Tax Associate – Indirect Tax

Job Description

Tax Associate | PlayCore

The Tone:
This is an entry-level professional position at PlayCore, focused on supporting the company’s vital indirect tax compliance and tax administration functions. The Tax Associate plays a foundational role in assisting with various tax operations, including sales and use tax filings, exemption certificate management, and tax notice administration. This position is essential for maintaining adherence to state and local tax requirements, contributing significantly to the company’s overall operational efficiency and financial accuracy by working closely with diverse internal teams.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person

• Team: Reports to a Manager or Supervisor; collaborates with Accounting, Finance, Customer Service, Supply Chain, and Information Technology teams.
• Mission: To support PlayCore’s indirect tax compliance and tax administration functions, helping to ensure adherence to state and local tax requirements.
• Tech Stack: Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, Microsoft 365 applications. Preferred: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics (ERP systems), Avalara, Vertex, ONESOURCE (tax automation software).

What You’ll Actually Do
• Tax Filings & Compliance: Prepare and assist with monthly, quarterly, and annual sales and use tax returns, compiling, validating, and reconciling tax data to help ensure timely filing, payment, and adherence to jurisdictional requirements, while maintaining compliance calendars.
• Exemption Certificate Management: Request, review, validate, and maintain exemption and resale certificates, including monitoring expirations, obtaining updated documentation, and supporting customer and internal inquiries related to tax-exempt transactions.
• Tax Audit & Notice Support: Track, organize, and coordinate responses to state and local tax notices, maintaining related correspondence files, and gathering documentation and preparing supporting schedules for tax authority inquiries and sales and use tax audits.
• Tax Data Analysis & Reconciliation: Compile, validate, and reconcile tax data from enterprise resource planning systems and supporting reports, analyzing data, reconciling general ledger accounts, and identifying variances or discrepancies for process improvements.
• Cross-functional Collaboration & Improvement: Partner with various internal teams such as Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Customer Service, and Operations to resolve tax-related issues, support training, and assist with tax process improvements, compliance initiatives, and system changes.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related discipline, demonstrating an understanding of basic accounting principles and financial transactions.
• Experience: Zero to three years in accounting, tax, finance, customer accounting, or a related administrative function, with proficiency in Microsoft Excel (including formulas and data-analysis functions), Word, Outlook, and other Microsoft 365 applications.
• Skills: Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, verbal communication, and written communication skills, along with a keen attention to detail, accuracy, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet established deadlines.
• Bonus: Exposure to sales and use tax compliance, experience with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics), tax automation software (e.g., Avalara, Vertex, ONESOURCE), or prior internship or work experience in accounting, finance, tax, or compliance.