Senior Tax Associate

Senior Tax Associate / Tax Manager

Flow Through Tax

Denver, CO

$85,000 to $135,000 bonus

There are two ways to become more senior in tax.

You can become responsible for more returns.

Or you can become responsible for better questions.

This role is very much the second.

It's for someone who's already good at tax and doesn't particularly fancy spending the next five years being rewarded with a larger review queue. You want more technical depth, more interesting clients and more involvement in the decisions that happen before somebody sends you the documents.

This is a specialist tax firm working with sophisticated businesses, flow through entities and high net worth individuals. The work can get properly technical, but that's rather the point.

If you've ever found yourself secretly enjoying the return everybody else hoped wouldn't land on their desk, you'll probably fit in rather well.

Why this role is different

A lot of firms talk about specialisation.

Then everyone gets busy and you end up doing a bit of everything anyway.

This firm has actually built specialist tax teams.

This opportunity sits heavily within flow through taxation, giving you the chance to develop genuine depth across partnerships, S Corporations and the more complex structures surrounding them.

The client work includes:

• Partnerships, LLCs and S Corporations
• High net worth individual 1040s
• Section 704(b) and 754 elections
• Capital account maintenance
• Real estate investment structures
• REITs
• Private equity funds
• Joint ventures
• Tax planning and structuring

So yes, compliance exists. Of course it does.

But it's the starting point rather than the entire job.

The interesting work happens before the return

The best tax professionals eventually realise something.

The return tells you what happened.

Advisory lets you influence what happens next.

That's where this role starts becoming interesting.

You'll work with clients who expect you to understand the structure behind the numbers, spot opportunities, research difficult issues and think through the tax consequences of decisions before they're made.

As your relationships develop, the conversation naturally shifts from "Can you prepare this?" towards "We're thinking about doing this. What do you think?"

That's a small change in language.

It's a huge change in career.

You don't need to become a salesperson to progress

This is another thing I think experienced tax people will appreciate.

Not everybody wants their career to eventually become 70% networking lunches and asking people for introductions.

Some people are just exceptionally good at tax.

That should still be valuable.

Here, technical expertise has somewhere to go. You can deepen your specialism, become increasingly trusted on complicated work, mentor other talented professionals and build client relationships because people value your judgement.

If leadership interests you, there are opportunities there too.

The point is that your career doesn't suddenly stop because you'd rather solve an interesting partnership issue than spend Thursday evening at another networking event.

Smart people are allowed to be smart here

This might sound obvious.

It isn't always.

The firm has deliberately built an environment around curiosity, collaboration and specialist knowledge. You're encouraged to research properly, ask why something has historically been done a certain way and bring other specialists into the conversation when a problem crosses into their area.

Technology is there to remove the repetitive bits.

Not the thinking bits.

That distinction is going to become increasingly important in tax.

The accountants who'll become more valuable over the next decade probably aren't the ones who can process the most returns.

They're the ones clients trust when the answer isn't obvious.

That's the sort of career this environment is built around.

Small enough to matter. Sophisticated enough to keep learning.

There's a nice contradiction to this firm.

It has the specialist knowledge and client complexity you'd associate with a much larger practice, without requiring you to disappear inside one.

You'll work with upper middle market businesses, including organisations with U.S. and international operations, whilst still being part of an environment where people know who you are and good work gets noticed.

The firm has also been recognised by Accounting Today as a Best Accounting Firm to Work For.

Awards aren't everything.

But when they're backed up by flexibility, mentoring, technical development and a culture designed around keeping good people, they're worth paying attention to.

What could this do for your career?

If you're coming in at Senior level, this isn't about simply becoming a slightly more experienced Senior.

You'll start moving further into review, engagement ownership, technical research and client advisory work.

If you're already operating around Manager level, the opportunity becomes more about depth. More complex engagements, greater client ownership, mentoring high performing teammates and developing the kind of technical reputation that makes people come to you when something unusual appears.

There's ongoing mentoring and professional development behind that too.

The goal isn't to make you busier.

It's to make you better.

What they're looking for

CPA is essential, alongside at least five years of relevant tax experience and strong partnership knowledge.

Larger public accounting experience will translate particularly well, although they're much more interested in what you actually know than the logo at the top of your resume.

You'll probably thrive here if you're naturally curious, comfortable taking ownership and enjoy the technical side of flow through taxation enough to want to become genuinely excellent at it.

CCH Axcess experience would be useful, but systems can be learnt.

Judgement is harder to teach.

And yes, life outside tax still exists

The salary range is $85,000 to $135,000 depending on level and experience, alongside bonus opportunities, comprehensive benefits and flexible working arrangements.

There's a genuine emphasis on building careers that are sustainable. Because hiring very good tax professionals and then exhausting them is, when you think about it, a fairly ridiculous business model.

This is somewhere you can take the technical side of your career seriously without having to take the traditional public accounting lifestyle quite so seriously.

And perhaps that's the real attraction.

You don't need to leave tax to get a better life.

You might just need to find a better version of tax.

Not ready with a resume? Or want a bit more information before applying? That’s fine. Apply the old fashioned way, or simply reach out to me on LinkedIn or through the Distinct Recruitment website. I’ll happily talk you through the role, the firm, and where it could take you before you make any commitments.

I’m Abigail Stephen, Recruiter at Distinct. I don’t just look at job specs. I look at people, and where they’ll thrive. It’s not about filling gaps. It’s about finding a fit that lasts.

Outside of work, balance for me is Pilates to reset, travel to explore, and skiing to recharge. Because the truth is, you don’t slog through hours for the love of a spreadsheet. You do it for the freedom it buys you. Same principle here.