What does a senior tax analyst do?

A senior tax analyst is responsible for reconciling tax accounts, preparing tax payment estimates for the state and federal income tax jurisdictions. Other tasks that you will perform include discussing inter-company accounting, conducting tax research using different tax databases, and preparing state and federal income tax returns. In addition, you will be responsible for maintaining client accounts, write-ups, and ledgers, reconciling bank statements, and researching, developing, and executing tax-efficient structure. As a senior tax analyst, you are also responsible for reviewing and analyzing tax withholdings.
Senior tax analyst responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior tax analyst resumes:
- Manage the production of retirement benefit checks, and ACH invoices.
- Review various tax liability and reserve account reconciliations to ensure proper accounting treatment of tax collections and remittances.
- Prepare sales/use tax reclassification journal entries for monthly closing and perform quarterly and annual sales/use tax accounts reconciliation for SOX control.
- Used OneSource s/w for filing the tax returns.
- Develop and generate ERP system reports, meeting standard reporting needs.
- Improve: labor reporting, sales cycle, departments communication, A/R & A/P processing.
- Maintain client accounts, general ledgers, write-ups, reconcile bank statements, and generate various financials reports according to GAAP.
- Create, maintain and update financial reports and analyses, as well as training and testing material for new ERP systems.
- Wrote/Review responses to IRS audit inquiries regarding international issues.
- Analyze historical information to complete IRS audit requests for information.
- Calculate applicable corporate tax credit and create technical memo supporting the credit calculation.
- Analyze stock options for taxation issues relating to corporate tax deductions and individual taxation.
- Review and analyze information relating to taxation of products to provide accurate tax reporting.
- Involve in researching, drawing and implementing tax-efficient structure, maintaining SOX reporting documentation.
- Prepare necessary reports and supporting schedules, reconciliations and memos that are the documentation necessary for audit purposes.
Senior tax analyst skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Senior Tax Analysts are proficient in ASC, State Income, and OneSource. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Math skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Tax Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- ASC, 6%
Prepared quarterly tax provisions under ASC 740 (FAS 109) including current, deferred and foreign taxes (Australia).
- State Income, 5%
Supervised tax analyst in all daily activities including the preparation of State Income/Franchise and gross receipts filing obligations.
- OneSource, 5%
Gathered and reviewed information from foreign controllers by utilizing OneSource Global Access.
- Tax Compliance, 5%
Reviewed existing methodologies supporting tax compliance and developed more accurate and time efficient methods supporting apportionment and tax trial balances.
- Tax Research, 4%
Perform tax research and analysis on all potential capital acquisitions and review invoices for capital asset acquisitions for use tax implications.
- Indirect Tax, 4%
Prepared and/or reviewed indirect tax filings for affiliated companies.
Most senior tax analysts use their skills in "asc," "state income," and "onesource" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior tax analyst responsibilities here:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a senior tax analyst to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what senior tax analysts do because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." Additionally, a senior tax analyst resume shows how senior tax analysts use communication skills: "frequent communication with customers and vendors regarding tax issues. "
Math skills. Many senior tax analyst duties rely on math skills. "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures," so a senior tax analyst will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior tax analyst responsibilities rely on math skills: "maintained the daily error statistics reporting and weekly cycle reporting for corporate office, and interfaced with corporate treasury to resolution. "
Detail oriented. For certain senior tax analyst responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "detail oriented." The day-to-day duties of a senior tax analyst rely on this skill, as "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior tax analysts do: "worked with fixed asset detail to create schedules and reconciliations to be used with the return and provision preparation. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in senior tax analyst job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what senior tax analysts do. Senior tax analyst 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 analyst duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "display excellent customer service, and organizational skills, timely response to employee and agency inquiries. "
The three companies that hire the most senior tax analysts are:
- Deloitte130 senior tax analysts jobs
- Ernst & Young52 senior tax analysts jobs
- Bausch + Lomb33 senior tax analysts jobs
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Senior tax analyst vs. Accountant
An accountant is an individual whose primary task is to prepare, keep, examine, and interpret financial records. Most accountants are in charge of a wide scope of finance-related tasks, either for private individuals or for large-scale businesses and organizations they are employed with. They make sure that financial statements and records are accurate and comply with laws and regulations. They also compute for taxes, prepare tax returns, and ensure being paid properly and on time. As they keep track and record the flow of money, they can offer guidance on how to reduce costs, enhance revenue, and help in profit maximization.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior tax analyst are more likely to require skills like "asc," "state income," "onesource," and "tax compliance." On the other hand, a job as an accountant requires skills like "payroll tax returns," "customer service," "cpa," and "financial data." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Accountants tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $60,365. In contrast, senior tax analysts make the biggest average salary, $90,075, in the finance industry.accountants tend to reach lower levels of education than senior tax analysts. In fact, accountants are 11.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior tax analyst vs. Fixed asset accountant
A fixed asset accountant is responsible for processing statement reports for the company's assets, organizing account records, and handling bank reconciliations and disputes. Fixed asset accountants must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles to determine and track the assets dispositions in various accounting systems for reference. They also ensure the accurate balance and calculate the value of all fixed assets for reports. A fixed asset accountant should be highly analytical to measure asset obligations and provide recommendations for asset acquisition.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior tax analyst responsibilities requires skills like "asc," "state income," "onesource," and "tax compliance." But a fixed asset accountant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "asset system," "cip," "asset accounts," and "capital projects."
Fixed asset accountants may earn a lower salary than senior tax analysts, but fixed asset accountants earn the most pay in the energy industry with an average salary of $65,229. On the other hand, senior tax analysts receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $90,075.In general, fixed asset accountants achieve lower levels of education than senior tax analysts. They're 10.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior tax analysts in the next 3-5 years?
Assistant Professor of Economics, Campbell School of Business, Berry College
Senior tax analyst vs. General ledger accountant
A general ledger accountant is in charge of ensuring the accuracy of a company's overall accounting processes and information. It is their responsibility to communicate with different departments and officials to gather necessary data, conduct extensive audits, prepare documentation and reports, maintain financial data on the company ledger, and interpret financial information. Furthermore, like a general ledger accountant, it is essential to monitor the progress of accounting processes, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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 analyst resumes include skills like "asc," "state income," "onesource," and "tax compliance," whereas a general ledger accountant is more likely to list skills in "balance sheet accounts," "payroll," "asset system," and "cpa. "
General ledger accountants earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $68,134. Comparatively, senior tax analysts have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $90,075.Most general ledger accountants achieve a lower degree level compared to senior tax analysts. For example, they're 11.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior tax analyst vs. Project accountant
A project accountant is primarily in charge of overseeing the budget and expenditures allocated for various projects within a company. Their responsibilities revolve around reviewing financial data and work plans, managing billing and financial reports, monitoring the flow of revenue, filing purchase orders and invoices, and processing payments to subcontractors, suppliers, and more. It is also vital to coordinate with all managing personnel to prepare necessary reports such as costs and taxes. Furthermore, it is essential to maintain data and records of all transactions, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Types of senior tax analyst
Updated January 8, 2025











