[kauffe9a]

I had two interviews yesterday. One was for a Tax Auditor 1 position with the FL State Dept. of Revenue. The other is a tax preparer position with a small tax firm that specializes in non-resident tax service.  Up until the interview I had been not really felt like I wanted to work with the State. But the position sounded very interesting and I am now trying to decide which job I will take (if I receive an offer for both). 

Below is my list of pros and cons. If anybody has worked as a State tax Auditor or a Tax Preparer, please add any pros or cons that I have missed.

Tax Auditor

Pros

1) $35k plus benefits

2) Extensive training program

3) Student loan forgiveness after 10 years

4) Job security

5) Promotion after 1 year

6) Independent work schedule

7) Variety

Cons

1)Working for the gov’t

2) Stressful position

3) “Bad guy” position

4) Pigeon holed into gov’t work

5) Frequent travel

6) Little potential for significant impact (small cog in a big machine)

Tax Preparer

Pros

1) Small firm with greater potential make an impact in the business

2) Interesting specialization (Non- resident tax services)

3) Training and education

4) Little travel

5) Possible advancement after 12 months.

6) Expanding business

Cons

1)Smaller firm

2) Less variety

3) Standard work schedule

4) Unsure of potential for advancement

5) Cut in pay and benefits

[Anonymous]

I am a state sales and use tax auditor in another state. I haven't worked elsewhere yet, but here is my take: Working for the state, my pay isn't as good as it could be elsewhere, but I have job security, consistent hours, and great benefits. I haven't found it to be too stressful, which you are concerned about. As far as travel, I don't know what the travel expectations are in FL, but in my job I rarely travel more than 30 miles from home, and I am always home every night.

[taxgeek83]

State tax auditing isn't nearly as stressful as you might think – even during “busy season” (tax time) I rarely see folks in the individual tax area working more than 40-50 hours a week, and the extra 10 hours are optional. Folks I know working in firms around tax time are easily 20+ hours above that. Benefits at the state are a major plus, and the student loan forgiveness thing is HUGE (if you're like me and have enough out to last a lifetime of payments, anyway!). If you're not keen on traveling, that could be a downfall for you; however, I love it! It's definitely work, but I've gotten to see some places that I likely wouldn't have made it to until I retire, if even then. My only piece of advice as far as both jobs go is to ask about the advancement potential – and I'm talking long term. I've had quite a few promotions where I'm at, but am currently maxed out. It's a great job, but if you're like me – ambitious and always need new goals to attain – you're going to eventually get bored. Good luck on whichever you choose!

[Mjganier]

I'm in the same boat as Ajones but in Louisiana. There isn't a department office in my district anymore and so all the auditors work from home now which is great! Being the bad guy isn't necessarily a bad thing in my area. At least since I've been working. As long as you come across as confident and competent they'll work with you. More often than not the taxpayer will go out of his way to make sure I'm as comfy as possible including sometimes providing breakfast/lunch. For me, it's a stepping stone to something better later on and it provides a great work/life balance especially in taking these exams.

FAR 8/18/2014--87
AUD 10/18/2014--78
REG 11/24/2014--76
BEC 2/28/2015--76

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"-Albert Einstein

Study Mats: Cpaexcel study text and EQ, Ninja MCQ, Ninja notes

[Anonymous]

I would go with the tax auditor route. I was previously a tax auditor for two different states. I actually enjoyed the work, just not the culture or pay.

As for your CONS:

1)Working for the gov't – this was one of the cons for the reason I mentioned above.

2) Stressful position – the job is not stressful. You work consistent hours, if you screw up it's hard to get fired, you get trained before you're out on your own, you work at your own pace.

3) “Bad guy” position – as the other person mentioned above, people are generally ok with you being there to audit them. Obviously they're not thrilled about it but they're courteous. It helps if you're friendly and make it feel like you're on their side (which I pretty much was to some extent). It helps to be reasonable too when making adjustments. If you can assume something is not taxable, and it's not a large issue, let it go. If the taxpayer knows you're cutting them some breaks, without letting them get away with tax fraud, they'll generally treat you even better.

4) Pigeon holed into gov't work – I think there are plenty of opportunities for a tax auditor in the private sector. You have the ability to work in a company's tax department or, like me, you could go to public accounting to become a sales tax consultant, or something similar.

5) Frequent travel – as someone said above, the travel isn't bad. You're at locations within a certain radius of your office unless you are doing big corporations out of state, but it takes years to get to that level.

6) Little potential for significant impact (small cog in a big machine) – Just think of how you're helping the residents of Florida when you turn in an audit. That's additional revenue coming in to the state that they didn't previously have. Revenue that will be used to provide goods and services to the public (hopefully).

Good luck in whatever you decide to do. If you have any questions about being a tax auditor, I'll gladly answer them.

[kauffe9a]

Thank you for the responses. From what you all say, the auditor positions sounds pretty good. There is just one thing from my interview that keeps coming back to my mind. One of the interviewers said, “You will have to learn to separate your work and your home life. If not, it will keep you up at night.” He was referencing having to hit businesses and individuals with tax penalties and the like. Is this somethingi should be concerned about. Do I need to have a thick skin to be a tax auditor. The work sounds interesting and I like the idea of traveling versus going to the same office everyday. The training and the benefits sound great, but so these benefits outweigh the difficult parts of the job? Has anyone found that it is necessary to have a thick skin for his position?

[Anonymous]

Regardless of the job you take, the statement of, “You will have to learn to separate your work and your home life. If not, it will keep you up at night,” will be applicable.

You take the tax auditor job and you tell people they owe more taxes to the state.

You take the tax preparer job and you tell a good amount of people they owe more taxes to the federal government AND the state.

It's not your fault that people struggle with tax compliance; keep that in mind.

[Mjganier]

Since I work from home, it's hard to keep work and home separate. When I work, I work solely in my office so as to not “taint” the rest of the house with work. Like, I will never work on my patio, bed, or dinner table because those are my happy places where work doesn't come into play. But like Smith says, you're going to find that wherever you go. It's inevitable.

I just recently had a case where a company ended up owing tens of thousands and one of the owners broke down into tears because she wasn't aware of the specific law pertaining to the business. While it sucks to be the bearer of bad news, and be put in such an awkward position, there are responsibilities companies take when they're in business. Such as being aware and up to date with tax laws. If the owners don't have a competent accountant or CPA to guide them on these issues, then they take that responsibility upon themselves. Again, “It's not your fault that people struggle with tax compliance”. Just do your job and move on to the next case.

FAR 8/18/2014--87
AUD 10/18/2014--78
REG 11/24/2014--76
BEC 2/28/2015--76

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"-Albert Einstein

Study Mats: Cpaexcel study text and EQ, Ninja MCQ, Ninja notes

[Anonymous]

It does help having a thick skin as tax auditor, especially when you are on an audit of a small business. I have had audits where I go into their home, where I can see pictures of their family, or their kids are running around, or whatever, and I have to tell them they owe the state thousands of dollars (or more). I have had taxpayers break down in tears, get mad at me, threaten to appeal, etc. I have also had taxpayers that thanked me for auditing them. Like others have said, you have to be able to separate your job from your home life. I had some issues with that early on, laying awake at night thinking about my taxpayers and how the audits would affect them, but I had to remind myself that it is not my fault they were out of compliance.

[taxgeek83]

You do have to have a thick skin to be an auditor, but it comes with time. The first few are going to suck, and then you figure out the in and outs of the process, and it can actually be quite interesting. I've had some great intellectual, respectful debates with folks. Just keep in mind that you aren't the “bad guy” – you are a public servant working for the good of your fellow citizens.

[Anonymous]

I agree with taxgeek83, my first few audits were the hardest. I started with smaller companies, mostly sole props/partnerships, and now am auditing larger companies where the audit is more of a routine part of the business process. With the small businesses, the owners sometimes take the audit as a personal attack, with the larger companies, the controller just asks where to send the check.

[kauffe9a]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the advice. If/when I get a job offer, I will update and let you know what I decide.

[Author]

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