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Case Study
WilliamsMarston Clears the Way for Dynamic Interim Tax Management
Learn how WM stepped in to support in an interim tax leadership capacity for a company at a time when they needed it most.
The Challenge
A $300 million education technology company required interim management to handle the daily operations of its tax team and support on several key projects.
A steadily growing education technology company was facing a temporary absence of its Senior Tax Manager, a trusted staff member who had been with the company for years. The question was: who would step in to oversee the day-to-day operations of the tax team?
The company had significant tax events during the year and was working through several key tax projects that would require substantial distribution to investors and shareholders, resulting in an increased focus on tax that year. Specifically, the company was working on its earnings and profits (E&P) calculation, including tax characterization of gain on distribution to the shareholders and preparing a withholding tax analysis for non-US shareholders. Additionally, there was substantial focus on the completion of the corporate and partnership income tax return filings for the prior year, which were on an accelerated timeline as the filings directly impacted the distribution gain. The company had previously communicated the accelerated timeline for K-1 delivery to its investors and shareholders, leaving no room for delays.
On top of these projects, there was also a research and development (R&D) credit study and a Section 174 study going on – both requiring additional support – and subject to deadlines.
The Solution
WM’s interim tax management team led tax compliance projects to deadline and provided additional specialty tax services.
WM deployed an interim resource immediately who partnered with the company’s controller and assistant controller as a part of their team. WM assumed responsibility for managing the day-to-day operations of the tax team, keeping the controller and assistant controller abreast of ongoing status updates, as well as supported the tax communication to senior management. The interim leader collaborated with both internal and external stakeholders, ensuring the company’s projects progressed in sequence according to internal deadlines, as each tax project was dependent on the completion of another. The timeline required extensive coordination and timely review and feedback for all deliverables. Given the complexity of the company’s tax profile, WM brought in their state and local tax (SALT) team to address state income tax and sales and use tax issues, as well as WM’s partnership tax experts to perform a partnership tax compliance review.
The Result
WM’s support ensured deadlines of special projects were hit, with the right level of expertise, while keeping the ongoing day-to-day operations moving forward.
WM cleared the way for the client to meet key deadlines, critical to subsequent deliverable timelines. Accurate K-1s were delivered to the company’s shareholders, which were of upmost importance due to the investor-level tax implications of various events and transactions. Additionally, the accelerated completion of the tax filings satisfied the company’s stakeholders and positioned the company for seamless operations moving forward.
THE TEAM RESPONSIBLE
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Marc Lamothe
Partner – Tax
Marc Lamothe
Partner – Tax
Marc brings 27 years of partnership taxation experience to WilliamsMarston. He is a trusted adviser to many private equity, venture capital and fund of fund clients at various stages in their life cycle. Marc is focused primarily advising on complex partnership tax matters that are common to private equity and venture capital funds, their managers and their portfolio companies including tax structuring, mergers and acquisitions and tax compliance oversight for complex business structures. His industry experience includes private equity, venture capital, consumer products and services, professional services and real estate.
Prior to joining WilliamsMarston, Marc was a partner with 704beantown advisers, LLC, a consulting firm he co-founded focused on providing targeted tax advisory services to clients in the private equity and venture capital space. Prior to launching 704beantown, Marc was a partner with RSM US LLP where he led their Boston Partnership Tax practice for many years. Marc spent the first eight years of his career in public accounting with Andersen and Deloitte.
Marc is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant University.
Matthew Borges
Director – Tax
Matthew Borges
Director – Tax
Matt brings 10 years of corporate income tax accounting and compliance experience to WilliamsMarston. Since joining WilliamsMarston, Matt has advised clients in the life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, software and manufacturing industries. He has advised multi-national publicly traded, as well as privately held clients on a variety of income tax matters including accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, the preparation of annual and interim income tax provisions and the related financial statement disclosures, and income tax compliance. Additionally, he has advised clients on complex income tax matters, such as initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, income tax audit preparedness and due diligence. Matt has recently served as interim tax director for a public multi-national pharmaceutical company and a privately held, software-as-a-service company.
Prior to joining WilliamsMarston, Matt worked in EY LLP’s Tax Accounting & Risk Advisory Services practice in Boston. While at EY, he prepared and audited carve-out income tax provisions for clients pursuing initial public offerings or divestitures of a business, prepared and audited domestic and multi-national income tax provisions, prepared US federal and state income tax returns, and advised clients on a variety of domestic and international corporate tax accounting matters.
Matt holds a Master of Professional Accountancy degree from Bryant University as well as a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from The George Washington University, where he graduated cum laude.
Corey Kelly
Director – Tax
Corey Kelly
Director – Tax
Corey brings 10 years of state and local tax diligence, structuring, and modeling experience to WilliamsMarston. He has significant experience with acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, tax research and state and local tax planning. Corey has worked with a variety of organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies and has broad industry experience including work asset management, automation, healthcare, industrial products, manufacturing & distribution, retail, software and technology industries.
Prior to joining WilliamsMarston, Corey worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Tax practice in Boston, MA. While at PwC, Corey was a part of the State and Local Tax Deals practice, working on both inbound and outbound transactions involving various tax types (e.g., income tax, gross receipts tax, sales/use tax, employment tax, property tax, abandoned and unclaimed property and transfer tax).
Corey is a Certified Public Account in the state of New York and holds a Master of Professional Accountancy with a Tax concentration degree from the University of Buffalo and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Ithaca College.
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