30-60-90 day plan for tax managers
On this page
- What does a tax manager own that the controller does not?
- What does the 30-60-90 day plan look like?
- Which federal dates and rules go on the tax calendar?
- What changes the 2025 and 2026 provision?
- Which numbers should a new tax manager baseline?
- What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?
- A filled example
- How should the hiring manager use this plan in the final interview?
- What should the CFO or controller ask at the check-ins?
- What the CFO or controller owes a new tax manager
- Common mistakes
- Adapting the plan
- Questions people ask
A 30-60-90 day plan for a new tax manager should build the tax calendar, the legal entity list and the list of open notices, audits and statute dates in the first 30 days; own the quarterly income tax provision and estimated payments with the controller in days 31-60; and by day 90 deliver a provision-to-return reconciliation, a documented year-end provision process and one control gap closed. As of November 2026, the year-end work carries two recent changes: the expanded income tax disclosures in ASU 2023-09, effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024 and for other entities a year later, and the new section 174A deduction for domestic research costs in tax years beginning after December 31, 2024.
This page is for the CFO, controller or tax director hiring a tax manager or senior tax manager for an in-house tax function. The close, the balance sheet and the audit relationship are in the 30-60-90 day plan for controllers; accounts payable controls and Form 1099 filing in the 30-60-90 day plan for accounting managers; the board and the finance roadmap in the 30-60-90 day plan for CFOs. Nothing here is tax or legal advice.
What does a tax manager own that the controller does not?
| Area | Tax manager | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax provision | Prepares the quarterly and annual provision: current and deferred tax, valuation allowance, uncertain tax positions, the rate reconciliation and the footnote | Owns the close the provision sits in and signs off the financial statements |
| Returns and extensions | Prepares or manages federal, state and local income tax returns and extensions, in-house or with outside advisers | Provides the trial balance and supporting schedules |
| Payments | Calculates estimated payments and extension payments; tracks overpayments and credits | Approves and funds them through treasury |
| Notices and audits | Answers tax authority notices and information requests; tracks statute dates | Is kept informed of exposure |
| Indirect taxes | Often owns sales and use tax registrations and returns, or oversees whoever does | Owns the billing and payables data they come from |
| Entities and law changes | Keeps the entity list, filing profiles and the effect of new tax law on the forecast | Uses the forecast in planning |
Where the company uses an outside firm for returns, the tax manager still owns the calendar, the data and the review. Agree in week one which returns are prepared in-house and which by advisers.
What does the 30-60-90 day plan look like?
30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Tax Manager, [company]
Reports to: [CFO / controller / tax director] Start date: [date]
Entities: [N] in [N] states / countries Year end: [date]
Reporting: [public / private, US GAAP] Advisers: [firm(s)]
Systems: [ERP, provision tool or spreadsheets, tax software]
DAYS 1-30 — Calendar, entities and open items
Goals:
- Tax calendar for the next 12 months from source documents:
every return, extension, estimated payment and information return
- Legal entity list: entity, tax classification, owner, where it
files, registration numbers
- Open items: notices with response dates, audits and information
requests, statute expiration dates, payment plans
- Read last year's provision workpapers, the footnote, the prior
returns and the auditors' tax comments
- Meet the controller, payroll, treasury, outside advisers and the
auditors' tax team
Deliverables by day 30:
- Calendar and entity list agreed with [CFO / controller]
- Open-items list with owners and dates
DAYS 31-60 — Own the quarter
Goals:
- Prepare the quarterly provision and effective tax rate forecast
with the controller; document each estimate
- Calculate and schedule the next estimated payments
- Answer any open notices before their response dates
- Map the year-end disclosure requirements (ASU 2023-09 if not yet
adopted) and the data each one needs
- Review the effect of recent law changes on the forecast
Deliverables by day 60:
- Quarterly tax package delivered on the close calendar
- Disclosure data map with owners
DAYS 61-90 — Tie the provision to the returns; fix a control
Goals:
- Reconcile last year's provision to the filed returns and explain
each true-up
- Write the year-end provision process: timeline, data owners,
reviews, auditor requests
- Close one control gap (example: tax account reconciliations
reviewed monthly, or a second review of estimated payments)
- Plan the year-end with outside advisers and the auditors
Deliverables by day 90:
- Provision-to-return reconciliation with explanations
- Year-end provision process and timeline agreed with the auditors
Check-ins: weekly with [CFO / controller]; reviews at day 30, 60 and 90.Numbers in brackets are examples; adjust them to the entity count and reporting cycle.
Which federal dates and rules go on the tax calendar?
Federal items as of November 2026, from the IRS's own publications and the agencies' pages. State and local returns, sales tax filings and foreign filings come from the company's own registrations; list each one from its source, not from memory.
| Item | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1120 (C corporations) | Due the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the tax year; corporations with a June 30 year end have a different rule for tax years that began before 2026 | IRS Publication 509 (2026); Instructions for Form 1120 |
| Forms 1065 and 1120-S | Due the 15th day of the 3rd month after the end of the tax year | IRS Publication 509 (2026) |
| Corporate estimated tax | Installments due the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of the tax year | IRS Publication 509 (2026) |
| Extensions | Form 7004 generally gives an automatic six-month extension to file, filed by the return's regular due date; June 30 year-end C corporations get seven months for tax years that began before 2026; it "does not extend the time to pay any tax due" | Instructions for Form 7004 (December 2025) |
| Country-by-country report | A U.S. ultimate parent of a multinational group with revenue of $850 million or more in the preceding reporting period attaches Form 8975 to its income tax return, by the return's due date including extensions | Instructions for Form 8975 |
| Assessment period | The IRS generally has three years to assess additional tax after a return is filed, longer in some cases; the statute dates belong on the open-items list | IRS: Time IRS can assess tax |
| Beneficial ownership reporting | FinCEN's final rule, effective August 14, 2026, keeps U.S. companies exempt; entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction may still have to report | FinCEN: beneficial ownership information |
Information returns such as Forms 1099 are often run by accounts payable; the accounting manager plan lists the current thresholds and dates. The tax manager should still confirm that someone owns them and that vendor tax forms are on file before year end.
What changes the 2025 and 2026 provision?
Two changes reach almost every provision a new tax manager inherits in late 2026. Both are summarized as of November 2026; confirm the treatment with the auditors and advisers.
- ASU 2023-09, Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures. Public business entities must disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation, in both percentages and amounts, and separately show reconciling items at or above 5 percent of pretax income times the statutory rate. All entities must disclose income taxes paid, net of refunds, split between federal, state and foreign and by any individual jurisdiction that is 5 percent or more of the total. The update also removes the disclosure of a reasonably possible change in unrecognized tax benefits over the next 12 months. Effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and for other entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2025 (FASB ASU 2023-09).
- Domestic research costs under Public Law 119-21. The IRS says new section 174A lets domestic research or experimental costs paid in tax years beginning after December 31, 2024 be deducted currently or amortized over at least 60 months, while foreign research costs stay amortized over 15 years; transition rules are in Rev. Proc. 2025-28 (IRS: One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions). The choice affects deferred taxes, estimated payments and the return, so it needs a documented decision before year end.
The disclosure change is mostly a data problem. Income taxes paid by jurisdiction, for example, have to come from payment records, not from the provision, so the day-60 data map should name who supplies each figure and when.
Which numbers should a new tax manager baseline?
The measures are examples. Track them from the first quarter and set targets with the CFO or controller after the day-60 review.
| Measure (examples only) | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Returns, extensions and payments made by their due dates | Whether the calendar works |
| Notices open past their response date | Exposure to penalties and lost appeal rights |
| Provision-to-return true-ups, by item and size | The quality of the year-end estimates |
| Forecast effective tax rate against the actual rate, by quarter | Whether surprises reach the CFO before the close |
| Penalties and interest paid, by cause | Avoidable cost, and where the process fails |
| Days from close to tax package delivered | Whether tax holds up the quarter |
| Auditor comments on the tax accounts | Control strength the auditors can see |
What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?
| Checkpoint | On track | Worth a direct conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Day 30 | Calendar and entity list built from sources; every open notice and statute date listed; advisers and auditors met | Calendar copied from last year's spreadsheet without checking; notices found in a drawer after their dates |
| Day 60 | Quarterly tax package on time with documented estimates; payments scheduled; disclosure data owners named | Provision rolled forward without review; estimates paid late or by guesswork |
| Day 90 | True-ups explained; year-end process agreed with auditors; one control gap closed | Large unexplained true-ups; year-end plan left to the advisers |
A filled example
Tax manager: Julian Brandt (invented), joining a private, audited software company with a U.S. parent, six U.S. subsidiaries and one foreign subsidiary, reporting to the controller. All details are examples.
Day 30: The calendar built from the registrations showed two states where the company had payroll but no income tax filing profile, and a state notice whose response date had passed the week before. The entity list showed an inactive subsidiary still filing returns. Last year's provision was a spreadsheet only one adviser understood.
Day 60: The late notice was answered with a request for more time, which the state granted. The third-quarter tax package went out on the close calendar with each estimate documented. Because the company is private, the expanded disclosures apply to its next annual statements; the data map named the treasury analyst as the source for income taxes paid by jurisdiction.
Day 90: The provision-to-return reconciliation explained each true-up, the largest from research costs. The section 174A decision was documented with the advisers. A monthly review of the tax account reconciliations closed the control gap the auditors had noted, and the year-end timeline was agreed with the audit team.
How should the hiring manager use this plan in the final interview?
Give every finalist the same brief: the entity chart, the reporting basis, last year's effective tax rate reconciliation with figures disguised, and one known open issue. Score the plans with the rubric in how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview. A strong tax plan builds the calendar and the open-items list from sources before it changes any process, and ties the provision to the returns. Questions that test it:
- "You find a state notice that is already past its response date. What do you do today?"
- "Last year's true-up between the provision and the return was large. How do you find out why?"
- "Which data for the new income tax disclosures would be hardest to get here, and from whom?"
- "How would you decide between deducting and amortizing domestic research costs, and who signs off?"
The tax accountant screening questions cover credentials and return experience earlier in the process, and the interview guide for finance roles covers the wider loop.
What should the CFO or controller ask at the check-ins?
- Day 30: What is due in the next 90 days, and what is at risk? Which entities or states are we not filing in that we should be, or filing in that we should not?
- Day 60: What drove the quarter's effective tax rate? Which disclosure figures have no owner yet?
- Day 90: What did the true-ups teach us? What will the auditors ask for at year end, and is it ready?
What the CFO or controller owes a new tax manager
- Access to the general ledger, the prior provision workpapers, filed returns and tax authority correspondence in week one.
- The engagement letters with outside advisers, so the split of work is clear.
- A place in the close calendar for the tax package, with the data the provision needs delivered on time.
- The history: open audits, voluntary disclosures, penalty notices and any position the company took that the new manager should know about.
Common mistakes
- Building the calendar from last year's calendar. New registrations, entities and law changes are what it misses.
- Rolling the provision forward. Estimates that are not re-examined each quarter become true-ups at year end.
- Treating an extension as more time to pay. Form 7004 extends the time to file, not the time to pay.
- Leaving notices with whoever opened the mail. Every notice needs a log entry, an owner and a response date.
- Handing year end to the advisers. They prepare; the company still owns the data, the review and the decisions.
Adapting the plan
- Private companies: the rate reconciliation table applies to public business entities; other entities give qualitative disclosure about the categories of reconciling items and the jurisdictions that cause a significant difference between the statutory and effective rates. For them the whole update, including the income taxes paid disclosure, applies to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2025.
- Multinational groups: add Form 8975 if the group reaches the $850 million threshold, transfer pricing documentation and each foreign subsidiary's local filings to month one.
- Pass-through groups: the March deadlines for Forms 1065 and 1120-S come first, and partners' or shareholders' information needs drive the timeline.
- Credentials: CPA licenses are issued by state boards of accountancy and can be checked on CPAverify; the IRS says enrolled agents pass a three-part IRS test or qualify through IRS experience, and complete 72 hours of continuing education every three years, as of November 2026.
Questions people ask
What should a new tax manager do in the first 30 days?
Build the tax calendar for the next 12 months from the source documents (every federal, state and local return, extension, estimated payment and information return), list every legal entity and where it files, collect open notices, audits and statute dates, read the last year-end provision workpapers and the prior returns, and meet the controller, the outside tax advisers and the auditors' tax team. The month ends with a calendar and an open-items list the CFO or controller agrees with.
When are corporate tax returns and estimated payments due?
IRS Publication 509 for 2026 says Form 1120 is due on the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the corporation's tax year, Forms 1065 and 1120-S on the 15th day of the 3rd month, and corporate estimated tax payments on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of the tax year. Form 7004 generally gives an automatic six-month extension to file but does not extend the time to pay. Corporations with a June 30 year end follow different rules for tax years that began before 2026.
What does ASU 2023-09 change for the tax provision?
ASU 2023-09 expands income tax disclosures. Public business entities must show specific categories in the rate reconciliation and separately disclose reconciling items at or above a 5 percent threshold, and all entities must disclose income taxes paid, net of refunds, by federal, state and foreign, and by any jurisdiction that makes up 5 percent or more of the total. It is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and for other entities a year later.
How is a tax manager's 30-60-90 day plan different from a controller's?
A controller's plan is about the close, the balance sheet, internal controls and the audit relationship. A tax manager's plan is about the tax calendar and the tax accounts inside that close: the income tax provision, deferred taxes and uncertain tax positions, returns and extensions, estimated payments, notices and audits, and entity compliance. The two meet at the quarterly tax package and the year-end audit.