The senior tax hire has to create leverage

A lot of CPA firms are trying to solve capacity right now.

That makes sense. Busy season is busy season. Firms need returns prepared, extensions managed, client documents chased, staff trained, and deadlines hit.

The bigger issue usually shows up after the first draft is done.

Who reviews the work? Who catches the weird prior-year treatment? Who knows when a client fact changes the answer? Who can explain the issue without sending everything back to the partner?

That is the standard I would use when evaluating Senior Tax Associates, Tax Managers, and Senior Managers.

AI, offshore teams, and workflow tools can help firms move faster. Recent reporting shows how quickly AI is being pushed into tax, advisory, legal, audit, and compliance workflows. KPMG is working with Anthropic to bring Claude into parts of its global tax and advisory platforms, and Reuters reported that Thomson Reuters is seeing demand for AI products built for high-stakes professional work. Read the WSJ report on KPMG and Anthropic. Read the Reuters report on Thomson Reuters and AI demand.

Those tools can be useful. The firm still needs experienced people who can own quality, judgment, and client communication.

1. They can explain the reason behind the tax treatment

Strong tax candidates can walk you through their thinking.

They do not just say, “That’s how we did it last year.” They can explain the facts, the tax issue, the treatment, the risk, and what they would want to confirm before signing off.

This matters because a lot of tax work is messy. The return may tie, but the question is whether the treatment makes sense.

A candidate with good judgment can answer questions like:

• Why did you treat it that way?
• What facts mattered most?
• What did you compare it against?
• What would make you uncomfortable with the position?
• What would you document in the file?

This is where a CPA-led recruiting process helps. The goal is to understand whether candidates can think through the work in a way that fits your client base.

2. They know when to elevate an issue

A good Senior or Manager does not run to the partner for every small question.

They also do not bury issues until the deadline is on fire.

That balance is a big part of senior-level tax judgment.

In an interview, I would listen for how the candidate decides what needs partner attention. Strong candidates can usually explain the difference between:

• A staff training issue
• A client cleanup issue
• A technical issue
• A billing or scope issue
• A risk issue that needs partner review

This is one of the biggest ways a Tax Manager creates leverage. They filter the noise, keep the work moving, and bring the partner in at the right time.

3. They can coach staff without creating more work for the partner

A strong senior tax hire should help the people below them get better.

That does not mean they need to be a perfect teacher. It means they can leave useful review notes, explain recurring mistakes, and help staff understand what to look for next time.

Firms feel this quickly when the middle of the team is thin.

Staff wait too long for feedback. Partners end up reviewing work that should have been handled earlier. Managers get buried. Good employees get frustrated because the firm feels reactive.

If you are hiring a Senior, Manager, or Senior Manager, ask about how they review and train:

• What types of review notes do you usually leave?
• How do you handle repeated staff mistakes?
• How do you explain a technical issue to a newer associate?
• How do you balance coaching with deadline pressure?
• What work would you expect a staff to own after one busy season?

The best answers are usually specific. You want examples, not vague statements about being a team player.

4. They can communicate with clients in plain English

This is a big one, especially for smaller and mid-sized CPA firms.

Senior tax talent often gets more client exposure outside the largest firms. That can be a major selling point for candidates, but it also raises the bar.

A strong candidate should be able to explain tax issues clearly without overcomplicating the conversation.

That might mean explaining:

• Why the client owes more than expected
• Why a position changed from the prior year
• Why documentation is needed before the firm can move forward
• Why a planning idea has risk
• Why the client needs to make a decision before the deadline

This is also where smaller Southern California firms can compete well against larger firms.

Larger firms may offer hybrid schedules, bigger benefits, larger clients, specialized technical groups, recognizable names, and clearer promotion structures. A smaller firm may offer more partner access, more client contact, more variety, less bureaucracy, and a faster path to leadership.

Those are real selling points. The candidate needs to see them clearly.

Business Insider reported that accounting enrollment has shown signs of improvement, including three straight semesters of enrollment growth, while degree completions were still down in the latest AICPA data cited in the article. That is encouraging for the profession, but it does not immediately solve the experienced-hire problem for firms trying to hire Seniors and Managers now. Read the Business Insider article on the accounting pipeline.

5. They can use technology without outsourcing their thinking

This will matter more every year.

AI tax prep tools, research tools, workflow automation, and offshore models are not going away. Reuters reported that Crete Professionals Alliance, backed by Thrive Capital, planned to invest more than $500 million in acquiring U.S. accounting firms while equipping them with OpenAI-powered tools. The same report described AI use cases such as data mapping and memo writing. Read the Reuters article on Crete and AI investment in accounting.

Technology can absolutely help.

The risk is when candidates use tools without understanding the answer.

When interviewing senior tax candidates, I would ask how they use AI or tax technology today. A strong candidate should be able to explain where the tools help, where they are risky, and where human review is still needed.

Good answers might include:

• Using AI to summarize documents, not to blindly decide a tax position
• Using technology to organize work, not replace review
• Checking AI outputs against source documents or firm guidance
• Knowing when client facts change the answer
• Protecting confidential client information

A candidate who can use technology responsibly is valuable. A candidate who lets the tool do the thinking can create risk.

A simple interview framework for senior tax hiring

If your firm is hiring senior tax talent, I would keep the interview practical.

You are listening for how the candidate thinks, communicates, and takes ownership.

Strong candidates usually give examples with real details. They can explain the facts, issue, risk, decision, and communication.

Weaker candidates often stay vague. They talk around the issue, lean on buzzwords, or describe what the team did without making their own role clear.

One mistake I see smaller firms make

Smaller firms can compete for strong tax talent, but the role has to match the pitch.

If a firm wants someone who can review complex work, manage clients, train staff, and reduce partner pressure, the opportunity needs to support that expectation.

I have seen the “unicorn candidate” problem play out directly. A local firm rejected a candidate because they wanted someone more “Big 4 caliber.” The candidate was picked up by Deloitte the next day.

That example stuck with me because it shows the gap between what some firms say they want and what their process, compensation, flexibility, or candidate pitch can support.

Strong candidates are usually not desperate. They want to know what they will own, how much client contact they will have, how the partner relationship works, what flexibility is real, and why the role is better than staying where they are.

Clear, practical answers give smaller firms a better shot.

Where RezzyCheck fits in

RezzyCheck is CPA-led recruiting for accounting professionals.

That matters because tax hiring is technical, but the technical side is only part of the search.

A good search needs to understand the work, the candidate, the firm, and the reason someone would actually make a move.

RezzyCheck helps CPA firms look beyond resume keywords and evaluate the things that matter in senior tax hiring:

• Technical alignment with the firm’s client base
• Review ability and ownership
• Communication style
• Candidate motivation
• Compensation expectations
• Fit with the firm’s team and partner group
• Long-term retention risk

RezzyCheck focuses on helping firms meet stronger candidates who can create real leverage.

Final thought

Senior tax hiring is hard because the best candidates need more than experience on paper.

They need judgment. They need communication skills. They need ownership. They need enough technical depth to protect quality and enough people skills to keep clients and staff moving in the right direction.

That is what firms should be looking for when hiring Senior Tax Associates, Tax Managers, and Senior Managers.

This is the kind of fit RezzyCheck helps firms evaluate.