This is going to sound stupid - but how do you work on your research skills as an associate at a big 4? Feel like unless you're not working on a consulting project or are an acting senior there's no real reason or opportunity to research stuff....

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Pretend to research and yell as loud as you can what you attempted to research

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All the questions you ask other people, take a stab at figuring out the answer yourself first

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Then you get questioned on why the WIP is blown, and why you’re spinning your wheels instead of asking. Tax research takes time, even the first stab.

Attend training and be mentally there, look at prior year documentation and google those irc codes for full language, read asc740, tax memo, and checklists. You will learn as long as you are willing to put in the extra time, since some of these stuff are not necessarily required of staff level

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Audit or tax? But if audit you would look up the respective accounting guidance and look at the examples within. You’ll realize there’s a lot of gray areas as not ALL accounting situations are presented. At that point, it’s about gathering enough examples and guidance to support your interpretation

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FYI I'm in tax

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So all RSM new hires can do the same? That’s awesome then!

Ask around to see if anyone writing an article and offer to assist. Same on memos. If no opportunity right now, get a great article with lots of citations. Go and locate the sources. Identify how they support the text.

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Read Tax Notes Today/Daily Tax report. Don’t go crazy reading every article. Just focus on the ones you think are relevant or interesting. Look up the stuff that confused you.

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Bna is the way to go. There are also some good treatises on checkpoint and cch such as mckee,garlock,kramer depending which group you are in. When u have an issue dont just parrot what everyone else is saying. Look up the code sections and related commentaries.

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I’m assuming you’re tax compliance?? Sometimes the firms host workshops I think, but basically (like the CPA’s) you can only really “rely” on authoritative lit. BNA has some great summaries on a number of topics, and you should always have the base form instructions handy from the IRS website. Other than that, typing into google is usually a great first step, which will then lead you to your authoritative lit. Generally if it’s too specific of a question though, we usually bring a specialist in to give an opinion. You don’t necessarily need to have any other skills if you’re already pretty good at googling.

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Btw you should always have a general awareness of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it as an associate. If your senior, for instance, does a great job with that overview then you probably don’t need to do research, but if they kinda rushed through then I’d take about 15 minutes to get a good grasp of what you need to do. You can do this at any level, from intern to manager. It’ll make people less pissy with you certainly.

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Agree with a lot of posts here but I’d say that don’t feel too bad about not instantly “getting it”when it comes to research in public accounting versus college. Tax memos are heavily leveraged from other recent and relevant memos. I’d use the firms tax tools though and just start with topics you want to research and read through the information. For instance, read through some of the recent articles/papers related to the CARES act. I do a lot of memos and other stuff as an associate that requires research but hardly ever are you truly starting from scratch. It’s why making friends with other associates/seniors can be really beneficial since you can ask them before going back to your manager/senior.

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I see you are in the Tax Service Line. If your current role is strictly Compliance and you do not have opportunities to assist with research then I would suggest as you start each project that you look to PY to get a feel for the issues encountered and read any background on the client, tax research memos that might have been written (this will give you a feel for the final outcome/goal of a research project). Then look to the CY files and the background your Sr gives you prior to beginning the assignment. Make note of anything you are not clear on or the Sr did not explain well enough. Do a little light research on those topics and then confirm your understanding with your Sr. Make sure to ask if there were any new transactions that will require special treatment or if anything has changed that would require a change in how the returns are being prepared. If you continue to do this with each client your Sr. will notice your interest in learning and may be more willing to include you in conversations and perhaps even assisting in the research. Sometimes it is a slow process but keep asking and you shall receive. Most importantly always ask WHY if you don't understand.

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There should be trainings in Vantage for Westlaw, etc. I recommend doing some of these and work on getting good at a couple of research tools. If there’s another staff on your team that’s good at research, ask for help.

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Whenever you read something, like instructions, realize that there is a statute somewhere that gives a framework for either 1) what you’re reading or 2) the agency’s authority to create the document.

Read and understand the difference between a statute, a rule or regulation, and agency guidance.

Understand how a bill goes through the legislature and creates statutes. Look at your state or the federal process for creating or changing rules/regulations.

If you need to, ask a knowledgeable senior/manager or similar to sit down with you to explain some concepts that you’re struggling with. Office hours or open doors should be a norm - I would knock myself over making time in my calendar if my staff did that instead of waiting passively to be put on a project to learn about it and I’m trying to download info to them on a tight turnaround.

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Isn’t this what undergrad was meant to teach everyone? Lol

Look at the PY return and see what issues were there that you don’t know and look into that. For instance if you don’t know about UbTI and you see it on the K-1 look it up and then you will have an idea at least before your senior goes over the return with you or you can ask the senior for clarification if you are not sure about what you read.

Reading IRS tax form instructions also helps

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