A CEO of a privately-held company contacted me recently about their Head of Tax retiring. I call the Head of Tax or VP Tax by the acronym “HOT” because the great ones are really on fire when it comes to saving a company revenue that otherwise would be lost forever. In this case, the company CEO hired the Head of Tax many years ago and what was remarkable was the CEO deeply appreciated and valued their work. He recognized the VP Tax saved the company hundreds of millions over the years; he recognized the value the VP Tax brought to the organization overall. It was refreshing to be part of this conversation and listening to the CEO discuss his sincere appreciation for the outstanding contributions of the VP Tax. Frankly, it is not too often that I hear a CEO talk about how much they appreciated and admired their Head of Tax. Whenever I do hear these comments from a CEO, it is very clear this is a company who is working smart with their tax organization.
The CEO asked me to talk to their retiring VP Tax and as I did it was a reminder of how remarkable and thoroughly trained the seasoned tax executive was for this organization. After spending an hour on the phone with him (which seemed like 15 minutes), I was mesmerized by his tax ideas and the nuances he discovered in the tax code. The VP Tax brought extraordinary business tax strategy and ideas to the company. We discussed strategies the company uses to create considerable tax savings that I believe many would miss. This VP Tax is incredible and will be tough to replace when he retires. The VP Tax has technical skills that are extraordinary and the company benefits from this knowledge continually. Corporate tax professionals like this are valuable treasures to an organization as this CEO learned.
CEOs and CFOs who respect their VPs Tax and let them know they appreciate their work will intrinsically motivate them to excel. It is a beautiful partnership to observe in upper management and it absolutely contributes to the overall financial health of an organization. In my opinion, this company has been largely successful because they listened to their VP Tax over many years teach them how to save tax dollars over the short term and long term. I should also mention that in my private conversations with lead tax executives over the years, the one thing that can frustrate a lead tax executive is to go to a CEO with a strategy to save millions of dollars only to have their ideas tossed to the side. Corporate tax professionals are highly educated and very thoughtful leaders and they typically will not go to a CEO unless they have something really worth talking about in terms of tax savings.
What I have learned over many years is the importance of understanding the valuable relationship between the tax organization and the CEO and/or CFO. Whenever a company asks to retain me to conduct a search for a senior tax executive, I want to know how they are going to interact with their tax executive. What is management’s view of their tax organization? Does the upper management work collaboratively with their Head of Tax? Do they view the tax department as revenue generating? Do they understand the treasure in the tax department? Whenever I meet a CEO of CFO who loves their Head of Tax, there is no doubt in my mind they are working collaboratively. Where there is close collaboration between the CEO or CFO and the VP Tax there is success in an organization! You can count on it!
If you are searching for a lead tax executive for your tax department, please contact kat@taxconnections.com.
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.
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