How KPMG’s Vice Chair of Tax Got Hired and Promoted

About 30 years in the past, Rema Serafi determined to journey to KPMG’s Boston workplace to interview for a job she didn’t anticipate to get. KPMG is among the “Massive 4” accounting companies alongside Deloitte, EY and PwC. It has greater than 276,000 companions and staff globally, and operates in 138 international locations and territories.

Serafi was a few years out of graduate faculty, having accomplished a grasp’s diploma in worldwide economics from Columbia College’s Faculty of Worldwide and Public Affairs, however the competitors for this function was stiff.

“I used to be up in opposition to candidates with extra expertise and larger networks, however I used to be decided, persistent and had an actual want to study,” Serafi tells Entrepreneur in a brand new interview. 

Although she didn’t get the job on the Boston workplace, the New York workplace chief of the identical group at KPMG took an opportunity and employed her. “That call modified the trajectory of my profession,” Serafi says. “It’s a giant purpose I’m the place I’m right this moment, and it’s formed how I take into consideration sponsorship and paying that chance ahead.”

Now, over 30 years later, Serafi is the Vice Chair of Tax at KPMG and Tax Chief for KPMG Americas. In her function, she leads a crew of greater than 10,000 companions and professionals throughout all tax disciplines. 

How she received to the highest

Serafi is the primary girl to function KPMG’s Vice Chair of Tax, a milestone she doesn’t take calmly. There have been three essential components to her success. First, she listens intently to purchasers, colleagues and other people round her. She realized early on in her profession that the way in which to construct belief and make higher selections was by listening. 

“It helps you perceive what individuals want, not simply what they’re asking for, and it makes you simpler as a frontrunner,” she says. “In my opinion, the perfect leaders are those that are humble sufficient to alter their minds, who can pivot primarily based on suggestions, and who can admit errors. That requires energetic listening and confidence.”

The second method she reached the highest was by constructing and sustaining relationships along with her community. “I’ve at all times prided myself on constructing and sustaining relationships, since you by no means know when or the place you’ll cross paths with individuals once more,” she says. “All through my profession, former teammates grew to become purchasers, colleagues grew to become collaborators in new roles, and leaders I labored with years in the past resurfaced as decision-makers at pivotal moments.”

Serafi works onerous to make a optimistic impression, positioning herself as somebody individuals belief and wish to work with once more. Her give attention to constructing sturdy relationships with a community of individuals has opened doorways and “multiplied” alternatives, she says. 

The ultimate key to advancing was advocating for herself by elevating her hand for stretch assignments, being clear about her profession targets and getting into extra duty at instances earlier than she felt 100% prepared. Serafi is fast to level out that she hasn’t completed this alone. She has had mentors who had a imaginative and prescient for her that was greater than her personal. 

“At instances, many people can wrestle to see our personal potential clearly as a result of we lack the broader context,” Serafi says. “That’s why I feel it’s so essential to ask trusted mentors and leaders how they see you and your path.”

Her tax ideas for companies

Serafi advises contemplating three key recommendations relating to submitting taxes. The primary is to “plan forward the place you possibly can” and “mannequin and state of affairs plan for various outcomes,” as a result of “timing selections can have actual tax penalties,” Serafi warns.

The second tip is to leverage AI and know-how to assist with taxes. “Even easy cloud accounting tax instruments can scale back errors, unencumber time to run what you are promoting and function one other member of the crew,” Serafi says. “You don’t want a big-firm price range to learn from good recommendation and know-how — you simply must be intentional about it.”

The ultimate suggestion is to “guarantee entry to good information.”

“The tech is barely nearly as good as the info you feed it,” she says. 

Management lesson

Early in Serafi’s profession, she was at a consumer dinner at a Center Jap restaurant. With out pondering, she began ordering for the desk in Arabic. 

“The consumer lit up and my crew was amazed,” she says. “And in that second, the very background I had tried to downplay grew to become my biggest asset.”

Serafi is a first-generation American who immigrated to the U.S. from Syria along with her household. She managed to distinguish herself in that second in a optimistic method. Later, she thought again to her childhood, when she was self-conscious about being bilingual. For years, she noticed the language barrier as a weak point and one thing to beat. 

Ultimately, she realized that her bilingual background made her distinctive. “What makes you completely different – your background, your perspective, the adversity you’ve overcome – isn’t at all times an impediment; it may be a bonus,” she says. 

Serafi is a “massive fan” of restaurateur Will Guidara’s e-book Unreasonable Hospitality. His central thought is that sudden, private touches can remodel interactions in any consumer service function. A narrative within the e-book illustrates that time: Guidara’s crew had European vacationers within the restaurant who talked about that they’d by no means tried a New York Metropolis sizzling canine. As an alternative of simply laughing and transferring on, a workers member raced out to a road cart, purchased a sizzling canine and served it to the vacationer. 

“That form of proactive thoughtfulness – seeing across the nook to anticipate what would delight somebody – is what makes the expertise unforgettable,” Serafi mentioned. “I take into consideration that lots in consumer interactions. To me, ‘good’ is being responsive and dependable. However the subsequent degree – the ‘unreasonable hospitality’ degree – is while you’re a step forward and shock somebody with one thing they didn’t even know to ask for.”

She recalled a pivotal second when a consumer went the additional mile to make her life simpler. In September 2001, she was on a enterprise journey in London, engaged on a world challenge, when the tragedy of 9/11 unfolded. She couldn’t return to New York for no less than every week. At that susceptible time, her consumer, who lived in London, invited her over for a household dinner. The consumer needed Serafi to really feel protected throughout a irritating interval away from her family members. 

“At a time once we felt helpless and unable to be current for our personal neighborhood, she welcomed us into her house and cooked us a meal,” Serafi says. “Twenty-five years later, I nonetheless recount that story. That easy act of hospitality created a bond of belief and loyalty that has lasted many years.”

Serafi tries to deliver that very same intuition into each consumer interplay; she sees the particular person, not simply the issue. 

“Efficient management isn’t about needing to be the only professional,” she says. “Management of any crew requires many voices and views. There may be hardly ever a transparent proper or incorrect determination.”

About 30 years in the past, Rema Serafi determined to journey to KPMG’s Boston workplace to interview for a job she didn’t anticipate to get. KPMG is among the “Massive 4” accounting companies alongside Deloitte, EY and PwC. It has greater than 276,000 companions and staff globally, and operates in 138 international locations and territories.

Serafi was a few years out of graduate faculty, having accomplished a grasp’s diploma in worldwide economics from Columbia College’s Faculty of Worldwide and Public Affairs, however the competitors for this function was stiff.

“I used to be up in opposition to candidates with extra expertise and larger networks, however I used to be decided, persistent and had an actual want to study,” Serafi tells Entrepreneur in a brand new interview.