DeSantis, Kiefer, Shall, & Sarcone, LLP: Celebrating 25 Years with the Chamber
By Danielle Wiseman, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
DeSantis, Kiefer, Shall, & Sarcone, LLP (DKSS) is a full-service accounting firm offering both personal and business financial services to clients throughout New York and New Jersey. DKSS boasts five partners: John Shall Sr., John Shall Jr., Donald Sarcone, Nicole Bulcroft, and Ambrose Gillon, and a professional, friendly, helpful, and efficient staff of 24 talented bookkeepers, auditors, accountants, tax specialists, and administrative personnel. This year, DKSS is proudly celebrating its 25th anniversary with the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.
“We are a Staten Island-based CPA firm providing traditional accounting services as well as a complete realm of financial planning, succession planning, business transition work, investment management, and not-for-profit audits,” says Donald Sarcone, CPA, CGMA, and Managing Partner of DKSS. From tax preparation to estate planning and from payroll to audits, DKSS can handle a multitude of different facets in the financial arena. DKSS prides itself on providing quality services to every client, paying particular attention to each client’s unique goals and needs.
DKSS is one of the oldest accounting firms on Staten Island and has undergone various name and address changes since its inception. Originally located on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills, DKSS has been on Richmond Road since 1997. Major merges, retirements, and partner transitions have transformed the firm, but the last change came in 2001, when Donald Sarcone joined as partner, and their current name was solidified as DeSantis, Kiefer, Shall, & Sarcone.
DKSS began as a classic accounting firm offering traditional services like tax consultations and business accounting. Over time, the firm has progressed toward more modern accounting services, including investment advisory, which is currently in high demand. While DKSS previously outsourced professionals to curate a full financial team for its clients, the firm now can create a full team in-house, each member proudly representing DKSS.
“The biggest change we’ve initiated for our clients, in connection with our mission statement, was to enter the world of financial planning,” adds Sarcone. “We did this so that our clients could come here and have everything done in one place.” With the addition of financial planning, DKSS became a full-service accounting firm.
“Our client list is extremely diversified,” says Sarcone. “We serve clients from manufacturing sites to blue-collar entities to law firms to retail stores to wholesale trade, and the list goes on.” The firm’s client base spans various industries, further highlighting DKSS’s ability to demonstrate success in every aspect of finance that it dares to take on.
While DKSS was also involved with the Chamber when they were known as DeSantis, Prinzi, Springer, Kiefer, & Shall, this year we officially recognize DKSS as 25-year members. Over their two-and-a-half decades of membership, spotting a DKSS representative at a Chamber event has been commonplace.
“We originally joined the Chamber to attend events, use it as a networking resource, and be known as Staten Island’s premier accounting firm. However over the years, we’ve started to use the Chamber for so many other things,” says Sarcone. “We’ve had younger staff members that were rising within the organization who wanted to be involved in the community, so they joined the Chamber’s Business Guilds.”
“I can’t tell you how wonderful those services have been for our organization.”