Tax Manager
Advisory
- →Be in the room where decisions get made — founders deciding whether to sell, valuators defending a number, lawyers and US advisors working the structure with us
- →Real authority on the files you run, and a team that looks to you
- →Complex advisory work — reorganizations, estate freezes, cross-border, M&A, tax modelling and CRA disputes
- →A clear path to Senior Tax Manager — based on performance, not time served
- →Four weeks' vacation, plus a December break — the office closes for the second half of December
Cedar Consulting Group is a boutique tax, legal and valuation advisory firm in Oakville, Ontario, founded in 2020. We advise entrepreneurs, high-net-worth families, family offices and larger businesses — up to $800M companies and publicly traded REITs — on reorganizations, estate and succession planning, M&A, CRA disputes, cross-border structuring and valuations.
We're a team of 17 across tax, legal, valuation and US cross-border, and the practice is growing: more cross-border work, larger transactions, and the hard problems other accounting firms bring to us when they're stuck. Tax, legal and valuation sit at the same table, and most of our best work happens there.
We're hiring an experienced Tax Manager to run files and be the person our associates turn to in our Oakville office.
Our team is strong and growing, with several associates who are hungry to learn. What they need is an experienced manager in the room every day: someone who takes a first draft and turns it into something client-ready, answers the questions that come up on a live file, and shows people how to do it better next time.
Our Tax Principal designs the strategy on every file, approves the steps, and signs off before anything goes to a client, and a Senior Tax Manager gives your files a second review. You'd own everything in between: running the file, reviewing the memos, schedules and models, coordinating with the client's lawyer and accountant, and keeping the work moving. When the facts change partway through — a valuation comes in, the minute books show something unexpected — you spot it, think it through, and bring it back with a recommendation.
The work is broad. Reorganizations and estate freezes, inbound and outbound cross-border planning, buy-sell transactions and M&A, tax modelling and scenarios, CRA disputes, and second opinions for other accounting firms. You won't know all of it on day one, and that's fine. You will know how to find out, and how to tell a strong answer from a weak one.
What we don't do: accounting, bookkeeping or tax return preparation as a service — our clients' accountants handle that. What we do is stay with the planning we put in place: after a reorganization, many clients keep us on to maintain it.
Here's what's different. At a larger firm, a manager at your level usually sees only the tax piece of a deal. Here you'll be in the room when a founder decides whether to sell, when the valuator defends the number, and when our lawyers and US tax team work through the structure with us. You'll see how real decisions get made — the trade-offs, the negotiation, the moments where the right answer isn't in the Act — and you'll learn it directly from our Tax Principal, not three levels removed.
A word on the pace. The work is mentally demanding: several complex files at once, real deadlines, and stakes that matter to the families and businesses we advise. Most reorganizations run to dates we agree with the client, and we track them against a monthly closing target. M&A runs on the deal's clock: when a deal is live, it can take over the week, and the other files still have to keep moving. Some clients are in other time zones, so the occasional early or late call comes with the job. Unlike most tax practices, there's no January-to-April crunch. The busy weeks follow the deals, not the calendar. It suits someone who enjoys the juggle and likes the push when a deal is closing.
Not everyone arrives ready for all of it, and that's fine. For an exceptional candidate, we'd rather start you in the role and close the gaps with a clear 90-day plan and real support than wait for a perfect resume. What we can't teach is temperament: steady under pressure, owning the result, and asking early rather than late.
- →Turn drafts into client-ready work — Review first drafts of memos, steps memos, schedules and models and turn them into clean, accurate, client-ready work
- →Be the team's go-to person — Answer associates' technical and practical questions as they come up, in the office, every day — and teach so the same question doesn't come back
- →Run files end to end — Own files from engagement to close under the Tax Principal's approved steps, keeping timelines and deliverables on track
- →Keep your closings on schedule — Keep your files on track for their target close dates. Admin support and our tracking tools handle the logistics and follow-ups; you flag what's at risk early and keep the weekly status current
- →Flag changes early — When new information changes the picture — valuations, minute books, gaps in the facts — think it through and bring it to the Tax Principal with a recommendation
- →Coordinate the outside team — Work with clients' lawyers and accountants so the legal documents, the elections and the books match the plan
- →Develop the team — Help associates grow at a pace that stretches them without overwhelming them; set clear expectations and give useful feedback
- →Raise the standard — Help improve our templates, checklists and review standards so the next file runs better than the last
- →CPA designation (CA, CGA, or CMA legacy accepted)
- →6+ years in Canadian tax, including real hands-on planning work — not compliance alone
- →CPA In-Depth Tax Course completed, or a Master of Taxation (MTax)
- →Solid working knowledge of the core reorganization and planning rules: s.85, s.86 and s.51, s.84.1, s.55(2) and safe income, PUC and ACB, QSBC and the capital gains exemption, the CDA and RDTOH, and estate freezes and trusts
- →You can work through a fact pattern you haven't seen before. No two of our files are alike, and the rules rarely come one at a time
- →Exposure to amalgamations and wind-ups (s.87 and s.88), foreign affiliates and surplus, or M&A is a strong asset — we'll build the rest with you
- →Experience reviewing other people's work and turning it into client-ready output
- →Strong project management — you keep many files moving toward firm deadlines, and you communicate status clearly to teams and stakeholders before anyone has to ask
- →Experience supervising and developing junior staff
- →An owner's mindset: steady and self-directed — you own outcomes and raise issues early
- →Clear, calm communicator with clients, lawyers, accountants and your team
- →In the office every day. Our office isn't reachable by transit, so a valid driver's licence and your own vehicle are required. Open to candidates relocating closer to Oakville
- →Four weeks' vacation, plus a December break — the office closes for the second half of December (usually about two clear weeks with the statutory holidays)
- →Performance bonus, plus a team bonus tied to closings
- →CPA dues and professional development paid
- →Health Spending Account for medical and dental expenses
- →Free on-site parking
- →Direct mentorship from our Tax Principal
- →No January-to-April tax-season crunch
- →Build professional visibility through The Advisors Table podcast and YouTube channel
If you're the person your current team already turns to — and you'd like that to be your actual job — we'd like to hear from you. Don't tick every box? If the work and the pace appeal to you, apply anyway. Further along? See our Senior Tax Manager role. Earlier in your career? Our Senior Tax Associate role is built for the move from compliance into advisory.
Where this role goes — defined roles, not vague promises.
- 1Tax Manager — You run files, review work until it's client-ready, and support the team day to day.
- 2Senior Tax Manager — You lead complex files, give second review on the team's work, and take on key client relationships.
Promotion is based on performance, not time served, and we'll set out what 'ready' looks like in your first 90 days.
- 1Resume review — within two business days
- 2In-person interview — at our Oakville office, about two hours — meet the team and work through a short review exercise with us
- 3Offer — within two business days of the interview. Employment is with Sankalp Jaggi Professional Corporation (SJPC), through which Cedar Group provides its tax services
- 4References and checks — once you've signed: two professional references, including someone who has supervised your work, and a criminal record and background check. The offer is final when these are complete
You’d work directly with the principals — not through layers. Cedar is a team of 17 across tax, legal, valuation and US cross-border, and the people who’d review your work are the same people who take the client calls.
If you need any accommodation at any stage of our hiring process, email sunny@cedargroup.ca and we’ll work with you.