Tax Accountant

General Job Description:

The Payroll Tax Accountant is a dependable, self-directed payroll tax specialist responsible for accurate, timely, and compliant payroll tax withholding, reporting, and filing across federal, state, and local jurisdictions. This role brings deep expertise in employee tax deductions and employee-side tax filings in multiple states, owns payroll tax reconciliations and agency resolution, supports payroll cash forecasting, and partners with Payroll, Finance, and external service providers to strengthen payroll tax processes and systems.

Supervises: None

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Tax Compliance & Filing: Oversee the preparation, review, and timely filing of all federal, state, and local payroll tax returns and deposits across multiple states and legal entities, including Forms 940, 941, W-2, W-2C, amended returns, and applicable state and local equivalents. Ensure full compliance with regulatory deadlines and evolving tax legislation.
• Employee Tax Withholding: Ensure the accurate calculation and withholding of employee payroll taxes across all federal, state, and local jurisdictions in which employees reside and work, including multi-state, nonresident, and reciprocal agreement scenarios. Maintain employee tax profiles, respond to employee withholding inquiries, and ensure the accuracy of employee tax reporting.
• Year-End & W-2 Process: Lead the payroll tax components of the year-end W-2 process, including review, testing, preparation, filing, and distribution, in collaboration with Payroll and external service providers. Prepare tax adjustments for taxable compensation and coordinate with Payroll and Benefits to ensure timely processing.
• General Ledger Reconciliation & Data Mapping: Lead the month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close for payroll tax accounts. Reconcile payroll tax liabilities and remittances to the general ledger specifically within JD Edwards. Proactively audit payroll to GL data mapping issues to ensure transaction flow. Investigate and resolve variances immediately
• Cash Forecasting: Maintain and update the weekly cash projection schedule. Develop and refine forward-looking payroll projections that reflect evolving business needs, staffing levels, and seasonal fluctuations in workload.
• Audit & Agency Resolution: Serve as the primary point of contact for payroll tax matters with internal stakeholders, external auditors, and regulatory agencies. Manage internal and external payroll tax audits, research and respond to agency notices, and resolve discrepancies and penalty assessments.
• Systems & Jurisdiction Management: Serve as the primary technical expert for payroll tax configurations within JD Edwards. Lead the step-by-step testing and validation of JD Edwards payroll tax system updates before they go live. Proactively diagnose disconnects between the payroll module and the general ledger to ensure tax logic and cash disbursements align.
• Vendor Management: Partner with external payroll tax service providers on return preparation, periodic compliance reporting, and tax account maintenance, holding vendors accountable for accuracy and timeliness.
• Regulatory Oversight: Monitor emerging and changing payroll tax laws and regulations, assess their operational impact, and ensure payroll policies and procedures remain current and compliant. Act as the payroll tax liaison for expansions into new jurisdictions ensuring that all local, state, and federal tax withholdings are considered and programmed into our payroll software
• Process Improvement: Evaluate payroll tax processes, internal controls, and system workflows on an ongoing basis. Partner with Payroll, AP, and Accounting to standardize procedures, drive automation, mitigate risk, and improve operational efficiency.
• Strategic Analysis: Provide guidance and financial modeling on the payroll tax implications of corporate restructuring, employee mobility, equity compensation, and fringe benefits.
• Payment Tracking & Internal Controls: Design, implement, and maintain rigorous tracking schedules and internal controls to monitor the lifecycle of all tax liabilities. Maintain comprehensive documentation and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure a transparent, verifiable record of all satisfied and pending tax remittances.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements (Skills, Work Experience, Education, Certifications, Licenses, etc.):

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance preferred.
• 5+ years of payroll tax experience required, including multi-state and local tax filings and employee tax withholding.
• Deep knowledge of federal, state, and local payroll and employment tax law, including multi-state withholding requirements.
• Hands-on experience with payroll tax software and ERP systems; experience with ADP setup and administration is a plus. Experience with JD Edwards payroll and Vertex integrations are a plus
• Experience reconciling payroll tax accounts to the general ledger and supporting month-, quarter-, and year-end close.
• Proven track record of tracing transactions from employee paychecks to final bank remittances within a complex ERP environment to guarantee zero missed or overpaid taxes.
• Dependable self-starter who works independently with minimal supervision and takes full ownership of deadlines.
• Highly accurate, detail-oriented, and organized; able to perform detailed review of others' work.
• Strong problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills, including advanced Excel and financial modeling.
• Excellent customer service and strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to prioritize, plan, and manage multiple deadlines with flexibility to respond to changing needs.

ACCO Competencies:

• Proactivity / Initiative: Recognizes what needs to be done and accomplishes it in a manner appropriate for one's level/position and with minimal supervision.
• Perseverance: Shows the wherewithal to fight for difficult goals despite challenges and to bounce back from adversity.
• Insight: The ability to gather and make sense of information that suggests new possibilities.
• Engagement: Shows a knack for using emotion and logic to communicate a persuasive vision and connect with people.
• Teamwork: The ability to effectively work toward common goals with others by supporting, encouraging, and sharing information in an authentic and approachable manner.
• Big Picture: Understands and contributes to organizations' short- and long-term business strategy. On a personal level has independently developed a vision for short- and long-term career success.
• Motivation / Dedication: Commits to excellence in pursuing unselfish goals. Initiates action with collective goals takes responsibility and shows personal humility.
• Technical Curiosity / Willingness to Learn: Interest in seeking out new experiences, knowledge, and candid feed, back; demonstrating an openness to learning and change.
• Problem-Solver: Ability to identify, analyze, and solve a problem in support of personal, group, department, or organizational objectives.

Physical Requirements:

(The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)

• The employee may regularly lift and /or move up to 10 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include Close vision and Distance vision.
• The auditory/hearing abilities required by the job include the ability to hear customers calling by telephone.
• While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit for prolonged periods, stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear.
• The employee is regularly required to walk and sit.
• This individual must be a responsible person and regular attendance is required.

Hours:

This is an exempt position. Workdays are scheduled from Monday through Friday. Typically, work hours begin and end between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm as scheduled with the position's supervisor. Occasional overtime may be necessary per business needs.

Competitive Wages:

$81,000-$106,500 annually. Applicants, please note that actual compensation is determined by several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, certifications, relevant education or training, and specific work location, among others. The offered wage or salary is only one aspect of an employee's total compensation.

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