Tax & Finance Operate Associate

ERNST & YOUNG, Belfast

Roles Available: Team: Tax & Finance Operate Associate

Team: Tax & Finance Operate - Alternative Investments (TFO – AI) , Financial Services Operate (FSO), EY, Belfast

The opportunity

EY’s Financial Services Operate (FSO) are looking for tax and accounting professionals (qualified, part qualified or willing to undertake a professional qualification) to join our fast-growing Tax Finance and Operate Alternative Investments (TFO - AI) team.

You will get exposure of working directly with clients’ tax and finance functions and support them in managing tax risks in their business. The role is highly practical and commercial where you will act as the conduit between clients (Real Estate) and our European tax compliance teams.

You will be involved with client coordination services by acting as a central point of contact for both the client and EY teams across Europe. There will be a heavy focus on service delivery, escalating and resolving issues and client satisfaction.

Although this not a traditional tax role whereby you prepare tax returns, you will provide tax support to clients through the lifecycle of their investments from acquisition to disposal. In addition, you will have an opportunity to support clients on process improvements as well as driving process efficiencies within EY.

Our team

TFO-AI is part of the FSO’s tax compliance team. The TFO-AI group delivers a range of tax services to clients who have outsourced most or all of their tax function to EY. TFO-AI is also responsible for developing tax compliance offerings within EY and leading pursuits and other market activities in this space.

The focus of the team is to provide end-to-end tax advisory and tax compliance services throughout the lifecycle of real estate, private equity and infrastructure funds as well as other similar investment products in a globally integrated approach. The team has an extensive pipeline of work and they need enthusiastic staff to help support and build out their services in the market.

The team is expanding in Belfast to develop the compliance service management and governance side of its operations. This entails coordinating overall tax compliance engagements with a focus on issue identification, escalation, and resolution.

With the use of EY technology, we are helping our clients develop standardised processes, increase their oversight with continuous monitoring and periodic updates. We are aiding continuous improvements by tracking performance and bringing best practice suggestions.

Within this team you will develop technical tax and accounting knowledge that will equip you with the skills necessary to progress through your career, managing large complex engagements and becoming the key point of contact for your clients. You will be attending client meetings (via Microsoft Teams), supporting consultants and learning how to use the tools and technology we employ daily.

As importantly, working you’ll have a unique opportunity to build networks and relationships across borders and build your career within EY.

Our clients

You will have the opportunity to work with some of EY’s largest, most complex corporate (Real Estate) clients providing you with a continued opportunity to learn and develop.

We partner with our clients to deliver compliance across the organisation on contracts which range from 3 – 7 years in duration. We typically work with the client’s group or regional tax function.

Many of our clients are seeking to centralise their own processes and systems through a finance transformation process, transferring more tasks and activities to Global Shared Service Centres.

Your role

The below are some of the activities you will be involved with on a day to day basis:

• Support more senior team members in the delivery of exceptional client service.
• Prepare initial drafts of client deliverables with the support of the Global Delivery Service (GDS) team who are based on India.
• Preparation of agendas and minutes for key client calls and meetings.
• Ensure correct policies, procedures and processes have been agreed and followed for client and engagement set up, e.g. budget calculations, billing schedules, client due diligence/on boarding procedures, engagement letters, new code setup etc.
• Work with our GDS team to assist on the Financial Management of the TFO- AI team engagements: timesheets review, billing/invoicing, dashboards to assess performance against targets, completing requests from client account teams for financial information for our team’s work on their accounts.
• Assist on the implementation and monitoring of team’s Tax Quality Review (TQR) policies and procedures.
• Assist team on ad-hoc operational and account administration matters.
• Assist with preparation of marketing materials and active pursuit documents.

What we look for

We want people with a keen interest in improving business tax functions using technology and process improvement. Successful candidates will ideally have a strong affinity to problem solving via the means of technology solutions and will enjoy being challenged in a dynamic, team environment. This role will suit someone with strong coordination skills, able to manage multiple clients and their requirements at one time as well as own time management.

A background in accounting and finance is beneficial though not essential, as is an interest in technology. Ideally, you’ll be analytical and able to communicate your analysis logically. Most of our work is performed in teams and so we are looking for people who are good team players.

Building strong relationships with clients, tax authorities and EY colleagues is essential, so we are looking for people with excellent inter-personal skills.

Key skills which will enable you to be successful in this role include:

• A' Levels (or equivalent) and further education qualification e.g. Degree/HND
• Good communication skills
• Organised and able to manage your workload
• Strong IT skills
• Evidence of working well under pressure
• Evidence of problem solving
• Accounting or Tax qualification (ACA/ACCA/CTA/ATT or equivalent preferable).
• Corporate Tax experience is desirable but not pre-requisite
  

N.B. If you do not currently hold a professional qualification, there will be an expectation to complete one while working. EY will support with this.

For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.