Tax Supervisor (aka Tax Senior) Role Description
Posted Monday, April 22, 2024
Thank you for your interest in WCG. The following is high-level information for our Tax Supervisor (aka Tax Senior) role on the Tax team. We also have a Senior Tax Supervisor role which is very similar to the following, but with increased expectations and responsibilities including compensation.
Team Overviews
WCG CPAs & Advisors is a mid-size yet boutique tax and accounting firm with 7 partners, about 52 full-time employees and $9.2M in 2024 revenue located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We primarily engage with small business owners (S Corps, Partnerships, PCs) and complex individual tax preparation. We take a consultative approach to our client engagements by offering routine consultation and a strong focus on planning and business advisory services. However, we are still a compliance-forward, good ol’ fashioned CPA firm.
Charge hours? Not us. Tracking billable time to the 6-minute increment? No way. While WCG has hourly rates for open-ended projects and other craziness, our approach to tax and accounting engagements is very unique. We were one of the first CPA firms to offer Business Advisory Service (BAS) plans with a fixed value-based fee structure including our newly added Tax Patrol Services (TPS).
Tax and Tax Support
The Tax team uses Thompson Reuters UltraTax and is self-hosted by our own servers. We also use SurePrep for electronic tax binders and annotation including their 1040SCAN solution. The Tax team will prepare about 4,500 tax returns for the 2023 tax return year (due in 2024), with a nice split of 60% individual and 40% business entity tax returns. The Tax team has a particular fondness for summers and as such we attempt to prepare 65% of our tax returns by April 15, with only 35% being extended. May, June and July are primarily tax planning months.
Tax Support does front-end and back-end support. They collect initial data from the client and assemble it into an electronic binder using SurePrep. They also collect payments and obtain efile authorizations through Canopy. The Tax Support team files about 75% of our tax return extensions with the remainder filed by the Tax team.
WCG has 23 Tax team members plus our 10 team members in India. Our Tax Support team has 11 full-time people plus 6 seasonal team members.
Accounting Services
WCG defines Accounting Services as Bookkeeping + Analysis and is an incredible value to the client from accurate financial and tax reporting to real-time tax planning and decision-making.
The Accounting Services Team currently has 7 people, including a small group in India. An Accounting Services team member works with 25-30 clients and primarily prepares monthly, bi-monthly, quad-monthly, or ad hoc financial statements using QuickBooks Online (exclusively). In addition, Accounting Services prepares and files sales and use tax including personal property tax.
Payroll Processing
Currently WCG has 4 dedicated payroll specialists who process payroll for over 800 small businesses using ADP exclusively. The Payroll team does not process payroll using a client’s platform or any type of hybrid system; either WCG does it all or we do not touch it all. Payroll is way too critical to have various systems and interactions.
Operations
WCG uses Canopy for our workflow solution, and our Operations team directly includes a Manager and a Supervisor, plus many other “stakeholders” from other teams.
Business Development
Our Business Development team has two dedicated people who draft and update proposals, handle corporate governance matters such as formation and S Corp elections and monitors the onboarding process for BAS and TPS engagements.
Tax Supervisor Basics
Must be an active CPA or EA with 3-5 years or more of complex tax experience (business consulting a plus) working in a public accounting firm environment with tax return signature authority (at least constructively).
Must have at least a Bachelor’s degree.
$100,000 to $120,000 total compensation.
Bonuses, based on billables and efficiency (including qualitative intangibles). Bonuses, if offered, are considered in addition to total compensation.
Tax Supervisor Role Responsibilities
You will be working directly with other Tax Team members and be a direct report to a Tax Manager. Your duties include-
1. Guiding WCG along the path of success,
2. Promoting WCG culture, and encouraging excellence and high team morale,
3. Developing and implementing WCG goals, procedures, and policies in coordination with other Partners, Directors, Managers, and employees,
4. Identifying overall improvement gaps and assisting with deploying corrective measures,
5. Providing feedback, concerns and recommendations to WCG leadership to continuously evolve Tax into a better service line,
6. Assisting with development of internal policies relating to taxation and implementation of policies into existing practices,
7. Assisting in management of the Tax team and its processes which includes tax planning, tax return preparation, business consultation, and other closely related functions,
8. Performing business development tasks such as prospect consultations and “sales” related tasks,
9. Advancing the Firm’s professional pursuits with others outside the Firm such as attorneys, financial advisors, etc.,
10. Managing the Tax onboarding process for all new clients and ensuring a positive client experience,
11. Calculating salary and tax projections, and entering shareholder payroll, and reviewing salary and tax projections with clients,
12. Managing 25-30 Business Advisory Service (BAS) engagements, plus another 25-50 tax-only engagements (TOE) (see Tax Team Expectations),
13. Initially preparing tax returns (90%) and reviewing tax returns (10%) for Tax Accountants, Tax Managers and Partners, and eventually preparing tax returns (50%) and reviewing tax returns (50%) (see Tax Team Expectations),
14. Initially preparing tax plans (90%) and reviewing tax plans (10%) for Tax Accountants, Tax Managers and Partners, and eventually preparing tax plans (50%) and reviewing tax plans (50%) (see Tax Team Expectations),
15. Delivering and reviewing tax returns, tax plans and payroll plans with clients, signing tax returns on a per client basis as directed by your Tax Manager or Partner in Charge, and representing WCG and the public accounting community with integrity,
16. Resolving tax notices and other issues,
17. Researching complex or unusual tax questions, and drafting memos and conclusions,
18. Promoting new ideas and business solutions to existing clients and prospective clients,
19. Answering client phone calls and emails,
20. Filing and organizing electronic documents,
21. Training and leading fellow employees, and managing team members,
22. Coordinating client-centric efforts with other teams,
23. Helping to keep the workflow moving, and
24. Other tasks related to accounting, taxes and consultation.
Tax Supervisor role responsibilities and duties will change from time to time depending on circumstances, your skillsets and requests, and other factors. They are reviewed, modified if necessary and agreed to during Employee Reviews.
Other Requirements
All salaried positions must work 2,000 hours annually / 12-month trailing period. Holidays and other office closures count towards the 2,000 hours (e.g., Thanksgiving would contribute 8 hours towards the 2,000-hour requirement). PTO and other employee-requested leaves do not count towards the 2,000-hour requirement. Please refer to the WCG Associate Handbook for additional information.
Tax Team Career Path
The career path for Tax includes Supervisor, Senior Supervisor, Manager, Senior Manager and Partner. All new team members are considered “in-training” for a period of time which temporarily alters the role responsibilities above. See the Tax Team Expectations and Path illustration.
Tax team members can easily transition to accounting services or payroll processing. Many people simply enjoy preparing tax returns while others want to explore other options. WCG does not limit any employee who wants to grow and develop, and eventually find their career path.
WCG CPAs & Advisors is a full service consultation and tax preparation firm located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and we look forward to working with you!