Senior Tax Accountant
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The Senior Tax Accountant oversees the activities of the junior tax accountants in addition to juggling additional tasks, for example, ensuring that the department avails timely and accurate forecasting and periodic tax reports, assisting the business with tax audit support, and business support under the direction supervision of the Head of Accounting.
The Senior Tax Manager is in charge of tax reviews and corporate assurance engagements and is widely involved in tax and audit preparation as well as in-depth departmental research.
Objectives and Responsibilities of the Senior Tax Accountant
Management: The Senior Tax Accountant plays a managerial role where he oversees the activities of junior tax accountants. In this position, he supervises the preparation of tax returns, reviews, audits, and compilations and reviews tax and audit tasks performed by junior staff in order to ensure correctness and completeness.
The Senior Tax Accountant coaches junior accountants on the proper preparation of financial statements, tax papers, and any other associated paper work. He also builds and maintains excellent working relationships relevant personnel across the business.
The Senior Tax Accountant manages the business’s tax-related engagements from start to finish and reviews external partnerships with tax accounting firms, legal partners, and individual partners in order to ensure that there is consistent knowledge of changes within the business in relation to taxes. The Senior Tax Accountant also ensures that there is accurate statutory financial reporting throughout the year and, as such, he regularly reviews financial books of record and the various journal entries.
Financial/Tax Analysis and Reporting: The Senior Tax Accountant is tasked with tax return preparation and the delivery of timely analysis and response to issues identified by the Tax Accountant on the business’s tax returns. The Senior Tax Accountant will personally take up the preparation of complex income tax returns and prepare filing adjustments to state returns for state authority audit adjustments.
He additionally prepares analyses to harmonize employee income tax returns with end-of-year tax accounting entries and prepares tax research on complex state tax issues.
Documentation & Record Management: The Senior Tax Accountant is also tasked with the compilation of financial statement as well as the preparation of response letters to state tax authorities. He is also charged with the preparation of books that maintenance of tax difference records, tax return papers, and investigative material discrepancies between tax returns and end-of-period tax accounting records.
Collaboration: The Senior Tax Accountant role is a highly collaborative role and, as such, he liaises with senior accounting management advising on tax matters pertaining to payroll, retirement, tax implications, and tax law changes. The Senior Tax Accountant also maintains excellent working relationships with external tax accounting firms, working hand-in-hand with these external tax accounting personnel in conducting research and consulting on various tax issues, determining tax projections, and suitable tax notice responses.
The Senior Tax Accountant will also work with senior finance department personnel in an effort to guarantee that there is a thorough understanding of statutory tax requirements and spreading knowledge on legislation regarding the reporting of tax sensitive transactions.
Knowledge: The Senior Tax Accountant also maintains an understanding on relevant state tax compliance procedural policies in the tax accounting department as well as the wider finance department. He keeps up with industry best practices and incorporates them as appropriate.
Other Duties: The Senior Tax Accountant also performs similar duties as he deems fit for the proper execution of his duties and duties as delegated by the Head of Accounting, Chief Finance Officer, or the Employer.
Required Qualifications of the Senior Tax Accountant
Education: The Senior Tax Accountant must have a bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Finance or Accounting. The equivalent of the same in practical experience is also acceptable. CPA certification will be a bonus for the candidate.
Experience: A candidate for this position must have had at least 5 years of working experience in tax accounting position within a fast-paced and dynamic environment. The candidate will have a demonstrated ability to work on significantly technical/complex tax preparations with minimal or indirect supervision.
The candidate will have a proven and successful experience working at all levels of tax problem analysis, tax preparation, and resolution. A suitable candidate will also demonstrate experience working on corporate-level tax analyses and multi-state taxation. He will portray vast knowledge of state tax laws, rules, and regulations as well as the local tax laws and regulations.
Communication Skills: The Senior Tax Accountant must also demonstrate exceptional communication skills that will facilitate communications in his extensively collaborative role. In the execution of his functions the Senior Tax Accountant works with numerous internal and external personnel.
For the proper execution of these collaborative functions, the accuracy of tax calculations, and for the general efficiency of the tax accounting department in the business, the Senior Tax Accountant will need to have an ability to clearly convey sensitive information in a clear, precise, and unambiguous manner both in written and verbal form.
Ms Word/Software: The Senior Tax Accountant must demonstrate exceptionally good computer skills and be highly adept in the use of Ms Excel, Ms Office, Ms Outlook, and PowerPoint, all necessary for creation of engaging and easy-to-understand tax documentation. The Senior Tax Accountant will also be highly familiar with the workings of Oracle and QuickBooks and financial reporting tools such as TRG, BOXI and GAAP. He will further demonstrate familiarity with SAP software.
Interpersonal Skills: The Senior Tax Accountant must be inquisitive and curious, be result-driven, be meticulous and have a keen eye for detail, be a self-starter, be proactive going beyond the call of duty, be highly comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, be highly organized, have exceptionally good multi-tasking skills, have an ability to meet tight deadlines, have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and demonstrate an ability to remain calm and composed in times of stress and uncertainty.
People Skills: The Senior Tax Accountant must also be a people person who is able to form strong, lasting, and meaningful connection with others. He must be a likable and relatable individual who inspires trust in his peers, his seniors, and external partners, easing the execution of his duties.