Throughout his 40 years in the profession, Kess has lectured on tax, financial planning and estate planning to more than 700,000 CPAs and lay people. He is the author or co-author of 25 books on a variety of tax-related topics; several of his books have gone into as many as 30 editions.

Kess has also edited several professional newsletters and developed a series of continuing professional education video courses for the AICPA.  He created and moderates the annual AICPA Conference on Tax Strategies for the High-Income Individual.

"CPAs are better practitioners and serve the public more competently because of Sid's contributions to the profession," said S. Scott Voynich, AICPA Vice Chairman, who presented the award.  "At one time, one out of every four CPAs who attended an AICPA continuing education course attended a program that Sid personally taught. One out of three CPAs used a course that Sid authored."

Kess serves on three editorial boards and is a member of the National Board of Advisors for the New York University Law School Graduate Tax Program. He has taught at Bernard M. Baruch College in New York and at Campbell University in North Carolina. He was National Director of Taxes at KMG Main Hurdman, then partner at KPMG Peat Marwick, both predecessor firms of KPMG.