockland Chapter in 1986, on the recommendation of Michael D. Seidenberg, whom she met at a CPE event. She became more involved in the Society a decade later at the urging of Seidenberg, who was then the chapter’s president. Since then, she has served in a variety of positions, starting with secretary and treasurer. She is an executive board member of the chapter, has served as a member of the statewide Board of the NYSSCPA, and has served on the boards of other not-for-profit entities.

“It’s a small chapter,” she said. “We all do everything together.”

David Evangelista, the first president of the Rockland Chapter and a co-winner of last year's NYSSCPA Distinguished Service Award, thinks that Berk gives herself too little credit. He described her as “the glue person who keeps the chapter together and running,” adding, “I doubt any of our chapter board or chapter members would contest that.”

“Shari has been our chapter’s CPE/Event Committee—the whole committee, basically by herself for the most part, both chair/coordinator and committee member!” he said. “She has coordinated with our speakers, in some cases finding our speakers; coordinated the event with [the Foundation for Accounting Education] and/or the NYSSCPA; and participated in marketing—many times designing flyers and sending out her own personal emails to draw participants to our events, especially for our social events. She has been involved not only with our CPE and social events, but [with] college and high school presentations as well, and [she has] assisted with our chapter’s NYSSCPA budget, even when not serving as chapter treasurer!”

Those high school and college presentations illustrate Berk’s commitment to the chapter, said Sharon Siegel, a former Rockland Chapter president. The two have known one another for more than 15 years.

“Anytime people need help, no matter how busy she is, she always helps,” Siegel said. That includes stepping in for Siegel, who leads the chapter’s outreach efforts, when needed. Berk manages to do this while juggling the demands of her practice and her commitment to the chapter, particularly in the area of continuing professional education.

CPE has become a significant part of her work for the chapter, as she and her board are actively looking ahead to more post-pandemic events. CPE is also an activity that is of personal importance to her: She has attended numerous lectures and seminars in accounting, taxation, estates, trusts and financial planning.

“She traditionally—as well as on an ongoing basis—significantly exceeds the minimum standard annual hourly requirements established by the profession,” said Evangelista.

Berk said she is proud of having kept the chapter vibrant during the lockdown years of the pandemic.

“Shari has put in … almost 20 years with our chapter, and she has single-handedly, at times, kept it moving forward and, probably, in existence,” Evangelista said.

During the lockdown, Berk said, people got used to being home, so “everyone was slow to get back to things. In the past, we were able to do more continuing education programs and have more freedom. Now, it’s harder, and … we’re doing more continuing education virtually,” she said, acknowledging the difficulty in reviving the pre-pandemic camaraderie and involvement.

In past years, the chapter’s CPE efforts were specifically targeted to the needs of the chapter’s members, most of whom are sole practitioners, said Siegel. “We try to keep everybody on top of issues such as tax law, which keeps changing.” The presenters range from estate and trust attorneys to payroll specialists, she said.

With the easing of pandemic restrictions, the chapter is planning two CPE sessions in the summer and two in the fall.

“We are planning CPE seminars on fraud, [artificial intelligence], sales tax and estate planning, but not sure of the exact topics yet,” said Berk. “We’re working with speakers to see what they have up their sleeve, so to speak. We are [also] planning a couple of networking events.”

And she is not done yet.

“After all this effort and service to our chapter, lacking for an incoming president-elect for the June 2023 year, Shari has stepped up once again and … will be the chapter president again,” said Evangelista. Her new term started on June 1.

ssteinhardt@nysscpa.org