Tax Manager

Tax Manager

North suburbs | CPA Firm | 70+ people

There’s a lot happening at this firm right now, and for the right Tax Manager, that creates a pretty interesting place to join.

They’re around 70 people today and continuing to grow, but still at the size where you can know the Partner group, have a voice and actually see the impact you’re having.

It’s an ambitious firm. Things move quickly, good people get noticed and there isn’t a huge hierarchy to work your way through before you can take on more.

One of the current Partners progressed quickly himself, so when they talk about progression and Partnership, there are actual examples of it happening.

They’re also independently owned with no PE backing. The Partners are building the firm for the long term and want people around them who can grow with it.

The role itself is a genuine Manager position, with roughly 75% review and 25% client relationship and advisory work.

You’ll be involved in:

• Reviewing complex tax work
• Managing client relationships directly
• Mentoring and developing staff
• Working closely with the Partner group
• Getting involved in planning and advisory work
• Having a say in how the team and wider firm continue to develop

The client base is broad across manufacturing, professional services, real estate, logistics, nonprofits and other closely held businesses.

If you’re particularly good at something, they’re happy to let you build around it. If you prefer staying broad, that works too.

They don’t really pigeonhole people.

The culture is younger and pretty high energy. People actually like coming into the office and spending time together. Thursday and Friday drinks are common, the Partners will often pick up the bill and there’s a summer softball team.

It has more of that downtown, bigger firm energy than you might expect from a 70 person CPA firm, without actually being a huge firm.

The hours are sensible too.

Busy season is typically around 55 to 60 hours, then May through August drops to around 37.5 hours with early Fridays.

They expect people to work hard when the work is there, but there’s no prize for sitting at your desk unnecessarily.

You’ll ideally already have 2+ years operating at Manager level within public accounting and your CPA.

Longer term, Partnership is absolutely an option for someone who wants it.

But you don’t have to be solely focused on making Partner for this role to make sense. There’s plenty of room to take on more client ownership, get involved in decisions, develop people and build an area around your strengths.

Interested? Not ready with a resume? Or want a bit more information before applying? No problem. You can still apply and ask Imogen. She’ll be happy to tell you more about the firm, the job and the prospects before you commit further.

Imogen Talbot-Slack is a Recruiter with Distinct Recruitment. She’s been recruiting in finance for over 9 years, with a focus on public accounting firms across Illinois and Indiana. She’s not a career salesperson she’s built her reputation by actually listening to what candidates want, whether that’s better hours, a path to partner, or simply a firm where they’ll enjoy going to work.

Think you only have 87% of the required experience? Perfect - apply anyway. The CPA firms we partner with want diverse, interesting people, not corporate clones stamped from the same tedious mould.