Senior Tax Associate

The Mather Group, LLC; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Mather Group, LLC is seeking a Tax Senior Associate to join our advanced tax team in Houston. The role focuses on advanced tax compliance, planning, and client advisory, with opportunities to mentor junior staff and contribute to practice development.

The ideal candidate demonstrates independence, strong communication, and the ability to manage multiple priorities while staying current on tax regulations and technology. A CPA or EA eligibility is preferred.

Qualifications

• EA or CPA eligibility preferred.
• 3 years in a Tax Associate role or equivalent.
• Experience preparing individual, fiduciary, gift, and/or business tax returns.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently while collaborating with teams.

Responsibilities

• Audit and prepare individual, fiduciary, and business tax compliances.
• Prepare and review tax projections and Roth conversions to support planning.
• Respond to IRS/state notices and audits.
• Identify tax issues and determine resolutions.
• Prepare retirement planning projections for tax reduction and growth.
• Articulate Roth conversions, NUA, DAF, QCD and cash-flow impacts.
• Present strategies to clients.
• Manage workload and mentor junior associates.

Skills

CPA eligibility

Tax preparation experience

Communication skills

Time management

Independent work

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance

CPA eligibility (EA/CPA)

Job description

The Tax Senior Associate is an advanced tax professional with a strong foundation in tax compliance and planning and emerging foundation in long-term tax and financial strategies that support client wealth and estate planning. The Tax Senior Associate role requires a proactive team player who can adapt to evolving and multiple priorities, communicate effectively, build trusted client relationships, mentor and train, and support practice developments.

TMG values the Tax Senior Associate who has high level of independence and initiative, works with sense of urgency, stays current on tax technical and technology evolutions, demonstrates exceptional organization and critical thinking, and is committed to professional development to next level.

Role Responsibilities

Comprehensive Tax Compliance and Consulting

• Review individual, gift, fiduciary, and business compliances with quality, documentation, accuracy, meeting established Tax team timeframes.
• Prepare, review and grow to finalize estimated tax, Roth conversion, and other projections to support effective tax strategies.
• Respond to IRS and state agency tax notices and audits.
• Identify tax issues such as missing information, tax positions, risk and exposure, and exercise sound judgment in determining resolutions.
• Prepare and review retirement planning projections that identify multi-year opportunities for tax reduction and estate growth for clients.
• Have emerging understanding of tax planning strategies such as Roth conversions, NUA, DAF, QCD, cash flow management, investment tax consequences.
• Participate in client presentation of these strategies to clients formally and informally.

Client Relationship Management

• Support, own and follow through on day-to-day client interactions including translating and responding to client requests into clear communications, actionable follow-up items, and timelines.
• Draft and send professional and audience-minded communications to clients and team members.
• Proactively communicate progress, open items, deadlines, risks, and emerging concerns to Tax and the client service teams.

Practice Development

• Suggest and pilot improvements to current status or new ideas.
• Train, mentor and own growth of Tax Associates to next level.
• Participate in departmental projects and initiatives.

Operational Oversight & Tax Expertise

• Plan and sequence workload for short/long/seasonal time periods and train Tax Associates to do same.
• Identify and alert leadership to timing and capacity issues with ideas to correct.
• Exercise sound judgment in determining what can be resolved independently versus what should be escalated.
• Follow all standards in work processes, procedures and documentation to be a model to team members as well as ensure efficiency, reduce risk and exposure, and increase quality.
• Expand tax technical and technology knowledge independently and share /present on-point matters with team.

Required Experience

• EA or CPA eligibility preferred
• 3 Years in a Tax Associate level role or equivalent
• Experience preparing individual, fiduciary, gift, and/or business tax returns
• Previous experience in the financial services industry a plus
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational and time management skills with the ability to manage and be flexible with multiple priorities and deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with various levels of Tax and client service teams
• Proactive, accountable, and motivated self-starter with a commitment to continuous learning and process improvement