The announcement of a merger or an acquisition of a company can affect everyone from Wall Street to the person walking home on the street that day. It sends waves of excitement, thoughts of one’s career security and confusion all at the same time. Every time a call arrives from a tax professional working in a corporate tax organization that is being acquired, fortunately my years of experience with these situations enables me to help them knowing what to expect. There are a few questions I always ask and for those who have never been through this type of situation before please listen up. Some of you will know where you stand right up front and some of you will not know anything until 2 weeks before your job ends. Having said this, know there are many moving parts during these deals and anything could happen.
When someone calls from a corporate tax department about an acquisition the first question I ask them is “Has your company discussed any severance package with you yet?” If they say “No but they have mentioned they will be talking to us.” It is time to remind them that the company will extend packages first to the people they need most as they want to secure these key people as quickly as possible after the announcement. Key people are first told what they can expect and how long the company would like to retain them in that role. If the company is keeping you in the dark regarding their intentions then you need to be proactive in protecting yourself (I will teach you how during this post).
I have observed big companies who acquired a company and let go the majority of the tax department. All the knowledge walked out the door and if investors even knew the costs to the company financially they would be stunned . The tax department could have saved the company millions in taxes on the deal. On the other hand, there are super smart executive teams running companies listening to their tax executives; these are companies making money by minimizing the taxes; these are the companies keeping the tax team informed and engaged on tax minimization savings strategies right to the very end. These companies are run by executives who are doing an outstanding job.
What always happens is the uncertainty in the minds of the tax professionals working for these organizations. Depending on how each person is treated, the acquisition will often impact their productivity in the company. If every company would simply communicate clearly with their executive teams, and every executive team member would communicate clearly with their tax team what they know, tax departments could operate much more smoothly. It is the uncertainty in these transitions that affect the people and the companies greatly.
If you are leading a tax organization, you should reach out to help your team in times of uncertainty. If you want to help your people during the acquisition and cannot guarantee them a job, you can now help them obtain the attention they deserve for their tax skills and knowledge as a member of https://www.taxconnections.com/membership/tax-professionals .
Here is the big difference with TaxConnections and other sites. When you join TaxConnections everybody can find you and send you a message for free. The other sites make it very difficult for people to find and connect with you because they make their money charging other people to get through to you. If you really wanting a stunning eye-opener go to another site and search for people just like you looking for a job. You will discover other sites make it difficult to find you when you are looking for a tax job…that is why the recruiters are not calling you…they cannot find you for free…Change your professional life and join TaxConnections today.
THIS IS #8 OF A SPECIAL 12 WEEK BLOG SERIES: HOW TO DEVELOP A LEADING AND PRODUCTIVE TAX ORGANIZATION IN 2016. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE A PDF OF ALL POSTS IN THIS 12 POST SERIES, PLEASE REGISTER HERE
—We Recommend You Read The Previous and Forthcoming Blogs In This Series—
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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