The Trials of The Tax Executive

It's not new for tax executives to feel underappreciated. Few people get into the down-and-dirty details of a company's numbers like they do, but they get pigeonholed in the eyes of corporate leadership. Worry about the effective tax rate and leave the rest to us, and all that. Never mind that, say, SALT expertise can lead to all sorts of savings if it's used to help locate stores in areas where tax credits apply. And that's just one example.

Hudson Financial Solutions and CFO Research Services have published Building a Better Tax Function, which recommends a better-defined relationship - and closer collaboration - between finance and tax. It suggests companies hire tax professionals with more broad-based experience. As James Peter Rubin writes this morning on jobsinthemoney.com:

(...these are) the kind of people who have the experience and skills necessary to participate in business planning. "Recruiting and fostering tax personnel with sophisticated tax technical skills - and a broad perspective on business issues - is high on the tax function agenda, according to those we interviewed," the report says.

It makes sense that people who can put their tax work into the broader context of the business would be seen as more valuable. It's also another reason that tax professionals need good communications skills: to know how to write, to speak, to present ideas.

Broad View Helps Tax Executives [JITM]