Matthew Vorwald
Bentonville
Summary
Motivational leader and organizational problem-solver with advanced supervisory, team building and customer service skills. Experience stepping into roles and quickly making positive changes to drive company success. Focused on using training, monitoring and morale-building techniques to maximize employee engagement and performance.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Manager II, Specialty Tax
Walmart
Bentonville
08.2022 - Current
- Leads Use Tax Planning and Operations group responsible for structuring use tax initiatives and accrual, review and accounting of use tax obligations
- Responsible for advising on the taxability of new business initiatives, sales and use tax implications of M&A transactions, and the defense of taxability decisions (in partnership with the indirect tax audit team)
- Lead relationship manager for 3rd Party consulting firms in pursuit of refunds on behalf of Walmart
- Led development of Use Tax Dashboard using Power BI to facilitate refund scoping
- Performed purchase order analysis and contract structuring for various manufacturing and automation initiatives to deliver over $60M in tax avoidance in FY2023-FY2024
Indirect Tax Manager
Eastman Chemical Company
Kingsport
09.2021 - 08.2022
- Led teams based in Kingsport, TN, USA, and Hyderabad, India, responsible for all aspects of sales, use, excise, property, VAT, HST, GST, and QST tax reporting
- Performed due diligence and registration analysis for acquisitions and divestitures.
- Coordinated the development of Power BI dashboards for the analysis of purchase tax impacts
- Documented internal compliance procedures and managed the departmental transfer of approximately 1,000 hours of annual tax labor to the Hyderabad, India team, ensuring communication and handoff success
- Managed consultant relationships related to property tax valuation and tax overpayment recovery
- Wrote macro-based solutions for data input to various tax data repositories
Senior Manager, Indirect Tax
Matheson Tri-Gas
Irving
01.2020 - 09.2021
- Managed indirect tax compliance, including direct preparation of B&O, and fuel tax returns
- Led defense of external indirect tax audits
- Solicited, contracted, and managed third party consulting relationships for compliance and overpayment reviews
- Reduced contingency fee percentages by an average of 15 percentage points compared to previous contracts
- Analyzed and prepared adjustments to quarterly indirect tax reserves for audit liabilities
- Remotely managed team of 3 indirect tax personnel located in Warren, NJ
- Travel as necessary
- Proposed and implemented several work-from-home initiatives starting in March 2020; navigated the COVID-19 challenge with zero late or non-filed returns
- Developed automated workflows for B&O and fuel tax compliance; reduced preparation time from 7 workdays to 2 workdays
- Collaborated with internal IT staff to develop an automated invoice pull solution to extract batches of AP vouchers from TIMS ERP system
- Performed tax testing for upgrade of online marketplace application and website; wrote tax terms of service language for website; ensure proper connection between Magento, Vertex, and TIMS
- Evaluated all major capital improvement projects for taxability by material/service category; discovered incentive programs for all plant builds
- In November and December 2020, planned and executed outsourcing of SUT compliance preparation to KPMG in response to critical loss of staff hours to medical emergency leave
- Promoted from Manager to Senior Manager during tenure due to performance
Indirect Tax Manager
Enlink Midstream
Dallas
07.2016 - 11.2019
- Developed and implemented tax policies to ensure compliance and minimize exposure
- Communicated taxability, exemption, and licensing rules to internal and external stakeholders
- Led the preparation, review and filing of state sales & use tax returns
- Led and assisted with cash optimizing initiatives, including Direct Pay programs and local incentive awards, directing outside contractors when needed
- Researched applicable federal and state statutes/regulations and applicable rulings/publications
- Reduced state tax audit workload from 82 in 2016 to 3 active audits as of November 2019
- Managed external contractor relationships and drove savings projects, including a $2.2M refund in Texas, a $600K Texas Enterprise Zone abatement, and $1.4M in Louisiana Parish Enterprise Zone abatements
- Maintained Vertex and PeopleSoft tax mapping to ensure proper calculation
- Mentored tax analysts and reviewed their work
- Helped lead the initiative to implement RPA software (UiPath) through research of platforms, exploration of use cases, and facilitation of cross-functional discussion panels
- Speaker: Energy Tax Association Meeting in NYC in May 2019 – ‘Tips and Trends: RPA’
Manager, Sales & Use Tax
Dean Foods Company
Dallas
07.2013 - 07.2016
- Managed 4 direct reports and 1 temporary employee as leader of Sales & Use Tax Department for Dean Foods Company and 53 related legal entities nationwide
- Aggressively defended all sales and use tax positions under audit, reducing audit load by 86%
- Reduced audit cycle time from 26 months to 5 months within 3 years of employment
- Reduced preliminary assessments on pre-existing audits from $1.98M to $405K
- Average closing liability for new audits during employment was reduced to $6K
- Recovered $330K in refunds
- Reviewed and reconciled sales and use tax General Ledger accounts
- Implemented and supervised resale and exemption certificate management procedures
- Developed and implemented integrated tax strategies, policies, practices, and work plans
- Provided training to purchasing, A/P, and other impacted groups to reduce exposure
- Facilitated utility studies to support and initiate manufacturing exemptions for plant locations
Tax Manager
HSN (Home Shopping Network)
Saint Petersburg
09.2012 - 05.2013
- Managed 3 direct reports and 1 temporary employee in compliance for HSN, Cornerstone Brands, and all subsidiary entities – over 30 legal entities in total
- Managed sales and use tax, property tax, unclaimed property, and other transactional taxes, including bad debt refund requests
- Maintained registration and filing requirements and reviewed quarterly nexus issues
- Provided research and support for all tax related customer service and vendor issues
- Managed all compliance, audit, and product taxability categories
Senior Tax Analyst
General Electric Company (GE Energy)
Fort Myers
10.2010 - 09.2012
- Managed sales, use, excise, and other transactional tax compliance for GE International Inc., GE Wind Energy LLC, GE-Hitachi Nuclear, and other GE Energy businesses
- Trained business personnel on exemption certificate retention processes and analysis
- Provided support for A/P and A/R staff to make tax determinations
- Responsible for use tax operations, including maintenance of Sabrix tax engine
- Provided GE Energy with over $15M in approved refund claims and reversed tax
Tax Analyst
General Electric Company
Fort Myers
05.2008 - 10.2010
- Managed sales & use, excise, and other transactional tax audits, refund claims, and protests
- Performed root cause analysis and developed mitigation strategies for future risk avoidance
- Negotiated several multi-entity jurisdictional settlements to reduce load and cycle time
- Provided GE with over $45M in audit assessment reductions and exams savings
Staff Accountant
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Naples
07.2007 - 05.2008
- Prepared tax returns for and audited corporations, LLC, individuals, partnerships, and trusts
- Prepared litigation support and performed forensic accounting services for divorce clients
- Prepared sales and use tax compliance for business customers
Accountant & TQM Manager
Sea Level Yacht Services
Fort Myers
04.2005 - 03.2007
- Performed all internal accounting duties, payroll, and external compliance
- Supervised up to 12 field employees
- Assumed managerial control in the absence of owner/president
- Implemented and managed new TQM program to improve service efficiency and reliability
Professional Baseball Pitcher
Minnesota Twins Baseball Organization
Minneapolis
06.2001 - 03.2004
- Pitched in pressure-filled “closer” role, with game on the line during most appearances
- Volunteered time and efforts to benefit various local communities and charities
- Selected in the 7th Round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft
Education
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
Florida Gulf Coast University
Fort Myers, FLBiology, Pre-Med
University of Illinois Urbana
Champaign, ILSkills
- Use tax planning
- Data analysis
- Tax strategy formulation
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Project management
- Team leadership
- Consultant management
- Process improvement
- Effective communication
- Sales tax compliance
Affiliations
- Tied for 61st place at the 2024 PGA National Club Championship at Reynolds Lake Oconee
- 2024 Club Champion - Links at Rainbow Curve Golf and Athletic Club
Timeline
Senior Manager II, Specialty Tax
Walmart
08.2022 - Current
Indirect Tax Manager
Eastman Chemical Company
09.2021 - 08.2022
Senior Manager, Indirect Tax
Matheson Tri-Gas
01.2020 - 09.2021
Indirect Tax Manager
Enlink Midstream
07.2016 - 11.2019
Manager, Sales & Use Tax
Dean Foods Company
07.2013 - 07.2016
Tax Manager
HSN (Home Shopping Network)
09.2012 - 05.2013
Senior Tax Analyst
General Electric Company (GE Energy)
10.2010 - 09.2012
Tax Analyst
General Electric Company
05.2008 - 10.2010
Staff Accountant
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
07.2007 - 05.2008
Accountant & TQM Manager
Sea Level Yacht Services
04.2005 - 03.2007
Professional Baseball Pitcher
Minnesota Twins Baseball Organization
06.2001 - 03.2004
Bachelor of Science - Accounting
Florida Gulf Coast University
Biology, Pre-Med
University of Illinois Urbana
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