Menu
Tax Notes logo

Tax Manager Tops Best Jobs List in New Survey

Posted on Aug. 15, 2019

Being a tax manager may not be an easy job, but a recent survey says it’s one of the best ones out there.

Tax managers topped the list in a study by Glassdoor that rated the career fields with the most opportunities.

Glassdoor looked at three criteria in deciding its rankings, using data from its website: a career opportunity rating as reported by employees who actively work in this role; median base salary; and number of job openings.

Tax managers came out first, with the highest career opportunity rating on the list, a base salary of roughly $112,000, and 4,803 reported job openings on Glassdoor.

The study notes that tax managers can specialize in different industries, and they aren’t “limited to traditional finance and consulting sectors.” As a result, tax managers have the opportunity to build their skills in different directions.

Further, as financial management firms in general increasingly adopt technology into their practice, tax managers have a greater need “to build closer client relationships in order to provide more customized financial advice,” the study observed.

A 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics report pinpointed financial managers, which includes tax managers, as being among the career fields with the biggest predicted job growth over a decade. It also happened to be the highest-paying occupation on that list.

Opportunity Zone

For Ben Garfunkel, chief talent officer for KPMG LLP’s tax practice, “There’s never been a more exciting time to be a tax professional.”

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has created a “significant upturn in hiring,” particularly of professionals with international tax or tax modeling skills, Garfunkel said in a blog post unrelated to the Glassdoor study.

As firms increasingly adopt technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics, tax professionals such as tax managers have an opportunity to do fewer mundane tasks and to focus on expanding their skill sets.

At the same time, “the proliferation of technology is also putting a premium on so-called soft skills,” Garfunkel said. “Robots won’t be leading teams or building client relationships anytime soon. People will,” he added.

Jordon Rosen of Belfint, Lyons & Shuman PA likewise observed that the tax manager is “the coveted position that every accounting firm is currently looking for,” both because most tax professionals entering that role are millennials who are well-versed in technology, and also because they will likely have had some experience supervising engagements and younger staff by that point.

Damien Martin of BKD LLP also pointed out that many baby boomers are on the cusp of retirement, creating lots of opportunities for tax managers to step up in both public and private accounting firms.

Rosen told Tax Notes that as a baby boomer himself who will be retiring in a few years, he expects his successor will come from the ranks of tax managers.

Not All Sunshine and Roses

Tax managers may have a lot going for them, but they also have a lot of responsibility.

“Good tax managers are highly sought and hard to find in public accounting firms,” said Martin, likening finding a good manager to spotting a unicorn.

A tax manager in public accounting will usually have at least five years of experience and a commanding knowledge of technical tax concepts, Martin said, but the job can be challenging because the manager is often tasked with maintaining existing capabilities while developing new ones.

It’s also often a highly transitional role, Martin said.

“You generally advance in public accounting by being a good technician, but around the manager role you start to be asked to become a true manager — a different skill set that’s oftentimes not directly taught in public accounting,” Martin said.

Rosen, speaking on behalf of the American Institute of CPAs’ Tax Reform Resources Task Force, observed that tax managers face the sometimes daunting challenge of being sandwiched in their organizations: They’re responsible for taking pressure off the partners who pass some of their work down to them while also having to train the younger staff.

“They’re responsible in both directions, and consequently, I’ve seen managers in this position probably put in more hours than many of their colleagues,” Rosen said.

Follow Jonathan Curry (@jtcurry005) on Twitter for real-time updates.

Copy RID