Although no tax executives are talking about it openly, I am going to educate you about tax executive compensation discussions that are happening privately. Corporate tax executives are talking about compensation behind the scenes and telling them the salaries posted are too low for them to come forward with interest in open tax jobs. This is creating a big problem attracting the top of the tax profession. Many tax executives are disinterested in the tax executive jobs posted online due to the tax job ads posting tax salary ranges which are lower than what they are currently being paid. It is an important issue to address and explain what is happening, so you have a better understanding of the matter. A.I. is simply scooping up compensation disinformation and feeding it into the market. A.I.is littered with A.I. errors.
As an example of proof, I took notice of an article posted on LinkedIn where Deloitte admits to A.I. errors. Deloitte must now issue a partial refund to the government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a report they paid for was littered with A.I. errors. Using AI in gathering tax salary information is simply spreading salary disinformation. A.I. gathering tax salary information from job boards is garbage in and garbage out.
One of the most important aspects of my job is educating the CFOs who retain me to conduct a high-quality tax executive search is understanding tax executive compensation. If the CFO wants a diamond performer in the Head of Tax role, saving their company millions per year in tax savings, they should not offer them peanuts. We conducted a tax compensation study in the 4th quarter of 2024 and were stunned by the discrepancies in salaries, in fact as much as $250,000- $300,000 in base salaries and anywhere from 25% to 50% (a couple even more at 60% and 75%) as a paid bonus incentive. It was done talking privately to software company tax executives primarily located in California in the 1B to 20B range. We know for a fact that companies with less than 1B annual revenue typically pay less to tax executives and are challenged to attract the top of the tax talent pool.
CFOs who understand the value a highly technical tax executive brings to an organization are attracting the best of the tax profession. CFOs who have the Head of Tax (HOT) report to them (and not another executive in their organization) are attracting the top of the tax profession to their organization. A Head of Tax who reports to a person other than the CFO do not stay long-term with an organization. For every good intentioned CFO reorganizing their management structure and have the Head of Tax reporting to someone other than themselves… I advise you it is a big mistake to remove your tax leader from the role of reporting directly to you. Your Head of Tax needs to know what transactions are occurring with the business. They save the company millions of tax dollars annually when you keep them close to you and the business. The smartest CFOs I know do not make any business moves without consulting the Head of Tax first.
The purpose of this post is to make you aware that the tax jobs posted online are littered with inaccurate salary information. Most of the tax executive searches we have conducted require higher pay ranges to attract top tax executive talent to an organization. What is happening is that AI is gathering tax salary information online which is stated lower than what tax professionals are making, leading to disinformation and suppression of accurate tax executive compensation data. We are watching this trend and want you to be aware this is happening.
( Privately, I will add that several human resource professionals I have spoken to tell me they are experiencing the same trend in compensation being offered.)
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If you are a corporate professional currently challenged to hire a tax professional due to salary disinformation, please contact me and I will provide you with a solution in obtaining accurate salary information OR if you are a tax executive desiring to search for a new tax opportunity, please reach out to me for a solution from ki***@******ch.com.
