Tax Preparer Associate

Individuals at this level normally have a college degree with a major in accounting and the requisite hours to be CPA eligible, and generally have from zero to four years of experience. Tax Preparer Associates are expected to:

• Become familiar with the firm’s policies and procedures.
• Understand professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
• Progress professionally by working toward passing the CPA exam in an expeditious, planned manner.
• If assigned primarily to financial statement/attest engagements:
  • Become familiar with pronouncements of the FASB and AICPA, and if/when assigned to governmental engagements, GAO and GASB.
  • Become proficient in preparing a variety of financial statements in the industries they’re exposed to.
  • Obtain exposure on the types of financial statement engagements offered by the firm.
  • Assume responsibility for unaudited financial statement engagements or segments of audits under supervision of more experienced staff.
  • Prepare trial balances and propose adjustments.
• If assigned primarily to tax engagements:
  • Become familiar with pertinent IRC sections and regulations.
  • Obtain a working knowledge of research techniques and the various research sources in the firm library.
  • Become proficient in the preparation of level appropriate tax returns including corporate, individual, partnership, fiduciary, or other tax returns prepared by the firm.
  • Assume responsibility for the completion of tax returns under the supervision of more experienced staff.
  • Prepare tax trial balance and propose adjustments to the unadjusted numbers.
  • Become familiar with a common book to tax schedule M-1 differences.
  • Become proficient in bookkeeping tasks that are often an element of the assigned jobs. Included in this is performing a bank reconciliation and identifying reconciled items.
• Qualifications:
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel)
  • Proficient in CCH Axcess or similar products
  • Experience or familiarity with QuickBooks and tax preparation software is a plus
  • Ability to work independently in a team atmosphere
  • Bachelor’s degree in Business and Accounting
  • CPA, EA, or CPA eligible preferred
• Additional items of note for advancement of Associates:
  • Demonstration of growing technical abilities and communication skills
  • Ability to teach, mentor, and foster team building
  • Demonstrate leadership skills and potential
  • Thirst for knowledge and desire to work hard and meet the demands of clients