Tax Manager

Most of the people who are any good at sitting across a desk from a small business owner, working out what their books are actually saying and then telling them straight, never get paid manager money for it. It gets called client service and lands on whoever is nearest.

This one is the job. A small firm in Murrieta wants someone who can own the client relationship and the return behind it, $123k to $151k. You'll be the person the business owners ask for.

Why this firm:

• $123k to $151k
• Small firm, so the client is yours from the first meeting to the signature
• Small business owners and their returns, with the books to untangle first
• They want to hire in the next few weeks, so it isn't a search that drifts into next year
• Office based, in the Murrieta and Temecula area, because the clients come in
• It's a small firm. No department to elevate to, and the admin is nearer than you're used to

What you'll be doing:

• Meeting tax clients and small business owners and sorting out the mess before the return
• Preparing and reviewing individual and business returns
• Being the one who explains what the numbers mean, in words the client uses
• Keeping clients right through the year rather than seeing them once in March

What you'll have:

• EA at the minimum, CPA preferred
• Enough years in tax to be trusted alone with a client
• Somewhere within a sensible drive, because this is an office seat