The Tax Professional of the Future: Building a relevant career

"You can't rely on others to determine your career or tell you when you're successful. This is something that is personal and unique to every individual."

BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

A successful career means something different to everyone. For many, a successful career combines financial stability with their passions or something they enjoy. It's important that there is a good balance between these two factors to achieve happiness. Some people know exactly what they want, while others struggle to figure it out. This is completely normal, and the key to understanding what a successful career means to you includes a degree of introspection. 

BECOMING A TAX PROFESSIONAL

Tax has been in the commercial spotlight throughout the last decade and remains high on the agenda of companies and governments alike. These are interesting times, with tax policies having a major impact on key corporate decisions.

For those starting out in their career, the constantly changing landscape of tax offers a wide variety of issues to tackle. However, graduates will need to keep up with the ways in which businesses and accounting practices will manage their tax affairs in the future, to access sought-after jobs in an increasingly competitive market.

Looking ahead, we can expect the effects of corporate global expansion and increasing regulatory control to become even more pronounced. In addition, we can assume that tax will continue to be a key focus for governments, as they attempt to replenish their treasuries and for companies, as they seek to manage the level of tax for which they are liable, both in Nigeria and internationally.

CRITICAL SKILLS FOR SUCCESS

As Tax professionals progress in their careers, they should “future-proof,” continuing to learn new skills in order to add value as business and technologies change.

• Innovation – The ability to identify, embrace, and apply innovation via artificial intelligence and other emerging technology trends.
• Data analytics – Analysis of data in real-time (i.e., the emergence of the “tax technologist” who can understand both data analytics and tax rules).
• Emotional intelligence – Understand and apply the concept of emotional intelligence in dealing with both work colleagues and clients.
• Consulting and advisory – Shift away from the pure compliance perspective to one where you enhance advisory and consulting skills.
• Change management – Recognize the need for change and innovation and embrace new ways of thinking and working to align with overall business objectives and values.
• Communications – Effectively communicate technical knowledge while building relationships with colleagues and clients who increasingly work in nontraditional ways (i.e., remote workers, reduced workweeks, and other alternative work arrangements).

EMBRACING TAX TECHNOLOGY

Be it within an accountancy firm or a tax team in the industry, professionals should look to gain as much exposure to tax technology as possible as businesses are investing heavily in data analytics, robotics, tax technology platforms, and senior tax professionals with expertise in this area, so professionals with a grounding in these fields will be highly sought after.

Technology and data analytics skills no longer are “nice to have”. Technology has permeated our culture and changed the way businesses operate. Professionals need to develop an awareness of the power of technology and develop the appropriate skills needed for each functional area. 

The Tax professional of the future will have to be innovative, possessing and comfortably navigating both tax technical and technology skills.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TECH TREND

• Get involved in tax transformation projects: Familiarity not only with how to use tax software systems but how to implement them will be a highly valuable skill. As technology continues to develop, implementing new systems will become a regular occurrence, and experience within this area will be extremely sought after.
• Attend workshops/seminars demonstrating how technology and tax can work together: There will be more of a shift towards high-level review within teams, particularly surrounding ways to transform tax functions using technology. Seeking out training and learning opportunities where you can develop strategic skills which will enable you to make effective use of technology rather than focusing on ‘low-level’ work will make you highly employable.
• Move into an industry tax team early in your career to gain exposure to tax technology: Businesses are less likely to outsource compliance and reporting work to accountancy firms and service centers, leading to fewer lower-level in-house tax roles. Seek out in-house roles which offer the potential for career progression to ensure that you are able to gain more strategic and technology-related experience as quickly as possible to position yourself for senior roles.
• Stay aware of the changing tax landscape and how you can use technology to stay compliant: Just as technology evolves, so will regulatory frameworks, complicating the interactions between the two. The ability to ensure that the two work together harmoniously will be invaluable, and this will only be possible if tax professionals are able to combine extensive knowledge of both.

CONCLUSION

The key to building a successful career is consistently dedicating effort to learning new things and taking it upon yourself to do better. A growth mindset allows you to face challenges head-on by prompting you to think of ways to overcome them.