What does a senior tax accountant do?
Senior Tax Accountants recommend tax strategies, as well as assist the preparation of federal, state, and local taxes. They contact clients to resolve minor tax issues and work with the senior tax manager to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local tax legislation.
Senior tax accountant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior tax accountant resumes:
- Research technical topics in taxation to present to the tax department and clients on areas of concern in the IRS code.
- Participate in monthly accounting close with preparation and ownership of tax accrual journal entries and reconciliations.
- Help implement, and maintain federal and state tax provision information into OneSource.
- Work with internal and external resources to ensure implementation of CCH software on shopping cart is successful.
- Assist and review the maintenance of the OneSource database relative to coding & mapping of the trial balance.
- Conduct research with CCH and RIA on tax exposures, savings, refund, recovery, and credits.
- Prepare small business (s-corp, c-corp, and partnership) tax returns for a locally own CPA firm.
- Fulfill California CPA certification requirements.
- Facilitate IRS and independent audits.
- Coordinate audits by various taxation authorities.
- Prepare IRS audit examination responses and relate supporting documentation.
- Perform GAAP audits to opine on annual broker/dealer regulatory filings.
- Coordinate monthly closings including journal voucher preparation, production of general ledgers and financial statements.
- Advise and implement infrastructure for accounting information and treasury management systems for business ventures upon funding.
- Produce financial statements on a quarterly and year-end basis, including reconciling the general ledger and subsidiary ledgers.
Senior tax accountant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Senior Tax Accountants are proficient in CPA, State Income, and Tax Research. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Math skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Tax Accountants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CPA, 14%
Fulfilled California CPA certification requirements.
- State Income, 5%
Processed quarterly estimated state income tax payments and annual income/franchise tax extensions on a timely basis to avoid penalties.
- Tax Research, 5%
Performed tax research, planning and implementation that ultimately reduced Worldwide consolidated effective tax rate.
- Income Tax Returns, 4%
Tax Staff - Preparation of Fiduciary, partnership and individual income tax returns; participation in financial audit engagements as necessary.
- Tax Planning, 4%
Communicated with HNW clients to maximize tax planning benefits and accurately projected various tax scenarios.
- Tax Compliance, 4%
Redesigned all corporate media including GAAP compliant financial statement preparation, tax compliance statements, client organizers and proposal materials.
Most senior tax accountants use their skills in "cpa," "state income," and "tax research" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior tax accountant responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior tax accountant to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." Senior tax accountants often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "prepare year end income tax provisions, involving effective communication with the client and audit team. "
Math skills. Another essential skill to perform senior tax accountant duties is math skills. Senior tax accountants responsibilities require that "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." Senior tax accountants also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "developed methods for clients to use software for quantitative tax planning and analysis. "
Detail oriented. senior tax accountant responsibilities often require "detail oriented." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." This resume example shows what senior tax accountants do with detail oriented on a typical day: "trained at team of six staff and detail reviewed each of their federal partnership tax returns and associated supporting workpapers. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in senior tax accountant job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what senior tax accountants do. Senior tax accountant responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." You can also see how senior tax accountant duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "forged and leveraged collaborative relationships facilitating organizational and individual cash tax savings. "
The three companies that hire the most senior tax accountants are:
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Compare different senior tax accountants
Senior tax accountant vs. Tax analyst
A tax analyst specializes in managing and filing tax forms and tax returns, all while devising strategies to reduce tax payments legally. A tax analyst may work as a member of a company or independently. Moreover, in a company setting, the responsibilities of a tax analyst revolve around coordinating with different departments to obtain all necessary documentation and financial information, maintaining accurate and extensive records of all transactions, and resolving any issues or concerns. Furthermore, it is essential to remain updated with all the tax laws, all while adhering to the policies and regulations of the company.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior tax accountant are more likely to require skills like "cpa," "state income," "general ledger," and "partnership tax returns." On the other hand, a job as a tax analyst requires skills like "tax audits," "client facing," "customer service," and "process improvement." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Tax analysts tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,702. In contrast, senior tax accountants make the biggest average salary, $84,616, in the professional industry.The education levels that tax analysts earn slightly differ from senior tax accountants. In particular, tax analysts are 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior tax accountant. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior tax accountant vs. Accountant/consultant
Accountants/consultants perform accounting tasks for organizations or companies. The accountants improve accounting practices and prepare financial statements at the end of every year. They analyze financial data and offer advice on regulatory compliance issues to the finance department. It is their job to make sure that the online system is secure. Most of the day, they organize invoices, prepare statements, and supervising systems. They should be equipped with analytical skills, industry knowledge, critical thinking, and interpersonal communication.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior tax accountant responsibilities requires skills like "state income," "tax research," "income tax returns," and "tax planning." But an accountant/consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "account management," "product knowledge," "leveraged," and "customer service."
On average, accountant/consultants earn a lower salary than senior tax accountants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, accountant/consultants earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $68,479. Whereas senior tax accountants have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $84,616.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Accountant/consultants tend to reach lower levels of education than senior tax accountants. In fact, they're 8.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior tax accountants in the next 3-5 years?
Thomas King
Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University
Senior tax accountant vs. Finance analyst/accountant
In a company setting, a finance analyst/accountant is in charge of handling and monitoring financial activities, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. Their responsibilities revolve around preparing financial reports, performing audits and risk assessments, and identifying any errors and inconsistencies, resolving them promptly and efficiently. They also conduct research and analysis to identify new business opportunities, evaluate the existing procedures to determine its strengths and weaknesses, and recommend solutions to optimize operations for financial growth. Furthermore, as a finance analyst/accountant, it is essential to uphold the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior tax accountant resumes include skills like "state income," "tax research," "income tax returns," and "tax planning," whereas a finance analyst/accountant is more likely to list skills in "financial analysis," "general ledger accounts," "payroll," and "external auditors. "
Finance analyst/accountants earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $78,897. Senior tax accountants earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $84,616.When it comes to education, finance analyst/accountants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to senior tax accountants. In fact, they're 4.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior tax accountant vs. Tax consultant
Tax consultants are experts in providing commercially centered tax advice and tax services to wide-ranging clients who function in all sectors of the economy. The work they do involves devising tax-efficient strategies for international and domestic-based clients in various business situations, including takeovers, company merges, and corporate reconstructions. They work continually to help clients ensure that the best business decisions are met. They also monitor and get ahead of possible changes concerning tax legislation and responding fast with guidance specific to their clients' tax requirements.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior tax accountants and tax consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior tax accountant might have more use for skills like "state income," "onesource," "tax laws," and "calculation." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of tax consultants require skills like "tax services," "property tax," "payroll," and "tax implications. "
The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for tax consultants, with average annual pay of $73,553. Comparatively, the highest senior tax accountant annual salary comes from the professional industry.tax consultants reach similar levels of education compared to senior tax accountants, in general. The difference is that they're 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior tax accountant
Updated January 8, 2025
