Reinventing the tax function’s talent model: Get ready for exponential returns

  • Blog
  • March 22, 2024

Tim Gerspacher

Partner; Leader, Insourced Solutions for Tax (IST), PwC US

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Brittani Rice

Partner, Insourced Solutions for Tax (IST), PwC US

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Balancing an optimal talent structure while fostering the employee experience is a dynamic challenge for tax executives. Many are considering tax managed services to reinvent their talent models, potentially yielding a win-win: Companies can achieve efficiencies, capabilities, and cost reduction, while tax personnel can better write their own personal journey with a wider scope of possibilities.

People are your most important asset

Similar to the constantly changing tax regulatory landscape, talent pools also undergo continuous evolution. Tax departments are finding it difficult to attract and retain people with the skills and expertise needed for all areas of tax. Significant key person dependencies and skill gaps are rising, while succession planning is becoming a business imperative.

Only 18% of tax leaders strongly agree that their companies successfully attract and retain the talent they need, while nearly 80% of business executives cite succession planning as a challenge.

PwC Pulse Surveys of tax leaders* and business leaders**

Added pressures are also taking their toll on tax teams. New reporting obligations, such as Pillar Two, the new US alternative minimum tax, and increased audits globally are just a few examples. Layer on increasing expectations for tax to be a more supportive partner for business planning, along with a broader number of internal and external stakeholders that tax team members must manage.

According to a recent PwC Workforce survey, more than one-fifth of workers report their workload was frequently unmanageable in the past 12 months, with half of those individuals citing a lack of resources as the primary driver.

An opportunity to rebalance the tax function—and its people

Not surprisingly, many companies are taking a fresh look at how tax gets things done. Historic approaches for remediation, such as simply hiring more staff, likely are failing to address this unprecedented level of challenges. Instead, tax managed services can help replicate the results of hiring many more people to solve a tax function’s most complicated pain points and enhance high-value activities:

A tax managed service can be targeted for a specific area within a function, such as controversy or transfer pricing, or apply across the entirety of the function.

Tax staff are strategically deployed to amplify their skills while still continuing to leverage their legacy knowledge—as either rebadged or retained team members. The company also has access to a much larger and specialized talent pool.

PwC is flexible to whatever talent model makes sense. We value our rebadged colleagues and the knowledge they bring, and also know the importance of supporting a retained tax function to ensure all stakeholders evolve and become efficient together.

Access to third-party technology, such as generative AI, can reduce the company’s direct technology investment. Data automation and analytics can not only lower the burden on tax staff, but also help them focus on more forward-thinking support for the business.

Fostering the employee journey

Talent models under a tax managed service are critical for the company’s success—but that’s only half of the equation. The potential benefits to the employee can be life-changing. The rebadging of tax talent to PwC can yield opportunities that would likely never arise but for the tax managed services approach. Individuals can continue to work with their legacy company, while also having opportunities to expand their skill set both technically and on other clients. 

This broader experience can foster new relationships, challenges, and build new expertise. We have a dedicated managed services team, so tax professionals rebadged to PwC have many other people just like them to learn from. They also have access to the entire PwC network of specialists to grow their knowledge base.

Rebadged tax professionals benefit from cutting-edge training. Training is customized to meet the employee where they are now—and could be tomorrow. PwC can be an excellent training ground for a future head of tax.

Robust know-how helps to avoid pitfalls

Tax managed services can yield exponential benefits that recur year after year. But the planning and execution of this type of arrangement can make or break the results. Without the proper experience, companies may incur hurdles or pitfalls that otherwise may have been avoided.

Our approach is built on over seven years of experience. Success is driven by proven design and know-how, led by a dedicated transition team. Critical steps, such as crafting precise role clarity for all tax staff, can help companies have the right mix of skills to tackle specific tasks, as well as support the broader business strategy. Other important cornerstones include:

  • legacy knowledge transfer,
  • a trusted data strategy, and
  • robust clarity around processes.

The bottom line?

Reinventing your tax function’s talent model may be a business imperative given the shifting global tax landscape. Tax managed services can be a valuable tool for this effort, while also yielding greater capabilities, efficiencies and lower spend. Many tax executives are creating a narrative around their vision for the future, aligned with the company’s purpose and mission, and getting people to feel excited and motivated about what lies ahead.

Let’s talk about the potential win-win impact a tax managed service could generate for your company and its tax professionals.

Tim and Brittani

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