State of Maryland

A Revenue Field Auditor Trainee is the entry level of work conducting financial and compliance revenue field audits independently or as part of an audit team within one or more of the specialized fields of revenue production administered by the Comptroller of Maryland.  These specialized fields and tax types may include sales and use tax, admissions and amusement tax, boxing and wrestling tax, withholding tax, motor vehicle fuel tax, International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), alcohol tax, tobacco tax, other tobacco products tax, unclaimed property, tire fee, bay restoration, public debt tax, and any other revenue levy authorized by the legislature.  Employees in this classification do not supervise other positions.

Employees in this classification receive close supervision from a Revenue Field Auditor Supervisor or Revenue Administrator.  The work may require travel in the State of Maryland and throughout the country to perform on-site audits of commercial taxpayers.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the classification specification.

The Revenue Field Auditor Trainee, Revenue Field Auditor I and Revenue Field Auditor II are differentiated on the basis of degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees.  The Revenue Field Auditor Trainee learns to perform duties under close supervision.  The Revenue Field Auditor I performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed.  The Revenue Field Auditor II performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision.

Learns to conduct limited financial and compliance field audits of tax returns to determine accuracy, adequacy and compliance with reporting regulations;

Learns to audit various commercial accounting systems and records at a taxpayer’s location to determine effectiveness of their internal controls regarding tax compliance;

Learns to analyze and interpret financial records of taxpayers to ascertain business functions and their relationship to the business’ tax reporting procedures;

Learns to interpret and apply the State’s revenue laws to various business situations, by utilizing generally accepted auditing principles and procedures;

Learns to utilize various auditing techniques, such as sampling and frequency distributions, to ascertain tax compliance;

Learns to provide advice and assistance to accountants or other business representatives during the audit;

Learns to respond to inquiries from representatives of commercial entities regarding their tax obligations;

Learns to advise representatives of commercial entities regarding acceptable accounting systems and internal control procedures for adherence to State revenue laws;

Learns to investigate for fraudulent tax practices;

Learns to apply tact and discretion when dealing with controversial issues with taxpayers;

Learns to prepare manual and electronic schedules of audit findings;

Learns to prepare narratives regarding audits of commercial entities;

Learns to present and explain the results of audit findings to taxpayers and their representatives;

Learns to develop audit plans and procedures;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of generally accepted accounting and tax auditing principles, standards and procedures relating to commercial entities;

Knowledge of business administration and management practices;

Skill in communicating ideas and information;

Ability to learn to analyze records, reports and other business and financial documents noting details and facts pertinent to the audit assignment;

Ability to learn to determine compliance with or deviations from the provisions of statutes;

Ability to learn to prepare accurate and concise audit work papers;

Ability to use information technology systems, personal computers and software related to auditing;

Ability to present audit evidence via scheduled work papers and reports;

Ability to understand, interpret and apply revenue laws and regulations;

Ability to comprehend the accuracy and adequacy of accounting systems and other financial data in order to determine tax compliance;

Ability to understand financial and other relationships between related and unrelated commercial entities and individual officers and employees;

Ability to learn to advise commercial entities, entrepreneurs and specialists on accounting methods and systems to facilitate audits;

Ability to learn to work independently or as part of an audit team;

Ability to learn to apply tact and discretion in the handling of controversial issues with taxpayers;

Ability to accept working in field conditions on a regular basis at business locations in the State of Maryland and throughout the country;

Ability to communicate effectively.

Experience: Four years of experience examining, analyzing and interpreting accounting systems, records and reports by applying generally accepted accounting principles or professional auditing experience.

Notes:

1. Candidates may substitute the possession of a successful completion certificate from the Comptroller Business Management Certificate  Program for the required experience.

2. Candidates may substitute the possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with six credit hours in accounting and fifteen credit hours in related courses (e.g., business finance, economics, business administration, information technology) for the required experience.

3. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in accounting and budget classification or accounting and budget specialty codes in the auditing field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit as indicated by the designation of S (supervisor), M (manager), T (agency head), U (Board or Commission member), W (student), X (Used by agency or excluded by executive order), or Z (confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and therefore, all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance levels in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series an employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class as defined in the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of supervision defined in the class specification, and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.