Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Meijer Corporate Tax Intern Final Presentation
Similar to Meijer Corporate Tax Intern Final Presentation (20)
Meijer Corporate Tax Intern Final Presentation
- 1. AccountingThe Language of BusinessSpoken Frequently Here at Meijer Ashley Gist Tax Department Intern
- 2. Ashley K. Gist Grand Valley State University Bachelors of Business Administration Major- Accounting Minor- Hospitality and Tourism Management- Event Planning Masters of Science in Accounting Beta Alpha Psi Regent’s College- London, England
- 3. Ashley K. Gist GOALS! Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam Law school- Tax Attorney Fraud, Forensic Accounting, & Tax Evasion
- 4. Objective! To provide the Tax Department with a compliance resource capable of accurately and efficiently preparing various types of returns at all jurisdiction levels
- 5. Learning Opportunities Compliance GL Uploads Form 990 Form 5500 Form 1120 Process Review Payroll Tax Project Analysis Section 174 Section 1031 Projects!
- 6. Compliance: Preparing Tax Returns
- 7. Process Review: Automating Payroll Tax Project Business Purpose: to identify opportunities to improve the payroll tax reporting and payment process, which will help to reduce the effort for Meijer, allowing time for more value added work
- 8. Process Review: Automating Payroll Tax Project Process mapping Solution development with IT Research & communication with localities Electronic W-2 submission Accepting different electronic payments options E-Check ACH Debit Cash Pro ACH Credit
- 9. Flow Charts!
- 11. Process Review: Automating Payroll Tax Project Result: Identified opportunities to automate the payroll tax process using tools already in place for other payments Eliminate manual process Electronic payments Get payments & data to localities at lower cost to Meijer Win-win situation Create mutually beneficial partnership with localities
- 12. Analysis Projects: Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges Property transactions Business Purpose: defer tax obligation on gain
- 13. Analysis Projects: Section 174 Project Software Development Expenditures Project Business Purpose: an annual analysis of expenditures for software development in order to identify those costs that are qualified software development costs under IRC Sec. 174. To the extent that these qualified costs are capitalized for book purposes, they are quantified and deducted for tax purposes. This reduces Meijer’s taxable income, which in return means lower taxes paid by Meijer.
- 14. Analysis Projects: My Experience Never make assumptions Challenge Always room for improvement What was done before? Apply consistency in tax Be able to reexamine & accept errors Clear understanding for everyone on team
- 16. My Experience Detail attentive & very organized
- 17. What I Learned! Good professional communication is essential Mutually beneficial relationship with localities Obtaining information efficiently internally Expect constant change Tax law & forms always changing New acts & laws and how they affect business Manage multiple projects at same time Time management Minimize down-time Enforcement of ethics & integrity
- 18. My Experience! Commonapproachregardless of project! Essentially the learning experience applicable in every aspect of work I did
- 19. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- I graduated from Grand Valley State University with my Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting, and minored in Hospitality and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Event Planning. Currently I am at GVSU working on my MSA and am about half way complete. I am an Alumni member of Beta Alpha Psi- honorary accounting fraternity- volunteer work in the community Study abroad at Regent’s College in London, England where I enjoyed studying ethics, corporate governance, convergence with IFRS, and 2008 financial crisis and the European prospective on that.
- Registered & studying for CPA exam- goal to pass 3 sections by this DecemberAspire to attend law school & become a Tax Attorney during my lifetime.Intrigued by Fraud, Forensic Accounting & Tax Evasion
- In order to meet my objective, I had several learning opportunities in 3 categories- Compliance, Process Review, & Analysis. Various projects within.
- First category of Compliance- preparing tax returns- several Forms I prepared for various entities.
- The steps I took to complete this process- first I observed our Payroll Tax Clerk on completing the withholding reporting and making payments- mostly via paper check.Then using the workprogram I process mapped this procedure into Viso, with the goal to identify which areas are data manipulation and can be automated by Solution Development with IT. A second part to the project was the research and communication with various Michigan localities whether they were able to accept electronic W-2 submission & if they had the resources to accept different electronic payment options- E-check, ACH Debit, & Cash Pro ACH Credit. Then we worked with Accounts Payable to set up these types of payments.
- Here is an example of the flowcharting that I have completed showing the areas of data manipulation which can be automated by working with IT for solution development.
- Another example of a flowchart showing how to set up a local tax jurisdiction by payment options- with the goal being to set up electronic payments.
- The result of this project, I identified opportunities to automate the payroll tax process using tools already in place for other payments, which will eliminate the manual process.And we set up electronic payments so that we can get payments and data to localities at a lower cost to Meijer.We also developed a win-win situation by creating a mutually beneficial partnership with localities on using resources and technology available in setting up the electronic payments, and sharing what other localities consider to be their Best Practices.
- The third category of projects- Analysis. This is a smaller of the 2 projects- Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 dealing with the treatment of Like-Kind Exchanges with property transactions. The Business Purpose was to defer tax obligation on the gain associated with these property transactions, which required working with Legal to obtain required documentation.
- The second Analysis project- Section 174 which is the Software Development Expenditure Project. Business Purpose- to do an annual analysis of software development expenditures to identify which cost are qualified software development cost under Internal Revenue Code Section 174. Internally, we capitalized these costs for book purposes, but we can expense them for tax purposes- this reduces Meijer’s taxable income, which in return means lower taxes paid by Meijer.
- This was a very large and one of the more challenging projects- I learned the most from. Never make assumptions- always do the research and provide detail on results. If something is unclear with last year’s, don’t assume it is always correct, look into it.I learned to challenge things because there’s always room for improvement. For example, I challenged the workprogram for this project because I did not see it as being in logical order to efficiently complete the process. I improved it by working very closely with the Director of Tax- Thea to re-write the workprogram so that it is more clear and the user has a better understanding for why each step is completed and how it contributes to the overall goal for the project. We looked at what was done before, where could we improve, but still making sure to apply consistency that is important in tax.Also being able to reexamine & accept errors which is very vital part of the learning process and understanding errors. This also helps for a clear understanding for everyone on the team.
- My experience during my entire internship -I learned to know your tools & resources. I used team members within the tax department and around Meijer to obtain information that I needed to complete projects. It was important to know WHAT I needed and WHO to go to for assistance, and also using these technology platforms to access the information I needed efficiently.
- I discovered I am very detail attentive and very organized, so I was able to obtain supporting documents and label calculations and sources, which leads to clear results and efficient review because others can see exactly what I have done to arrive at results, and this in turn leads to high quality returns which prevents rework.
- I learned that good professional communication is essential. This goes hand-in-hand with knowing your tools & resources-using team members to obtain information efficiently internally-Knowing who to ask and how to ask. And also externally by creating that mutually beneficial relationship with localities during the Payroll Tax Automation Project. Expect constant change- tax laws & forms are always changes, so I have to be aware of new acts & laws and how they affect business.I learned to manage multiple projects at the same time with time management, which minimizes down-time.And I also learned the importance of the enforcement of ethics & integrity – especially in the accounting profession.
- Overall- I have had a very valuable experience- focusing on various projects in 3 main categories of learning opportunities- Compliance, Process Review, and Analysis. No matter which project I was completing, or which category I was working in- there was a common approach, and essentially reinforced the learning experience in every aspect of work I did!