My career as a tax accountant has taken many twists and turns (see below for a summary). For this discussion, I thought it would be interesting for you to surmise which career choice has been the most (or least) enjoyable for me as a tax accountant, and why. Or you could choose which of the 4 types of companies (large public accounting, mid-sized public accounting, large publicly-traded corporation, mid-sized privately-held corporation) you'd prefer to work for, and why.
You are free to respond to any comments I make or that a classmate posts, but I will be focusing on your first post from a grading perspective. So please make sure your initial post is well-written and succinctly stated.
- After college, I signed on with Ernst & Young. Throughout my 8+ years in public accounting, I prepared/reviewed/signed Federal and state tax returns for clients of all shapes and sizes - from global consolidated C-corporation entities to mom-and-pop partnerships to individuals.
- I left EY for CBIZ, a national public accounting firm but much smaller in size than EY. I managed accounts for flow-through clients (i.e. S-corporations, partnerships) and high-net-worth individuals, and I also was in charge of CBIZ' expatriate tax practice.
- After CBIZ I joined Cerner (large publicly-traded C-corporation) as their International Tax Manager. In addition to ensuring Cerner was tax compliant in all foreign jurisdictions where it had a taxable presence, I assisted the Director of Tax with the quarterly and annual tax provision process. I also managed Cerner's expatriate tax practice.
- I then accepted a Director of Tax position at an advertising technology company called Adknowledge. Adknowledge was a mid-sized private C-corporation with majority ownership held by the founder. Adknowledge grew quickly in its first few years but then hit some rough patches. I was hired to not only lead the company's tax practice but also to partner with other leaders in the organization to devise a restructuring plan that would give the company the flexibility it needed to sustain future growth.