"OUTSOURCING THE TAX
FUNCTION-SOME VIEWS"
by Howard
Kutcher, CPA/MS (Tax)
President, Kutcher Tax Careers, Inc.
We've informally
surveyed over 2 dozen corporate tax directors and managers about
their opinions of OUTSOURCING the tax function vs. keeping it in-house.
These are some of our findings:
PRO: The CFO (or Treasurer, etc.) may
save money on salaries and
benefits and get "the prestige" of having an outside Big
4 CPA
firm
perform the work.
CON: There seem to be many. One, for e.g., is
that the quality of the
work below manager and/or partner on the engagement have a lot to be
desired. Oftentimes they'll put a junior-type on the account who have a
lot
to learn. Then again, even the more experienced personnel wouldn't be
as familiar with the company's books and history as an in-house tax
person. Not only would this affect the compliance, but would carry over
to the learning curve needed for tax audits, potential planning
opportunities, etc.
Editor's note: What you see above is merely a
"skeleton outline" of the fuller article that I will be
writing and expanding upon in the near future.
