[mctaxes]

So I’m curious to figure out if there’s a limitation on the amount of time you can spend working on a tax return. I work for a very big company and one of the Directors that has only been with us for a short period has nothing but public accounting experience at the big 4’s. This Director is trying to make things like public accounting by telling everyone we need to create capacity, efficiency..blah..blah.., so we can do more. And so, the new thing that is being pushed is that state tax returns shouldn’t take more 3-4hrs. because that’s how long it would take at the firms. Mind you this person’s specialty is Provision not Compliance, but is in charge of both as most big companies have that type of structure now.

Anyways, I’m trying to figure out what exactly is done prior to preparing a state return at the Big 4. Are you responsible for making sure that the apportionment information rolls up correctly in the state return or is someone else doing that before you look at the return? Are you responsible for checking all the necessary state adjustments or is someone else? When a state does not conform to federal depreciation rules, are you having to calculate the differences by using a database to come up with the correct calculation or is someone else doing this? The software that is used, is it custom calculations or is it pretty standard? Meaning you don’t have to make sure that the state calculations has changed from year to year because if you don’t your adjustments for the new year may not come out correct.

Again, I’m just trying to get a background as to how the tax return process works. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I keep seeing this post and trying to find time to respond.. but can't… just know that as I type this there's a senior nearby having a meltdown with his states.

Enjoy.

[Author]

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