Tax Accountant Job Description Templates for CPA Firms
6 free templates for firms hiring tax staff for the whole year, not just the season: staff, senior, manager, in-house corporate, enrolled agent, and busy-season temporary. Download as DOCX.
A partner at a small CPA firm told me she had run the same tax accountant posting for four years and got the same result every time: a stack of applicants in January who wanted three months of work, and almost nobody who wanted the other nine. She blamed the market. The market was not the problem. Her posting described a filing season.
Read most tax accountant job descriptions and you will notice what is missing. They list return types and software and a degree requirement, then stop. Nothing about the notices that arrive in June, the quarterly estimates, the state registrations, the planning meetings in October, or the client relationship that grows every year. Candidates read that and reasonably conclude the job ends on April 16.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for firms without an HR department, where the person writing the posting is the same person reviewing returns. The six below cover a staff seat, a senior, a manager, an in-house corporate role, an enrolled agent path, and a defined busy-season hire, each with the credential and classification notes generic templates leave out.
TL;DR
A tax accountant job description for a CPA firm has to describe twelve months, not three: compliance season plus estimates, notices, extensions, and planning. State the credential bar (a PTIN is required by law for anyone preparing returns for pay, EA or CPA is your choice), the FLSA classification, and the pay. Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
Why a Busy-Season Posting Loses the Hire
A posting written during compliance season describes compliance season, and that is exactly who answers it. The candidate arrives in January, works the peak, then finds the rest of the year unrecognizable and starts looking again by summer.
The tax calendar at a firm has four distinct phases, and only one of them is the one everybody talks about. Original returns run through the spring deadlines. Notices, transcript work, and cleanup fill the late spring. Extended returns land through the September and October deadlines. Planning, projections, and entity conversations occupy the fall.
Small CPA or EA firm
Year-round client book
Returns are the visible part. The rest of the year is estimates, notices, planning, entity work, and the state filings nobody talks about. Your posting has to describe twelve months or you attract people who want three.
Company bringing tax in house
First dedicated tax hire
The scope is compliance calendar, multistate registrations, fixed assets, and managing the outside firm. Different candidate pool, different sell: no billable hours and a predictable calendar.
Bookkeeping firm adding tax
New service line
You need a credential in the seat before you can sign or represent, which usually means an EA or a CPA rather than a strong preparer. Write the credential into the posting as a hard requirement.
Retail return preparation
A different posting
Storefront season work with walk-in individual clients is a tax preparer role, not a tax accountant role. The pay band, the credential bar, and the calendar are all different. Use a preparer posting instead.
Supply makes this worse. The AICPA Trends report found accounting degree completions fell to 55,152 in the 2023 to 2024 academic year, a 6.6 percent decline year over year, while new candidates entering the CPA exam pipeline dropped from 42,626 to 28,082 between 2023 and 2024, a fall the report attributes in part to a 2023 surge of candidates testing before the exam model changed. You are not choosing among many identical applicants, so the posting has to earn the ones you get.
Post in the Fall, Not in December
Firms that open a search after the extension deadlines get a calmer process, a real interview loop, and candidates who are choosing the whole year rather than the busy part of it. A December posting for a January start signals surge staffing whether you mean it that way or not. If surge capacity is genuinely what you need, hire a defined temporary role with a start date, an end date, and a completion bonus, and say so plainly instead of dressing it up as a permanent seat.
What Belongs in a Tax Accountant Posting
A tax accountant job description does four jobs at once: it describes the firm, it filters applicants who cannot do the technical work, it protects you on classification and data handling, and it closes the candidate on pay and calendar. Most postings do only the first two.
The parts candidates read first
Firm type and client niche in two sentences
What the role does outside compliance season
Return mix and complexity, stated concretely
Who reviews the work and who the role reports to
The parts that filter applicants
Credential bar: PTIN, EA, CPA, or CPA candidate
Years of tax experience, marked required or preferred
Software stack by name
Multistate or niche depth if it is genuinely required
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Busy-season hour expectation, written honestly
Overtime or bonus treatment for non-exempt staff
Equal opportunity statement and data-handling requirement
The parts that win the hire
Salary or a good-faith range
CPE, exam support, and license fee coverage
Remote or hybrid policy through both filing seasons
A named person to apply to and a real response time
The single most common omission is the busy-season hour expectation. Candidates will find out anyway, and the ones who leave in year one are usually the ones who were surprised. Naming it costs you a few applications and saves you a replacement search. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure, and the interview question guide covers what to ask once they apply.
6 Tax Accountant Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: firm overview, position summary, key responsibilities split across the full year, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Tax Accountant Job Description Templates
Tax staff, senior tax, tax manager, in-house corporate, enrolled agent, and busy-season temporary. All in one download.
Tax Staff Accountant
Entry, reviewed work
The training seat at a CPA firm, with the off-season duties written in so the role reads as a career rather than a season.
Senior Tax Accountant
Own a book, review staff
Complex returns, first-level review, research memos, and client ownership. The level where a firm stops training and starts trusting.
Tax Manager
Runs the practice
Capacity planning, final review, escalated notices, pricing, and staff development at a firm small enough that the manager decides.
In-House Corporate Tax
First tax hire inside
Compliance calendar, multistate nexus, fixed assets, provision support, and ownership of the relationship with the outside firm.
Enrolled Agent
Non-CPA credential path
For firms that need representation rights without requiring a CPA license, including notices, examinations, and collections work.
Busy-Season Temporary
Defined start and end
Surge capacity on a W-2, with the hour expectation, the overtime treatment, and the misclassification warning stated plainly.
Template 1: Tax Staff Accountant, CPA Firm
The entry seat at a firm, with reviewed work, a training path, and the off-season duties written in so the role reads as a career rather than a season. Compare it with the broader staff accountant templates if the seat is not tax-specific.
Tax Staff Accountant Job Description (CPA Firm)
TAX STAFF ACCOUNTANT JOB DESCRIPTION
Firm: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Tax Senior / Tax Manager / Partner]
Employment type: Full-time, year-round
FLSA status: Exempt or non-exempt (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year plus [busy-season bonus / overtime]
ABOUT [FIRM NAME]
[Firm Name] is a [CPA / EA-led] public accounting firm in [City, State] serving
[closely held businesses, individuals, nonprofits, real estate, professional
practices]. We are hiring a Tax Staff Accountant to work with our clients across
the full year, not only through compliance season.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Tax Staff Accountant prepares federal, state, and local returns for
individuals and entities, assembles supporting workpapers, responds to notices,
and prepares quarterly estimates. Work is reviewed by a senior or manager, and
the role is built as a training track toward senior.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Compliance season (roughly [January] through [April])
•Prepare Forms 1040, 1065, 1120, 1120-S, and related state returns
•Build and tie out workpapers so a reviewer can follow every number
•Clear open items with clients directly and track them to closure
•Prepare extensions and extension payment calculations
The rest of the year
•Prepare quarterly estimated tax calculations for [individuals and entities]
•Respond to IRS and state notices under review by [senior / manager]
•Prepare [annual reports, 1099 filings, sales and use tax, payroll tax returns]
•Support year-end planning and entity projections
•Complete assigned CPE and, if applicable, study time toward the CPA exam
•Keep time entries current in [practice management system]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field
•[0 to 2] years of tax preparation experience, internship experience counts
•Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) before preparing any return for
•Working knowledge of [tax software], Excel, and [document management system]
•Must clear a background check appropriate to handling client tax data
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Classify on duties and salary, not on the title. Under the FLSA learned
professional exemption, certified public accountants generally meet the duties
test, and many non-CPA accountants performing similar work may also qualify.
Accounting clerks and bookkeepers who perform mostly routine work generally do
not. The exemption also requires the federal salary level, currently $684 per
week ($35,568 per year), plus any higher state threshold. A staff preparer paid
below that level is non-exempt and owed overtime past forty hours in a week,
which matters most in the weeks you least want to think about it. Anyone
preparing returns for compensation must hold a current PTIN, and firms expecting
to file eleven or more covered returns (individual, trust, and estate income tax
returns) in a calendar year must e-file. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Firm Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [busy-season bonus or overtime policy], [CPA
exam and CPE support], [benefits summary], [busy-season hour expectation stated
honestly]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 2: Senior Tax Accountant, CPA Firm
Complex returns, first-level review of staff work, research memos, and ownership of a client book. This is the level where a firm stops training and starts trusting.
Senior Tax Accountant Job Description (CPA Firm)
SENIOR TAX ACCOUNTANT JOB DESCRIPTION
Firm: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Tax Manager / Partner]
Employment type: Full-time, year-round
FLSA status: Exempt (learned professional; see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year plus [bonus]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Firm Name] is hiring a Senior Tax Accountant to own a client book, review staff
work, and handle the returns and planning questions that do not fit a checklist.
This is the level where our firm stops training and starts trusting.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Tax Accountant prepares complex returns, performs first-level review
of staff work, manages client relationships on an assigned book, researches
positions, and drives planning conversations ahead of year end.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Prepare complex individual, partnership, S corporation, and C corporation
returns, including multistate and [trust / nonprofit / consolidated] work
•Perform first-level review of staff returns and workpapers, and give feedback
that actually teaches
•Own a book of [number] clients as the day-to-day point of contact
•Research positions and document conclusions in a memo the partner can rely on
•Resolve IRS and state notices, including [penalty abatement requests]
•Lead year-end planning meetings and entity structure conversations
•Prepare and review quarterly estimates and projections
•Manage workflow and due dates for your book through both filing seasons
•Mentor [number] staff accountants and interns
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in accounting; [master's in taxation preferred]
•[2 to 5] years of public accounting tax experience
•[CPA license required / CPA or EA required / actively pursuing: choose one]
•Active PTIN, or eligibility to obtain one before the start date
•Depth in [pass-through entities / high-net-worth individuals / multistate /
real estate / construction: name your niche]
•Comfortable talking to clients about money without a partner in the room
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
A senior tax accountant with a CPA license or equivalent advanced knowledge
generally qualifies for the FLSA learned professional exemption, which requires
both the duties test and the federal salary level of $684 per week ($35,568 per
year), plus any higher state threshold. Confirm your state licensure and
practice-privilege rules before advertising a role that signs or reviews returns.
Firms filing eleven or more covered returns (individual, trust, and estate
income tax returns) in a calendar year must e-file, counted in the aggregate
across the firm rather than per preparer. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Firm Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus structure], [CPE and license fees],
[remote or hybrid policy], [busy-season hour expectation stated honestly]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Still Using Spreadsheets for Onboarding?
Automate documents, training assignments, task management, and track onboarding progress in real time.
Capacity planning, final technical review, escalated notices, pricing, and staff development at a firm small enough that the manager actually decides. For a broader finance leadership seat, see the accounting manager templates.
Tax Manager Job Description (Small CPA Firm)
TAX MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION (SMALL CPA FIRM)
Firm: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Managing Partner / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, year-round
FLSA status: Exempt (learned professional and/or executive)
Compensation: $_ per year plus [bonus / partner track]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Firm Name] is hiring a Tax Manager to run the tax practice day to day so the
partners can spend their time on clients and growth. This is a small firm, which
means the role carries real authority and no layers of process.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Tax Manager owns delivery for the tax practice: scheduling and capacity,
final technical review, client relationships, staff development, and the
firm's own risk and quality standards.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own the due date calendar and capacity plan across both filing seasons
•Perform final technical review and sign [or route for partner signature]
•Serve as the relationship owner for [segment] clients
•Handle escalated notices, audits, and representation matters
•Set and enforce documentation and quality control standards
•Hire, train, review, and retain tax staff and seniors
•Own realization and write-offs on your book, and price new engagements
•Keep the firm current on federal, state, and local law changes
•Lead the tax technology and workflow decisions [software, portals, e-signature]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in accounting; [master's in taxation preferred]
•[5 to 8] years of public accounting tax experience with review responsibility
•Active CPA license [or EA with equivalent depth: choose your bar]
•Active PTIN
•Demonstrated ability to manage a busy-season schedule and a team through it
•Client-facing judgment: you can say no to a position and keep the client
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
A tax manager almost always qualifies as exempt, often under both the learned
professional and executive tests. Confirm the salary level ($684 per week or
$35,568 per year federally, higher in some states) and remember that the
executive test requires directing the work of at least two full-time equivalent
employees. Representation before the IRS is limited to CPAs, attorneys, enrolled
agents, and, in narrow circumstances, certain other preparers, so match the
credential to the work you actually need signed and represented. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Firm Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus], [equity or partner track if real],
[license, CPE, and association dues], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: In-House Corporate Tax Accountant
For a company bringing tax work inside: compliance calendar, multistate nexus, fixed assets, provision support, and ownership of the relationship with the outside firm.
In-House Corporate Tax Accountant Job Description
IN-HOUSE CORPORATE TAX ACCOUNTANT JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Controller / CFO / Director of Finance]
For firms that need IRS representation rights without requiring a state license. Pair it with the CPA job description templates when you are staffing both credential paths at once.
FLSA status: Confirm against duties and salary level (see note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Firm Name] does not require a CPA license for this seat. We need someone who
can prepare returns accurately, talk to clients plainly, and represent them in
front of the IRS when a notice turns into something larger. An Enrolled Agent
credential does all three.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Enrolled Agent prepares and reviews individual and entity returns, handles
notice response and representation matters, manages a client book through both
filing seasons, and keeps the firm current on the areas of tax we practice in.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Prepare and review individual, partnership, and corporate returns
•Represent clients before the IRS on examinations, collections, and appeals
•Handle notice response, transcript analysis, and penalty abatement requests
•Manage [installment agreements / offers in compromise / lien and levy work]
•Own a book of [number] clients across the full year
•Prepare quarterly estimates and support year-end planning
•Maintain the continuing education required to keep the credential active
•Mentor preparers on documentation and client communication
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Active Enrolled Agent credential [or actively testing, with a deadline]
•Active PTIN before preparing any return for compensation
•[3 to 5] years of preparation experience, ideally in a small firm
•Experience with [representation matters / multistate / small business clients]
•Plain-language communication with clients who are anxious about a notice
•Must clear a background check appropriate to handling client tax data
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Enrolled agents are federally authorized tax practitioners with unlimited rights
to represent taxpayers before the IRS, the same practice rights CPAs and
attorneys hold, and the credential is earned by exam or qualifying IRS
experience plus ongoing continuing education. A non-CPA accountant may still
qualify for the FLSA learned professional exemption when the primary duty
requires advanced knowledge and the salary level is met ($684 per week or
$35,568 per year federally, higher in some states), but a preparer doing largely
routine data entry generally does not. Anyone preparing returns for compensation
must hold a current PTIN, renewed each year. This is general information, not
legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Firm Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus], [EA renewal and CE reimbursement],
[benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 6: Busy-Season Tax Accountant, Temporary
Surge capacity on a W-2, with the hour expectation, the overtime treatment, and the misclassification warning stated plainly. Our guides to hiring temporary employees and to seasonal workers cover the surrounding rules.
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
PTIN, EA, and CPA: Setting the Credential Bar
Three credentials sit behind the word accountant in tax, and they are not interchangeable. A Preparer Tax Identification Number is a legal floor for anyone preparing federal returns for compensation. An Enrolled Agent credential adds representation rights. A CPA license adds attest authority and comes from a state board.
Requiring the wrong one is the most expensive screening mistake a small firm makes. Demanding a CPA license for a seat that never signs attest work removes most of your applicant pool in exchange for nothing. The IRS groups enrolled agents, CPAs, and attorneys together as the credentials carrying unlimited representation rights, and the enrolled agent route is far more reachable for a mid-career candidate.
PTIN is the floor, and it is not optional
The IRS is direct about this: anyone who prepares or assists in preparing federal tax returns for compensation must have a valid PTIN before preparing returns, and the number is renewed every year for a small fee that the IRS reduced through rulemaking. Enrolled agents need one too. There is no experience carve-out and no grace period for a new hire who starts in February. Put the PTIN requirement in the posting, reimburse the fee, and verify the number during onboarding rather than assuming it came along with the resume. If your firm expects to file eleven or more covered returns in a calendar year, meaning income tax returns for individuals, trusts, and estates, the e-file mandate also applies, and the count is aggregated across the firm rather than measured per preparer.
Enrolled Agent buys representation, not signature authority alone
An enrolled agent is a federally authorized tax practitioner with unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS, the same practice rights held by CPAs and attorneys. The credential is earned by passing a three-part IRS exam or through qualifying experience at the IRS, and it is maintained with ongoing continuing education plus an active PTIN. For a small firm this is the most underused hiring option on the board. It widens the pool well beyond CPA candidates, it costs the candidate far less time and money than a license, and it covers exactly the work that generates panicked client calls: notices, examinations, collections, and appeals.
CPA is a state license, and the path is changing
A CPA license is issued by a state board, not by the IRS, and it carries attest authority that an enrolled agent does not have. The traditional route required 150 credit hours plus experience and the exam. In May 2025 the AICPA and NASBA approved an alternative pathway inside the Uniform Accountancy Act allowing licensure with a bachelor's degree, two years of experience, and the exam, and by mid-2026 more than half of US jurisdictions had enacted some version of it while others kept the 150-hour rule as the only route. If your posting says CPA required, check what your own state now accepts before you screen out a candidate the board would license.
Match the credential to the work, not to the org chart
The most expensive credential mistake at a small firm is requiring a CPA for a seat that never signs an attest engagement. Ask three questions before you write the requirement. Does this person need to represent clients before the IRS? An EA covers it. Does this person need to sign or issue attest work? Then the CPA license is genuinely required. Is this a preparation and workpaper seat under review? Then a PTIN plus demonstrated season experience is the honest bar, and adding CPA required to the posting simply removes most of your applicants for no gain. Write required, preferred, or not required, and mean each one.
Credential
What it authorizes
When to require it in a posting
PTIN
Preparing federal returns for compensation; required by law, renewed annually
Always, for any seat that prepares or assists in preparing returns for pay
Annual Filing Season Program
Limited representation rights for the returns the preparer prepared and signed
Optional signal for a non-credentialed preparer seat; never a substitute for an EA
Enrolled Agent
Unlimited representation before the IRS; earned by exam or qualifying IRS experience
Require when the role handles notices, examinations, collections, or appeals
CPA license
State-issued; attest and assurance authority plus representation rights
Require only when the seat signs or issues attest work, or when a partner track demands it
State practice privilege
Ability to serve clients across state lines under mobility rules
Confirm before advertising a remote role serving clients in other states
One live variable is worth checking before you publish. In May 2025 the AICPA and NASBA approved an alternative licensure pathway inside the Uniform Accountancy Act allowing a CPA license with a bachelor's degree, two years of experience, and the exam, and by mid-2026 more than half of US jurisdictions had enacted a version of it while others kept the 150-hour rule as the only route. Check your own state board before a credential line screens out a candidate the board would license.
Overtime and the Learned Professional Exemption
Most tax accountants are exempt, but not automatically. The federal regulation on learned professionals states that certified public accountants generally meet the duties requirements, that many non-CPA accountants performing similar work may also qualify, and that accounting clerks and bookkeepers who perform largely routine work generally do not.
The duties test is only half of it. The exemption also requires the federal salary level, currently $684 per week ($35,568 per year), after the Department of Labor formally rescinded the 2024 increase in May 2026 following a federal court vacating it. Several states set a higher floor, and the state rule controls where it is more protective.
Role
Typical classification
What decides it
Tax staff accountant, entry
Depends on salary level
Duties may qualify, but pay below $684 per week makes the role non-exempt
Senior tax accountant
Exempt
Advanced knowledge as the primary duty plus salary level and salary basis
Tax manager
Exempt
Learned professional, and often the executive test as well
In-house corporate tax accountant
Exempt
Analytical primary duty plus salary level; confirm any higher state threshold
Enrolled agent
Usually exempt
Advanced knowledge as the primary duty, not the credential by itself
Busy-season temporary preparer
Often non-exempt
Largely routine preparation, or pay below the salary level, or both
Accounting clerk supporting tax
Non-exempt
Routine work is expressly outside the learned professional exemption
Busy Season Is Exactly When Overtime Gets Missed
A non-exempt tax employee working sixty hours in a week during compliance season is owed time and a half on every hour past forty, and a flat busy-season bonus does not substitute for it. Unpaid overtime for staff a firm assumed were exempt is an avoidable wage claim: decide classification before the posting goes live, track hours for everyone non-exempt from the first week, and put the overtime treatment in the offer letter. Our breakdowns of exempt versus non-exempt classification and overtime rules work through the tests in detail.
Temporary does not mean contractor either. A firm that sets the schedule, supplies the software, assigns the returns, and reviews the work is directing an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, regardless of what the engagement letter calls it. If you are weighing the two, our guide to independent contractor status covers the analysis.
What to Pay a Tax Accountant
There is no separate federal wage category for tax accountants, which trips up a lot of benchmarking. The closest official match is accountants and auditors, and the tax preparer occupation sits well below it because the scope is narrower.
National Medians for the Nearest Occupations
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median annual wage was $83,680 for accountants and auditors, with the middle half earning between $67,020 and $109,810. Tax preparers had a median of $54,920, tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents $62,370, and financial managers $166,570 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Federal occupation
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
How it maps to your posting
Accountants and auditors
$83,680 per year
Where tax accountants at CPA firms and in corporate tax actually sit
Tax preparers
$54,920 per year
Return preparation without review, research, or advisory scope; a different posting
Tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents
$62,370 per year
The government revenue side; relevant when you recruit from an agency
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks
$50,670 per year
Support staff who assemble records; non-exempt, and not a tax accountant
Financial managers
$166,570 per year
Where a tax director or firm partner track eventually lands
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Two adjustments matter more than the national figure. First, benchmark to comparable local firms with a similar client niche, because a firm doing multistate pass-through work competes in a different market than one doing individual returns. Second, publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and state the busy-season bonus or overtime treatment next to base pay rather than leaving it as a second-interview reveal.
Staff, Senior, and Manager: Where the Line Sits
The dividing line between levels is review, not years. A staff accountant produces work that someone else reviews. A senior reviews staff work and owns client relationships. A manager owns capacity, pricing, and the final technical call.
Getting this wrong in a posting creates two failure modes. Advertise a staff seat as a senior and you attract people who will not accept review comments. Advertise a senior seat as staff and every qualified candidate scrolls past your salary line. Write the review relationship into the summary explicitly.
Level
Review relationship
Client contact
Typical requirement
Tax staff accountant
Work is reviewed by a senior or manager
Clearing open items directly
Degree plus PTIN; CPA or EA candidate optional
Senior tax accountant
Performs first-level review of staff work
Owns a book as day-to-day contact
CPA or EA typical; several seasons of public experience
Tax manager
Final technical review, routes for signature
Relationship owner for a segment
Active license plus review and team leadership experience
In-house corporate tax
Reviews outside firm deliverables
Internal stakeholders and advisors
CPA or EA preferred; multistate depth
If the seat you are filling is broader than tax, the general accountant job description templates cover the generalist version, and the senior accountant templates handle the non-tax senior seat. For a firm hiring records support alongside tax staff, the bookkeeper templates describe a genuinely different role, and one that is non-exempt.
Hiring Tax Staff Without an HR Department
Small firm tax hiring fails in three predictable places: the timing, the pool, and the onboarding. Each one has a fix that does not require hiring a recruiter.
You post in December, hire in January, and lose the person by June
A posting written during compliance season describes compliance season, and that is who answers it. The candidate arrives in January, works the peak, discovers the job in May is notices and estimates and quarterly filings, and starts looking. The fix is to write the twelve-month version of the role first and the season second: name the off-season duties explicitly, name the planning work, name the client ownership that grows each year. Firms that post in the fall for a role starting after the extension deadlines get a calmer process, a real interview loop, and candidates who chose the whole year rather than the busy part of it. If you genuinely only need surge capacity, say so and hire a defined temporary role rather than dressing it up as permanent.
You are competing for a shrinking pipeline of accounting graduates
The supply problem is measurable. The AICPA Trends report found that graduates earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting fell to 55,152 in the 2023 to 2024 academic year, down 6.6 percent year over year, with master’s degrees in accounting or taxation down about 15 percent, and new candidates entering the CPA exam pipeline dropped from 42,626 in 2023 to 28,082 in 2024, a fall the report attributes in part to a 2023 surge of candidates testing before the exam model changed. A small firm will not out-bid the largest employers for that pool, so compete where you can win: client contact in year one instead of year four, a named mentor, exam and CPE support paid up front, a written cap on busy-season hours you actually hold to, and a decision within a week. Then widen the pool by treating an EA credential as a real path rather than a consolation prize.
Onboarding a tax hire is a compliance event, not a welcome email
A new tax accountant cannot touch a client file until several things are true at once: PTIN verified and current, confidentiality and data-security acknowledgment signed, independence and conflict questionnaire completed, software and portal access provisioned at the right permission level, license or EA status recorded with its renewal date, and the written information security plan read and acknowledged. That is a sequence, and in January it is a sequence you will run under pressure. FirstHR was built for exactly this. The onboarding wizard runs the same steps for every hire, built-in e-signature handles the acknowledgments, document management stores credentials against each employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules cover data handling before the first client file is opened. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is accepted, the work becomes a repeatable sequence rather than a scramble. Our onboarding checklist covers the general structure, and for a tax hire the credential verification and data-security acknowledgments belong at the front of it, before any client file is opened.
Key Takeaways
A tax accountant job description has to describe twelve months of work, because a posting written during compliance season attracts candidates who want only compliance season.
A PTIN is legally required for anyone who prepares or assists in preparing federal returns for compensation, and it is renewed every year.
An Enrolled Agent credential carries unlimited representation rights before the IRS, so require a CPA license only when the seat signs or issues attest work.
The FLSA learned professional exemption covers CPAs and many similar accountants but expressly excludes routine clerk and bookkeeper work, and it still requires the $684 per week salary level federally.
National medians (BLS OEWS, May 2025) put accountants and auditors at $83,680 against $54,920 for tax preparers, which is why the two roles need separate postings.
State the busy-season hour expectation and its overtime or bonus treatment in the posting, because the hires who leave in year one are usually the ones who were surprised.
A tax hire cannot open a client file until the PTIN is verified, the confidentiality and data-security acknowledgments are signed, and system permissions are set. FirstHR runs that sequence the same way every time, with built-in e-signature for the acknowledgments, document storage for credentials and renewal dates, and training modules for data handling before day one. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a tax accountant do?
A tax accountant prepares and reviews federal, state, and local tax returns, builds the workpapers that support every number on them, calculates quarterly estimated payments, responds to notices from taxing authorities, and advises on the tax consequences of business decisions before they are made. At a CPA firm the work runs across the full year: compliance season for original returns, spring and summer for notices and cleanup, late summer for extended returns, and fall for planning and projections. At a company, the same person owns the compliance calendar, tracks multistate nexus and registrations, maintains fixed asset and depreciation schedules, and manages the relationship with the outside firm. The role is distinct from a tax preparer, who focuses on return preparation itself, and from a bookkeeper, who maintains the underlying records.
What should a tax accountant job description include?
It should include nine things: the firm type and client niche, the return mix and complexity, the responsibilities that exist outside compliance season, the credential bar stated as required or preferred, the years of tax experience, the software stack by name, the FLSA classification, the busy-season hour expectation written honestly, and the pay with any bonus structure. The off-season section is the one most postings skip and the one that decides whether you get a career hire or a seasonal one. Add the equal opportunity statement, a data-handling requirement appropriate to client tax information, a named person to apply to, and a real response time. The six templates on this page follow that structure so each hiring cycle only requires rewriting the firm-specific parts.
Does a tax accountant need a CPA license?
No, not for most seats. A CPA license is issued by a state board and carries attest authority, which matters only if the role signs or issues audit and assurance work. For preparation, review, planning, and IRS representation, an Enrolled Agent credential covers the work: enrolled agents are federally authorized tax practitioners with unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS, the same practice rights CPAs and attorneys hold. The credential is earned by a three-part IRS exam or qualifying IRS experience and maintained with continuing education. What is not optional is the PTIN. Anyone who prepares or assists in preparing federal returns for compensation must have a valid current one before preparing returns. Requiring a CPA license for a seat that never touches attest work removes most of your applicants and gains you nothing.
How much does a tax accountant make?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate tax accountant occupation, so the closest match is accountants and auditors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median annual wage for accountants and auditors was $83,680, with the middle half earning between $67,020 and $109,810. Tax preparers, a lower-scoped occupation focused on return preparation, had a median of $54,920, and tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents had a median of $62,370. Financial managers, which is where a tax director or partner track eventually lands, had a median of $166,570. Benchmark to comparable local firms rather than the national figure, publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules apply, and state the busy-season bonus or overtime treatment alongside base pay.
Are tax accountants exempt from overtime?
Usually, but not automatically. Under the FLSA learned professional exemption, certified public accountants generally meet the duties requirement, and many non-CPA accountants performing similar work may also qualify. Accounting clerks, bookkeepers, and other employees who perform largely routine work generally do not. The duties test alone is not enough: the exemption also requires the federal salary level, currently $684 per week or $35,568 per year after the Department of Labor formally rescinded the 2024 increase in May 2026, and several states set a higher floor. That combination matters most for entry-level preparers and seasonal staff, who are frequently paid below the threshold and are therefore non-exempt and owed overtime past forty hours in a week, in exactly the weeks a firm is least inclined to count hours. Classify on duties and salary, not on the title.
How is a tax accountant different from a tax preparer?
Scope, credential expectation, and calendar. A tax preparer focuses on preparing returns from client-provided documents, often on a seasonal schedule, and the role frequently requires only a PTIN plus demonstrated season experience. A tax accountant carries the return work plus workpaper construction, technical research, quarterly estimates, notice resolution, planning conversations, and in many firms review of other people's work, across the full year. That difference shows in pay: national median wages from the same survey put accountants and auditors well above tax preparers. Write the posting for the job you actually have. Advertising a preparer seat as a tax accountant role attracts candidates who will leave when the scope does not appear, and advertising a tax accountant seat as preparation work attracts people who cannot do the second half of it.
How do I hire a tax accountant for a small firm with no HR department?
Start earlier than feels necessary and run a fixed sequence. Post in the fall for a role starting after the extension deadlines rather than in December for a January start, because a posting written during compliance season describes compliance season and attracts people who want only that. Write the twelve-month version of the role, name the off-season duties, state the credential bar honestly, publish pay, and state the busy-season hour expectation instead of hiding it. Screen for workpaper quality with a short realistic exercise rather than trivia. Check references with a reviewer who actually reviewed the candidate's returns. Then run onboarding as a compliance sequence: PTIN verification, confidentiality and data-security acknowledgment, conflict questionnaire, software permissions, and credential renewal dates recorded. FirstHR handles that sequence with e-signature, document management, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
