Hot Tips to Negotiation for Tax Pros!

Posted by Kelley LearcloseAuthor: Kelley Lear Name: Kelley Lear
Email: kelley.lear@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.com
About: Kelley is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. Kelley’s extensive experience in project management, product management, and consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 1000 clients is extremely important in this role.See Authors Posts (110) on Feb 16, 2012 in Empowerment Series, Leadership, Tax | 0 comments

A standard definition of Negotiation is “a conversation or dialogue between two or more people, attempting to reach an understanding or gain advantage of some sort, to resolve a point or competing perspectives, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, or to bargain for an individual or for your team. Negotiation is a process where each party involved in negotiating tries to gain an advantage by the end of the process”. Do any of these descriptions fit your day to day activities?  Or more fittingly perhaps, do you realize that on a regular basis  it is tough to get what you want?  Whether it be more money for the tax department to automate or add staff, to negotiate a tax position, or to argue for greater pay, bonus or benefits?  Perhaps to negotiate different tactics to reduce ETR, increase tax savings or free up cash flow? 

Here is a Way to Stay Up-to-Date on Tax & Not Lose Time

Posted by Traci WheelercloseAuthor: Traci Wheeler Name: Traci Wheeler
Email: traci@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.comt
About: Traci is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. She has over ten years of software business experience serving small and large clients in a variety of industries.See Authors Posts (102) on Feb 15, 2012 in Empowerment Series, February, Tax | 0 comments

Today’s tax professionals are extremely busy.  There is barely enough time in the day to get all of the work done much less read corporate tax articles and opinions and stay abreast of the latest tax law changes.  I understand how difficult that can be.  My own e-mail inbox is filled with articles, blogs and newsletters I always have good intentions of coming back to read when I have some “free time”.  Inevitably, most of those articles sit in my inbox for a couple of weeks and then finally get deleted as I try to keep the number of e-mails to a manageable level.

Because the articles I am deleting typically don’t impact my job, this kind of management of information is okay. 

Your Survey Says “WHAT?!”

Posted by Kelley LearcloseAuthor: Kelley Lear Name: Kelley Lear
Email: kelley.lear@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.com
About: Kelley is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. Kelley’s extensive experience in project management, product management, and consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 1000 clients is extremely important in this role.See Authors Posts (110) on Feb 7, 2012 in Empowerment Series, Innovation, Process Improvement, Tax | 6 comments

I just recently shared a post called “Going Undercover – Do you Really Need To?”.   The gist of the article touched on the fact that you shouldn’t need to ‘go undercover” like the CEO’s in “Undercover Boss” on CBS’s popular television show.  You should be able to employ some simple techniques and tools to be able to keep your pulse on what is going on your team, in your department or within your organization.  If you are a tax professional within an organization, it is easy to get caught up in the daily grind of tax compliance cycles, tax and regulatory updates, and audits.  Often times, we know that we should be able to make marked improvements in our processes, however we rarely have the time to dedicate to this effort.  Further, we may not know what key areas we should focus on, and are not exactly sure where and how to get started.

Corporate Tax Pros: Who Says You Can’t Have a Little Fun During Tax Season?

Posted by Traci WheelercloseAuthor: Traci Wheeler Name: Traci Wheeler
Email: traci@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.comt
About: Traci is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. She has over ten years of software business experience serving small and large clients in a variety of industries.See Authors Posts (102) on Feb 2, 2012 in Empowerment Series, February, Motivation, Tax | 2 comments

We’re a month into tax season, which means long hours, overwhelming amounts of work, and very little fun for corporate tax professionals. I agree there is no getting around it during tax season, but tax professionals have a tendency to burn the midnight oil for extended periods of time. While this is an admirable quality (and one most employers love), it can be to a detriment to you, and, ultimately to your team, your work quality and your organization.

Even during busy times, we all need to blow off some steam and have a little fun.

Attitude is Everything…Especially During Tax Season

Posted by Traci WheelercloseAuthor: Traci Wheeler Name: Traci Wheeler
Email: traci@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.comt
About: Traci is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. She has over ten years of software business experience serving small and large clients in a variety of industries.See Authors Posts (102) on Feb 1, 2012 in Empowerment Series, January, Motivation, Tax | 6 comments

Last summer, my oldest son, Garrett, joined a U9 Academy soccer team to work on his skills and start transitioning toward more competitive play.  Needless to say, we have spent countless hours at the soccer field for practice and traveled every Saturday to compete against local teams in our area.  One of the things that has shocked me throughout this experience is the bad attitude of some of the kids on opposing teams and even more shockingly, some of the parents.   Regardless of how my son plays or whether his team wins or loses, my husband and I have always tried to impress upon him the importance of a good attitude.  In fact, we have gone so far as to tell him if he doesn’t exhibit a positive attitude and good sportsmanship, we will personally walk out on the field and take him off.

Going Undercover? Do you Really Need To?

Posted by Kelley LearcloseAuthor: Kelley Lear Name: Kelley Lear
Email: kelley.lear@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.com
About: Kelley is a member of the executive leadership team and leads our sales and marketing efforts at Red Moon Solutions. Kelley’s extensive experience in project management, product management, and consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 1000 clients is extremely important in this role.See Authors Posts (110) on Jan 31, 2012 in Empowerment Series, Innovation, Process Improvement | 2 comments

How many of you have watched “Undercover Boss” on CBS?  There has been a lot of press on this show lately.  I can’t seem to turn on the T.V. without seeing sound bytes attempting to draw more viewers into the drama.  I mean who wouldn’t like to see their boss have to try doing their job for a day?  I confess that I actually caught one of the earlier episodes of the program and was mildly interested (if not fairly amused), to see what one CEO experienced on a day of hard labor, interacting with his regular employees and gaining insight on what was going on within his company.  Although positioned to depict hopefulness and change, I actually find this premise sad in way.