Tax Intern

Description

Our mission is to develop relationship-driven professionals who deliver an exceptional client experience and collaborate with each other, in a fun and rewarding environment.

Take a step forward. Your life after graduation awaits.

You’ve spent time in school in various accounting classes, but how does this knowledge apply to the working world? What type of firm do you want to be with? Where is the right fit for you as you map out the next steps in your accounting career?

An internship is one of the best tools for you to gain this experience and align your values and personality with the culture of the firm you choose. At Smith Leonard, we rely strongly on our internships to fuel our next generation of associates. As such, you are treated like a staff member and given work similar to what you would do as a first-year staff. This approach provides a strong internship experience that should leave you prepared for the next steps (and better prepared for your upcoming classes), comfortable for that first day on the job after graduation, and confident that you truly know what working life at Smith Leonard would be. You are part of the Smith Leonard family, so transitioning into the working world should be easy and natural.

So what does the day to day of a Smith Leonard internship look like?

You will work and learn side-by-side with experienced team members from day one; and further, you will communicate directly with clients. While you are given training in the first few days and weeks as you begin your internship experience, we feel the best way to learn is by doing. Because we believe the best learning environment for our interns is in person, we only offer in office internship opportunities. Our interns must be able to work in the office on a daily basis.

Tax Internship

You will spend 14 weeks (spring) or 10 weeks (summer) in a tax internship with Smith Leonard, and during those weeks, you will be exposed to a variety of returns. Unlike many other internship experiences, you will not merely be placed in a path that focuses on only one type of return. You will learn, grow, and take ownership of the cross-section of returns that we prepare in our firm. You will see corporate returns, individuals, flow-through entities, partnerships, trusts, and others.  In the summer, this experience can also include not-for-profits and employee benefit plans. While travel is definitely limited compared to an audit internship, you will still have client experiences and will be asked to communicate directly with our clients to gather information or clarify questions.

We provide weekly feedback regarding your internship progress, but you also will receive constant job-specific feedback as you prepare returns. Our weekly tax meetings allow you to connect with the entire tax team and be exposed to the day to day that you will experience in a full time position with Smith Leonard. 

But wait, there’s more…

 While you'll certainly grow technically during your internship, one of the biggest benefits of your time with us is the opportunity to connect with your coworkers and get a real feel for life at our firm. Building relationships is a priority here—whether that’s joining the running/walk club for a local 5K, attending one of our wellness-focused Lunch & Learns, or grabbing lunch with the audit team while out at a client. Yes, we do enjoy a good meal (and have a few favorite spots we’ll probably introduce you to), but what sets us apart is the supportive, well-rounded culture you’ll experience both in and out of the office. 

About Us

Smith Leonard is a growth-minded, regional CPA firm with offices in High Point, Hickory, Winston-Salem, and Lexington, NC. We’ve discovered that public accounting is not a one-size fits all proposition. Different firms offer varying experiences, culture and work environment. Smith Leonard is proud to be a firm that offers an approachable, yet professional culture with great work/life balance, including remote or virtual options and 1/2 day Fridays in the summer. We are consistently rated one of the “Best Firms to Work For” by Accounting Today in their annual employee survey and we also took 1st place as a Best Place to Work in the Triad in 2024 & 2025 (mid-size company division).  Our team is empowered and energized by the autonomy of local decision-making and community impact, but our affiliation as a BDO Alliance firm gives us access to scalability and far superior technical resources than you would expect from a firm that can also provide top-notch local customer service. Our daily work benefits include flexible schedules and dress for your day every day. We offer a casual, approachable environment for our team while delivering professional-level service to our clients and community.