Moving to Forefront Of Corporate Tax Departments

Accounting Technology,  September, 2006  by Joe Harpaz

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Historically, corporate tax departments have been treated as a "back-office" department, typically not receiving the recognition or attention needed in terms of budget, resources or staff. However, financial scandals in the top echelons of the corporate world have changed this viewpoint, creating heightened scrutiny by regulators and auditors.

Companies are now learning that the level of efficiency with which the corporate tax department operates can significantly affect the accuracy of compliance reporting, which may impact a company's financial statements (for example, in the case of the FAS 109 tax provisions that shows up on the financial statement). In today's world of Sarbanes-Oxley, a company's internal controls and procedures are under the magnifying glass more than ever, giving tax accountants-from staff level to VP and CFO-much more to deal with in terms of responsibility and even personal liability. Realizing that the tax department is critical to the financial health of the ...