Published by Gbaf News
Posted on June 14, 2018
5 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Las Vegas, Nev – Theodore J. Sarenski, CPA/PFS, CGMA is the recipient of the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) Sidney Kess Award for Excellence in Continuing Education. The award was presented today to Sarenski at the AICPA Conference on Tax Strategies for High-Income Individuals by Martin Finn, CPA, JD, LL.M., the conference chair, at AICPA ENGAGE in Las Vegas.
Sarenski is the chief executive officer and president of Blue Ocean Strategic Capital, LLC in Syracuse, N.Y., and is a nationally recognized financial planning advisor.
“Ted embodies all that the Sid Kess Award represents,” Finn said when presenting the award. “He has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to educating others and helping them expand their expertise in the fields of tax and personal financial counseling. He’s a tireless advocate, and it’s a pleasure to honor him with the award.”
Sarenski is a long-time AICPA volunteer who has chaired the Institute’s Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee and Personal Financial Planning Elder Planning Task Force. He has also served on the National CPA Financial Literacy Commission and as a member of the Personal Financial Planning Division’s Thought Leadership Task Force. In 2013, Sarenski received the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award.
Sarenski is a frequent lecturer and author. He presents at major professional national conferences for a variety of organizations on financial planning topics, including Social Security. Sarenski wrote The CPA’s Guide to Social Security Planning and updates it annually. He has contributed articles to The Journal of Accountancy, The CPA Journal, The Journal of Taxation and the AICPA Wealth Management Insider. Sarenski currently appears on WSTM-3, Syracuse’s NBC affiliate, taking viewers’ calls and offering planning concepts. He also appeared on the PBS affiliate in Syracuse as a permanent guest host of the program “Financial Fitness.” Sarenski has done hundreds of radio interviews and has been quoted frequently in such publications as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, The Christian Science Monitor, InvestmentNews, Kiplinger Personal Finance Report, Financial Planning Magazine, Accounting Today and The Practical Accountant.
The award, created in 2010 in honor of Kess, a nationally renowned tax expert, recognizes CPAs who have made significant and outstanding contributions in tax and financial planning and whose public service exemplifies the CPA profession’s values and ethics. It was last awarded in 2016.
Nominations for the Kess Award are solicited by the Tax Strategies for the High-Income Individual Conference Steering Committee and are accepted from May 31 – January 31. The Committee determines Award recipients.
Las Vegas, Nev – Theodore J. Sarenski, CPA/PFS, CGMA is the recipient of the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) Sidney Kess Award for Excellence in Continuing Education. The award was presented today to Sarenski at the AICPA Conference on Tax Strategies for High-Income Individuals by Martin Finn, CPA, JD, LL.M., the conference chair, at AICPA ENGAGE in Las Vegas.
Sarenski is the chief executive officer and president of Blue Ocean Strategic Capital, LLC in Syracuse, N.Y., and is a nationally recognized financial planning advisor.
“Ted embodies all that the Sid Kess Award represents,” Finn said when presenting the award. “He has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to educating others and helping them expand their expertise in the fields of tax and personal financial counseling. He’s a tireless advocate, and it’s a pleasure to honor him with the award.”
Sarenski is a long-time AICPA volunteer who has chaired the Institute’s Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee and Personal Financial Planning Elder Planning Task Force. He has also served on the National CPA Financial Literacy Commission and as a member of the Personal Financial Planning Division’s Thought Leadership Task Force. In 2013, Sarenski received the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award.
Sarenski is a frequent lecturer and author. He presents at major professional national conferences for a variety of organizations on financial planning topics, including Social Security. Sarenski wrote The CPA’s Guide to Social Security Planning and updates it annually. He has contributed articles to The Journal of Accountancy, The CPA Journal, The Journal of Taxation and the AICPA Wealth Management Insider. Sarenski currently appears on WSTM-3, Syracuse’s NBC affiliate, taking viewers’ calls and offering planning concepts. He also appeared on the PBS affiliate in Syracuse as a permanent guest host of the program “Financial Fitness.” Sarenski has done hundreds of radio interviews and has been quoted frequently in such publications as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, The Christian Science Monitor, InvestmentNews, Kiplinger Personal Finance Report, Financial Planning Magazine, Accounting Today and The Practical Accountant.
The award, created in 2010 in honor of Kess, a nationally renowned tax expert, recognizes CPAs who have made significant and outstanding contributions in tax and financial planning and whose public service exemplifies the CPA profession’s values and ethics. It was last awarded in 2016.
Nominations for the Kess Award are solicited by the Tax Strategies for the High-Income Individual Conference Steering Committee and are accepted from May 31 – January 31. The Committee determines Award recipients.
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