Over the past few days, many calls and emails regarding this series of posts have been received regarding corporate tax executives. One individual called to remind us the expertise required today that was not required thirty years ago when they started in the tax profession. In particular, we discussed tax executives with little if any knowledge of software. Tax Executives with little software expertise are being hoodwinked by people selling them tax software services they do not need. Tax management is faced with a technology integration nightmare that few know how to deal with today. Tax management simply wants the problem to go away so they call in a consultant to fix it.
This is when the real problems begin because corporations farm out the work to consultants who are great at selling the business yet have little experience integrating multiple corporate tax and financial software projects themselves. Who is selling the software technology expertise to you and who is really providing the service are two different people. Many corporate tax organizations are sold software they do not need or ever fully implement. The fees for implementing the software often amount to 3-4 times the cost of the software. Do the people implementing the software do it right? How do you really know?
There is really a much bigger problem in the underworld of software technology consultants. The CFOs and the Lead Tax Executives never really understand if the software was what they needed or fully utilized. Many executives are unaware of software implementation mistakes and likely will not know until someone finds it years down the road, long after the consulting fee has been paid. Over the years, consultants have privately shared numerous stories with me about software purchases and implementations that were full of costly mistakes for companies.
Here is the scenario played out today: One day a consultant gets a peek at the work and discovers “Holy Cow…I just discovered an enormous error in how this calculation was set up on the software!” Being the trustworthy consultant they are, they go to the firm Partner and proudly tell them they discovered the work they did for the client was done wrong. Since the firm charged the company millions of dollars in consulting fees, certain individuals were not happy to learn the job was done incorrectly. What do they do? In this particular case, they simply wanted to get rid of the senior manager who discovered the problem and this is when he came to me with his story. I have seen other cases where the Head of Tax conveniently gets blamed and the Partner now takes on responsibility for the entire tax organization. I have seen cases where trusted Partners come forward and take total responsibility. What type of consultants do you have on your software?
How do you find a tax software consultant who understands how to piece together multiple layers of corporate tax and financial software? How do you find a tax software consultant who will be straight up with you and get the job done better than anyone else? A consultant I was speaking to recently gave me the following answer: “A company should hire a tax technology consultant who wants to implement the software properly, not make a career out of it!” She was right!
We went further with our discussion about what a great idea it is to have an independent software technology expert come in and review the work of another consultant. Much like a firm review, you absolutely want to get another opinion when it comes to setting up your tax and accounting software because most people have no idea if the software was implemented properly. A highly qualified tax software consultant is one of the most valuable assets you can have on your team today.
Over the years, I have met tax technology experts with extraordinary integrity and highly technical tax software skills. I will be inviting these experts to a private panel discussion for corporate tax executives only. I will have them share with you on a call-in conference real life stories you absolutely must hear. Due to the sensitive nature of this discussion, it is available to corporate tax executives only.
In order to protect the privacy of these tax software technology experts, you will only hear their voices and not know their names unless they decide to disclose their names during this telephone conference on Friday, May 11, 2018 at 9:00AM PST/12:00NOON EST. I will bring you three of the best technology tax experts I have interviewed over the years who will be asked to share private stories you never hear and need to know! These are jaw dropping stories; you will learn a lot from these tax software experts! You will be a lot smarter and prepared for these situations by knowing what mess you could find yourself in by not knowing this information!
Want to be invited to this private, by invitation only, discussion?
You will learn of stories most people do not want you to know!
Request Private Invitation From Kat@TaxConnections.com You Will Be Sent Dial In Phone Conference Number Once Approved. Must Be A Corporate Tax Executive To Attend Or Call 858.999.0053 X100
Kat Jennings, TaxConnections, CEO and Founder and Advisory Team provides three areas of services: 1) Internationally recognized, retained executive search services for multinational corporations, public accounting firms, and law firms; 2) Introductions of sellers to buyers of small and medium size accounting firms; and 3) Provide brand building and education services that support and prepare accounting firm owners to buy/sell an accounting practice. We focus on educating the journey to sell a practice and how to increase firm revenue prior to any sale. Our program ensures you start years prior to a sale by learning what is expected of you during the selling process, and introducing firm Partners to cross selling opportunities that are easy to implement and reduce your workload at the same time. We introduce you to value added connections to smartly grow revenue in your accounting practice.
Kat Jennings has been retained by organizations worldwide to locate tax professionals with highly specialized tax knowledge and expertise. She has a thorough understanding of the tax business community, with a proven record of stellar performances matching professionals with organizations. Bringing two parties together to work successfully is the art of understanding personalities, cultural fit, expectations by both parties, flexible or inflexible work environments, understanding what drives and motivates each party, and revolves around the personality and ethics of each executive team.
Kat is a widely recognized expert in high level, tax executive search, as well as connecting buyers and sellers of accounting firms. TaxConnections provides and educates small to medium size accounting firms owners and Partners how to prepare and sell their firms so they can build a succession plan for their retirement. With larger firms seeking to acquire smaller accounting practices, there is a real need to help firm owners prepare to be acquired. Most firm owners are unaware they are not ready to sell when they decide to retire. TaxConnections educates firm owners’ what they need to do years in advance of selling an accounting firm practice.
Senior tax executives expect the utmost privacy when being introduced to multinational organizations about a new tax opportunity under consideration. Having said that, companies searching for a new head of tax expecting tax executive candidates to submit their resume through a resume portal, will never see a full slate of outstanding tax executives available due to a candidates’ desire for greater privacy. This is why privacy focused Uber Tax Recruiters consistently outperform in-house recruiters on tax executive searches.
We offer our clients a Performance Retainer Agreement arrangement so their HR department can still recruit and compete with the tax candidates we present on Head of Tax searches. The client pays us a partial fee upfront, and if they find a candidate they deem better than we introduce to them, we forfeit the final fee. Most of the time, they love and prefer our private introductions to tax executive candidates better than what they source through their own resume portals.
When we represent selling/buying small to medium-sized firms, firm owners/partners also demand greater privacy when considering the sale of their practice. TaxConnections provides a safe place to discuss their business needs, elevate their practices’ online reputation, and increase revenue through new streams of business development by outsourcing work and partnering with other firms. Over three decades, we have worked tirelessly to build relationships between firm owners most organizations rarely have access to in the world of tax. There are numerous possibilities you may never have considered previously to bolster the value of your practice and service offerings.
As a globally recognized consultant to multinational organizations, accounting firms, and law firms searching for tax expertise, Kat has been retained by public accounting firms, law firms, and corporations worldwide including Apple Computer, AC Neilson, Accenture, Agilent Technologies, Allergan, Alza, American Express, American Media, Aon, Baker & McKenzie, Barclays Bank, Bechtel, Cargill, Carl Zieuss Vision, Century Aluminum, Chevron, Clorox, Citigroup, Commercials Metals, Constellation Energy, Countrywide, Del Monte, Deloitte Touche, DFS, DLA Piper, E&J Gallo Winery, Electronic Arts, Ernst &Young, Fox Entertainment, Fremont Investments, General Electric,General Motors, Herbalife, Hewlett Packard, Hyatt, Intel, Jones Lang LaSalle, Kimco Realty, KLA Tencor, Koch Industries, KPMG, Levi Strauss, Liberty Mutual, LKQ, Loews, Logitech, Lucas Film, Maersk, McKesson, Nalco, Newell Rubbermaid, Nissan, Oracle, Orbitax, Pacific Gas & Electric, PwC, QAD, SAIC, SanDisk, Sanmina, Sempra Energy, SONY, Synopsys, Ticketmaster, Trimble Navigation, Toyota, Univar, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Vertex, Yahoo, Xilinx, and many more not listed here.
Contact Kat at 858,999.0053 Office/858.232.4415 Cell or kat@taxconnections.com to request a private consultation regarding the sale of your practice, adding top talent to your organization, or merging your practice with another firm owner with a book of business. The possibilities are endless; if you have a dream of a new vision for your professional life; we will scout opportunities throughout the market to make it happen.
1 comment on “Corporate Tax Executives – Face Tax Software Mistakes Few Are Prepared For”
Kitty, great Bread and Butter issue to address. Response should be overwhelming!
If appropriate, I would be excited to attend that one-of-a-kind session.
Tom Kerester
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