Founding Tax Expert (CPA)

Human Capitalists; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Human Capitalists is assisting a client building a modern tax engine and application. We seek a CPA with tax-focused experience to review returns, flag edge cases, and translate real-world tax workflows into product improvements, embedding on the engineering team.

You will collaborate with founding engineers to validate engine output against established tax software and provide UX feedback. This role combines tax expertise with product-minded collaboration in a fast-growing startup.

Qualifications

• CPA with tax-focused career, not audit, payroll, or bookkeeping.
• 6+ years of preparing individual returns using pro software across multiple tax seasons.
• Recent experience in preparing and reviewing individual income tax returns (1040).
• Ability to translate hands-on tax workflow into UX feedback for product teams.
• Comfortable in a small, early-stage startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Identify tax edge cases and complex scenarios to test the product.
• Validate engine output against legacy software and flag discrepancies.
• Contribute tax knowledge to shaping product roadmap and UX.
• Explain tax rules and expected outcomes to engineers during development.

Skills

UX feedback

Tax domain knowledge

Startup environment adaptability

Education

CPA certification

Tools

Drake

UltraTax

CCH

Lacerte

ProSeries

Job description

Our client is building the modern tax engine and application that makes professional tax preparation faster, more reliable, and easier for tax professionals. The company is backed by YCombinator and PeakXV. They have raised over $8M in venture capital.

About the Role

Seeking tax experts who have lived through tax seasons firsthand and want to help shape the future of tax accounting. You'll work closely with the founding team to review returns, identify edge cases, and translate real-world tax workflows into product improvements. This is not a traditional accounting firm role; you'll bring your tax expertise into the product-building process, working at the intersection of tax, technology, and product, effectively serving as a subject matter expert embedded on the engineering team.

Responsibilities

• Identify tax edge cases, complex scenarios, and ways to break the product.
• Validate engine output against legacy professional tax software (UltraTax, CCH, Drake, Lacerte, ProSeries, or similar) and flag discrepancies.
• Bring your tax preparation experience to help shape the product roadmap and UX.
• Work directly with engineers to explain tax rules and expected outcomes.

Qualifications

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a tax-focused career (not audit, payroll, or bookkeeping).
• 6+ years of experience preparing individual tax returns using professional tax software such as Drake, UltraTax, CCH, Lacerte, ProSeries, or similar platforms, across multiple full tax seasons.
• Recent experience in preparing and reviewing individual income tax returns(1040)
• An eye for product and user experience, with the judgment to translate hands‑on tax workflow experience into concrete UX feedback.
• Comfortable working in a small, early‑stage startup environment.