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| June 2008 | A
Service of the NYSSCPA |
Vol.
2, No. 2 |
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Mark G. Leeds Wins the NYSSCPA Outstanding CPA in Industry Award
By William R. Lalli, CPA, NYSSCPA Tax Policy Manager, and Melissa Hoffmann Lajara, Associate Editor, The Trusted Professional
Mark
G. Leeds, CFO of Win Properties, Inc., based in Westchester, N.Y., was
modest about the honor of winning the 2007-2008 NYSSCPA award for Outstanding
CPA in Industry. “I’m surprised and honored, and more than
a little bit humbled to receive this, what I consider a very prestigious
award,” he said.
Mr. Leeds said his life has been “a love affair with numbers.” “I started out wanting to be an actuary,” he said. When asked about his work at Win Properties, Inc., the privately owned, national real estate company, he said, “I summarize it as ‘anything to do with a number.’” He continued, “It could be collections, budgets, year-end stuff for taxes, reporting responsibilities for all our mortgages, cash management—you name it.”
His participation, service, and endeavors at the Society and the Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE) have benefited fellow committee members, the membership, and the public. The industries he served were enhanced due to his volunteerism and experience that he shared.
Mr. Leeds’s current committee service includes being a member of the Chief Financial Officers Committee and Real Estate Committee, secretary of the Westchester Chapter Officers Committee, and co-chair of the Westchester Chapter CFO and Senior Financial Officers Committee. Since joining the Society in 1975, he also served on the Financial Executives in Closely Held Companies, Apparel & Textile, Hospitality Industry, Publishing & Printing, and Real Estate Committees.
Mr. Leeds has been a CPA for more than 30 years, but as with most CPAs, he began his career in public accounting. His last association with a public firm was with what is now Marks Paneth & Shron LLP. “I was very happy there,” he said. He might have stayed to serve as partner had he “not gotten a call from a developer in New York City who needed a comptroller.” That company, a developer of malls and resorts, was Mr. Leeds’ first foray into industry. He rose quickly through the ranks to become the company’s vice president of finance.
He next answered a call from Win Properties, which he said “needed to grow but didn’t have the infrastructure. They needed someone to guide the way.” He has never looked back.
Society member Don A. Kiamie, who worked with Mr. Leeds at the Westchester Chapter, said, “I was chairman of the CFO Committee of Westchester County and the best thing I ever did was turn it over to Mark Leeds. He was a terrific chair; he added a lot of value to it.”
Former winners of the award for “Outstanding CPA in Industry” include previously mentioned COAP Westchester Advisory Board Chair Don A. Kiamie, CFO of Windsor Management Corporation, former NYSSCPA Secretary Mark Ellis, CFO of Michael C. Fina Company, and NYSSCPA President Sharon Sabba Fierstein, director of litigation services at Marks Paneth & Shron LLP.
Mr. Leeds lives with his wife Marcia in Eastchester, N.Y. and has two daughters, Rebecca Leeds and Jennifer Simon.
Participation in the Society’ s committee structure is one way of ensuring success in your field whether you take the public accounting or industry track. The Society is looking for its next honoree. It might be you or someone you know. Nominations are open once a year. Please look for future details in an upcoming issue or on the NYSSCPA website. ---The Editors
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