Sales and Use Tax Accountant

Company / Benefits Overview:

Are you ready to build a rewarding career in the railroad industry? Join the Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) team — part of a legacy that is over 125 years old. With a network of 100 individual freight railroads and 4,000 employees across North America, we provide transportation and logistics services to more than 2,000 customers.

At G&W, we live by our Core Values: Safety, Service, Integrity, Respect, Transparency, Accountability, Innovation and Excellence. We offer competitive pay, a comprehensive benefits package, and paid training to help you succeed. Check out some of our great benefits below:

• Medical, Dental, Vision & Telehealth
• Life Insurance
• Optional benefit coverages for Accident, Critical Illness, Hospital, ID Theft & Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending & Health Savings account plans
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• On the Job Training
• Paid Time Off
• Tuition Reimbursement
• And more!

* Benefits are subject to change

Explore your future with G&W today and learn more about the opportunities to grow across our organization!

SUMMARY:

The Sales and Use Tax Accountant owns the Company's multi-state sales & use tax compliance, with primary accountability for the accurate determination, accrual, reporting, and remittance of sales and use tax across all jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Because the substantial majority of the Company's sales & use tax exposure arises on the purchasing side — self-assessed use tax on materials, equipment, and services procured across many states — this position sits within the Procure to Pay organization and works directly in the purchasing and accounts payable transaction stream. The role is responsible for taxability determination at the point of purchase, for defending the Company's position in state audits, and for ensuring the Company claims the exemptions to which it is entitled.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         Prepare, review, and file monthly, quarterly, and annual sales and use tax returns across all applicable state and local jurisdictions, and manage the remittance calendar to ensure timely payment.

·         Own the use tax self-assessment process, reviewing purchase and accounts payable activity to determine correct taxability, identify under- and over-accrued tax, and post required accruals.

·         Serve as the taxability determination resource for the Procurement and Accounts Payable teams, advising on the correct treatment of purchases at the point of requisition and invoice processing.

·         Administer and maintain the Company's tax determination process and interaction with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, including tax codes, rate updates, product and service taxability mapping, and jurisdiction configuration.

·         Apply and document railroad-specific sales and use tax exemptions, including exemptions for rolling stock and equipment used in interstate commerce, track materials and roadbed construction materials, and other industry exemptions that vary by state.

·         Manage the Company's exemption and resale certificate program, including issuance of exemption certificates to vendors, collection and validation of customer certificates, renewals, and maintenance of supporting documentation.

·         Perform periodic reverse audits and recovery reviews of use tax accruals and vendor-charged tax to identify and recover overpayments, both internally and with support from external providers.

·         Manage state and local sales and use tax audits end to end, including responding to information requests, preparing schedules and reconciliations, developing technical positions, and negotiating assessments in coordination with the Vice President, Procure to Pay and the Company's external tax advisors.

·         Monitor nexus and registration obligations as the Company's operations and property footprint change, and complete new state registrations as required.

·         Reconcile sales and use tax general ledger accounts monthly and prepare supporting schedules for close and audit.

·         Research and monitor changes in state and local sales & use tax law, rates, and railroad exemption rules, assessing the impact on the Company and communicating changes to affected stakeholders.

·         Coordinate with the Company's external tax advisors at PwC and with the Manager, Treasury on the broader co-sourced tax calendar.

·         Identify and implement process and system improvements that increase determination accuracy and reduce manual review, in partnership with the Manager, Transformation.

·         Support due diligence and integration activity related to acquisitions and dispositions with respect to sales and use tax exposure.

·         Assist with other tax filings as needed.

·         Assist with other projects and perform other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

·         Working knowledge of multi-state sales and use tax law, including nexus, taxability determination, exemption administration, and use tax self-assessment.

·         Experience preparing and filing multi-state sales and use tax returns in a high-transaction-volume environment.

·         Hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, experience with a tax determination engine such as Vertex or Avalara, including its integration with an ERP experience a plus.

·         Experience managing or supporting state sales and use tax audits, including building schedules and defending technical positions.

·         Strong analytical skills and the ability to work with large purchasing and accounts payable data sets; advanced Microsoft Excel required.

·         Ability to research state and local tax matters independently and communicate conclusions to non-tax audiences in plain English.

·         Familiarity with AI-assisted tax research and taxability classification tools, with the judgment to verify machine-generated conclusions against primary source authority before relying on them in a filing position.

·         Ability to apply analytics and automation to large purchase populations to surface probable misclassification and recovery opportunities.

·         Strong attention to detail and commitment to documentation and audit readiness.

·         Ability to work independently, manage a recurring filing calendar, and meet statutory deadlines without exception.

·         Railroad, transportation, utility, or heavy industrial experience a strong plus given the capital-intensive purchasing profile and industry-specific exemptions.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND/OR CREDENTIALS:

·         Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.

·         Three to seven years of sales and use tax or broader sales & use tax experience, in a mixture of public accounting and industry preferred.

·         CPA, CMI (Certified Member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation), or progress toward either preferred.

This position is employed by the specific entity set forth in the job posting.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and its subsidiary companies do not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or any other protected status under federal, state or local laws.