[PublicGuy]

Hey All,

I am about 2 years in at a Big 4 in the Midwest and am finding myself in a career dilemma much earlier than I expected.

Basically, though I was supposed to spend my two staff years doing a wide range of tax projects to learn what I like/what I am good at I ended up on a very small team of only 3 people (manager, senior, myself). The team was literally built from the ground up and is doing work that our firm hasn’t ever done in the region (even the whole firm, honestly). So this past year our group of 3 (plus some staff/intern hours here and there) brought in very serious money for the firm.

Our manager is sort of a rock star at the firm and takes on tons of other projects to round out his book of business and ends up relying very heavily on the senior and myself to run the work of this group. Well now, the senior has decided to leave the firm and that leaves me, an income senior, to fill in the gap. Problem is, I don’t really want to. I was so excited that I was finally kind of let out after this busy season to explore other tax areas before I have to pick a specialty. Now, realistically, I will be “asked” to stick with this group. Why? Because our manager cannot handle the projects by himself and, quite literally, there is no one in the region at our firm who could assist. Unfortunately, most of the work is not very delegable if you aren’t intimately familiar with the regulations. I see a “for the good of the firm” discussion in my future that will make it clear this is my path at this company.

Now, I don’t hate the work. I don’t even mind doing it, but my real concern here is that I am going to get myself pigeonholed in this tiny area of tax and be unable to get out. Tentatively, my long term career goal is to get a Controller position (or just some high-level tax position) in industry where I can expect better pay and better work life balance than public accounting will offer (I won’t be making partner here, and I’m not sure that’s a career goal of mine).

So the long and short is this: When a company hires people to its tax department what does it look for? An expert in tax returns (which I will not be, I have completed one 1120 in my career to date) or do they also find value in subject matter experts, even if they don’t in-house their subject of expertise? Basically, If I stay, I will most likely be forced to stay in this niche area and when, inevitably, I’m ready to get out of public, I’ll be leaving with heavy knowledge in a tax area most companies do not in-house. Yes, I’ll have management and consulting skills, but I certainly could not walk into a company and add much value to getting a tax return done.

What do you all think? Am I blowing this out of proportion? Should I consider lateralling over to industry at a staff-type level to begin strengthening my tax return skills to move into a controller role in time or should I stick it out another year or two in public and master my management, soft skills, and general business knowledge?

Sorry if this is long, I did my best to truncate but there’s a lot of nuances here. Appreciate any insight.

[ThatTaxDude]

When a company hires people to its tax department what does it look for? I think they want to know if you have the work ethic to get things done. Your public accounting experience would be valuable.

I am currently a corporate tax staff accountant dealing with SALT. I think the position that you would get now would be a Senior Tax Associate. Depending on how big the company is, you might be a jack of all trades or specialize in Fed Tax or State Income.

[jm962011]

yes, you will get siloed!!! I started in sales and use tax compliance in corporate and I am still stuck in sales and use tax compliance, 3 years later. With monthly deadlines, it can be difficult to start other non-sales and use tax projects like federal or state income tax returns because you are so busy the 2nd and 3rd weeks of a month.

I am trying to get into public but my only way is in a sales and use tax manager. I really want to do tax technology and implementations. Or international.

I am trying to relocate to the Boston area and I am considering Financial Analyst positions. Luckily, I have amazing excel skills which you'll learn in tax, so that helps.

[csvirk]

If your manager brought in some serious money and no other firms do this kind of work before than why don't you learn this new line of work and start your own small firm? this will give you work life balance and some serious money. Just an opinion.

FAR: 71, 77!
AUD: 69, 80
BEC: 72
REG: 84

[csvirk]

If your manager brought in some serious money and no other firms do this kind of work before than why don't you learn this new line of work and start your own small firm? this will give you work life balance and some serious money. Just an opinion.

FAR: 71, 77!
AUD: 69, 80
BEC: 72
REG: 84

[Mayo]

Audit career = tons of stuff you can do

Tax = Pretty much tax

The exception to the rule is of course networking. My current Tax Director is also the Treasurer and is in charge of the hedging strategy (it's limited really) in our company. Also, we're public. So yah…networking is like ridiculously important to your career. Do some of it.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Anonymous]

I would think that being pigeonholed in this one specialty you're working in would be more likely than being pigeonholed in tax as a whole, since it sounds like what you're doing is so specialized… But that being said, yes, you can get pigeonholed. I'd think working for a smaller company would help reduce the pigeon-holing effect, since they'll need your help with other things outside your area any time you're free, and thus get you exposure to more areas of accounting.

If your goal is to be a Controller, I really don't see you stepping from a tax role straight to a Controller role, cause though tax considerations are important for a Controller, they're just one piece of the job. I work as a Controller, but at a non-profit, so I may be underestimating the role of tax work in most Controller's jobs…but from what I can tell, most Controllers spend more of their day/week/month working in the financial accounting side of things than the tax side of things. So, if you want to be a Controller, I'd think you would want to expand your expertise beyond taxes, but if being a Tax Manager or something like that is of interest to you as well, then continuing along the tax path would be perfect.

All that being said, the first couple years in accounting are all about getting experience on the resume, and what field they're in doesn't matter much that. There's time for picking an area down the road. I spent my first year at a small firm that did taxes and bookkeeping, and like I said, I'm now a Controller, so a year in taxes didn't pigeonhole me, though I know the bookkeeping experience did help me sell myself as being familiar with financial accounting too when I switched to my next job.

[Author]

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