Senior Tax Associate

Overview

This role is a Senior Tax Associate position focused on preparing a wide variety of individual and closely held entity tax returns and creating reviewer-ready workpapers. You will work across entity and individual clients, tracing information across operating businesses, related entities, and real estate to ensure consistent reporting across returns.

Responsibilities

• Prepare federal, state, and local tax returns for individuals and closely held entities, including core mix of Forms 1040, 1065, 1120-S, and 1120; additional trusts and estates, related real estate entities, and other returns as assigned.
• Build clean, complete, reviewer-ready workpapers with clear support, reconciliations, calculations, notes, and tie-outs.
• Connect the “financial trail” across business, related-entity, real estate, and individual filings so each related return tells the same story.
• Apply an accounting skill set to tax work, including reconciliation of balance-sheet accounts, retained earnings, fixed assets, basis, owner activity, and book-to-tax items such as payroll, sales or excise tax.
• Enter, validate, and manage tax data, carryforwards, fixed assets, prior-year items, and current-year activity in UltraTax CS or a comparable platform.
• Identify missing information, inconsistencies, unusual issues, capacity concerns, and potential deadline problems early.
• Support tax extensions, estimates, e-filing and secure delivery, and assist with resolving notices or other technical projects.
• Recognize when work may fall outside agreed scope and bring it to a manager before committing to additional work, fees, or timing.
• Support planning by researching assigned questions, documenting facts and authority, and bringing clear recommendations and unresolved questions to the manager.
• Communicate proactively about status, open items, scope, risks, and deadlines.
• Draft clear client emails and explain requests without burying key points in tax jargon.
• Apply reviewer notes effectively and contribute to documentation, training, and process improvements.
• Coordinate with accounting, advisory, and client-service teammates when tax work reveals accounting issues, planning opportunities, or client needs.

Requirements

• At least three years of recent public accounting tax experience, including at least two busy seasons owning returns from client intake through reviewer submission.
• Ability to prepare a varied return mix and understand what the numbers mean—delivering work that is ready for review.
• Meaningful experience with individual and closely held business returns (trusts and estates are a plus).
• Strong accounting capability: ability to read financial statements, reconcile accounts, understand journal entries, and trace activity into a tax return.
• Advanced Excel skills (formulas, lookups, pivot tables, data cleanup, and organized workpapers).
• Strong attention to detail (catch transposed numbers, missing support, and items that do not tie).
• Curiosity about AI and automation, with a commitment to using only firm-approved systems, protecting client information, verifying outputs, and remaining accountable for final work.
• Clear communication and sound judgment; ability to receive feedback professionally.
• Busy-season availability for 55+ hours during the heaviest filing-deadline stretches, typically February through April 15 and September through October 15.
• Remote-work reliability: secure, professional workspace, dependable internet, and availability for Pacific Time collaboration during agreed working hours (typically 10am–2pm PST).
• Professional references from prior employers, supervisors, or clients.

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA license, EA certification, CPA eligibility, or active progress toward a credential.
• Experience reviewing simpler returns or training less-experienced preparers.
• Tax-tech fluency with UltraTax CS or another professional preparation platform, including e-file and portal workflows/digital delivery tools.
• Demonstrated AI or automation improvement in a tax/accounting workflow.
• Comfort across the broader accounting stack (examples include QuickBooks, Workpapers CS, Practice CS, SurePrep, SafeSend, SharePoint, Notion, Missive, Bill.com, Gusto, Double, or similar systems).
• Experience with complex owners and related tax needs (closely held businesses, multi-entity structures, real estate, professional service firms).
• Experience with multistate and pass-through entity tax, basis, fixed asset, owner compensation, or closely held business planning.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: $80,000–$105,000 annually, depending on experience, credentials, and demonstrated capability.
• Employment type: Full-time, exempt.
• Medical/dental/vision: Employer pays 100% of the employee premium for medical (BCBS PPO) and dental and vision (Delta Dental PPO). Coverage begins on the first day of the month following the employee’s start date. Dependents may be added at the employee’s cost (benefits subject to plan terms).
• 401(k): Employer matches employee contributions up to 3% of eligible pay. Eligibility begins on the employee’s start date, subject to plan terms and applicable vesting schedule.
• Paid holidays: Six current firm holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day, plus four floating holidays. Tax-season blackout dates apply.
• Vacation: Fifteen vacation days per calendar year, prorated based on official start date; subject to the firm calendar and busy-season blackout periods.
• Paid sick and safe time: Accrual begins on the first day of employment, using Seattle’s paid sick and safe time requirements as the minimum standard and applying any more protective law required by the employee’s work location.
• Volunteer time: Two paid volunteer days.
• Professional development: Continuing education and growth opportunities, including reimbursement for approved certification, licensing, professional membership, and destination CPE expenses within firm policy.
• Optional cell-phone coverage: Participation in the firm’s Verizon plan is available under the current cell-phone policy; the firm does not subsidize or reimburse device purchases.
• Personal tax support: Employees may use firm software to prepare personal income tax returns and may request reasonable guidance from the firm’s principals at no charge, subject to firm policy.

Location

Remote within approved U.S. work locations.

Additional Information

• Target start date: No later than January 5, 2027 (flexible start).
• Equipment: The firm provides the computer and standard technology equipment needed for the role, including monitors, keyboard, mouse, headset, and related accessories.
• Equal opportunity & accommodations: The employer is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process.