Cedar Group
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Tax Associate (Junior Level)

Specialist Track

Canadian TaxFull-time · 40 hrsIn-person — Oakville, ONJunior · 0–2 yrs
WHY THIS ROLE IS INTERESTING
  • Complex advisory work — reorganizations, estate freezes, M&A exits, and CRA disputes
  • Firm-sponsored CPA Canada In-Depth Tax Course, including paid in-residence weeks
  • Hands-on mentorship from experienced practitioners, not just textbook learning
  • No traditional busy season — advisory work, not a compliance grind
  • An AI-forward firm that invests in modern tools and workflows
  • Health Spending Account for medical and dental expenses
ABOUT US

Cedar Consulting Group is a boutique tax, legal, and valuation advisory firm in Oakville, Ontario. Founded in 2020, we specialize in corporate reorganizations, estate and succession planning, M&A support, CRA dispute resolution, cross-border structuring, executive compensation, and business valuations.

Our clients range from growing entrepreneurs to high-net-worth families, family offices, $800M businesses, publicly traded REITs, multinational corporations, and smaller banks. We also serve as external consultants for channel partners and affiliates, and produce The Advisors Table podcast and YouTube channel.

We're a team of 17 across tax, legal, valuation, and US cross-border — in-person in Oakville with a flat structure and collaborative culture. Whiteboards, not silos. Regular team lunches, a friendly atmosphere, and real work-life balance — 8 hours a day, then go home.

Our values: Simplicity (making the complex understandable) · Thoroughness · Precision · People-First · Client-Centric.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We're looking for a Tax Associate (Junior Level) on a dedicated tax specialist track. You'll support our advisory team with the technical and financial groundwork that makes complex tax engagements run — while learning the advisory work from the inside.

Our work is primarily advisory: estate planning, business exits, reorganization planning, M&A, CRA disputes, international tax. Your focus will be on the essential work underneath — reorganization bookkeeping, troubleshooting with clients' accountants, tax models and schedules, tax steps memos for reorg transactions, CRA audit support, and corporate administration. We keep a small number of T1/T2/T3 files specifically for training.

This is not primarily a client-facing role. As you learn and grow, it expands into more complex advisory work. We invest in that through mentorship and firm-sponsored In-Depth Tax Course enrollment.

You find tax more interesting than audit. Maybe the tax courses in your degree were the ones that clicked. You want to go deep into tax, not wide across everything. You don't need to know it all — we'll teach you. What matters is that you're organized, detail-oriented, ask questions when something doesn't make sense, and follow through.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING
  • Reorganization bookkeepingBookkeeping and financial reporting in the context of corporate reorganizations — holding companies, restructuring entities, general ledgers, trial balances
  • Accountant coordinationTroubleshoot bookkeeping issues with clients' external accountants during and after reorg transactions — resolving discrepancies, coordinating adjusting entries
  • Tax modeling & schedulesHelp prepare tax models and technical schedules for planning engagements (QSBC, CDA, RDTOH, GRIP, safe income, PUC/ACB) — you'll learn these on the job
  • Tax steps memosDraft tax steps memos for reorganization engagements — documenting the sequence of transactions, tax consequences at each step, and supporting calculations
  • Tax returns (training)A small training portfolio of T2, T3, and T1 returns to build compliance fundamentals; compile T4, T5, T1134, T1135 information returns
  • CRA audit supportCompile and organize information for CRA audits; help prepare responses and maintain traceable documentation
  • Corporate administrationReview and summarize corporate minute books and share attributes; prepare CRA filings and reports
  • Process improvementCreate and update SOPs; test new software; track deadlines; contribute to process improvements
SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
  • Undergraduate degree in accounting or finance
  • 0–2 years in public accounting or tax (co-op/internship counts)
  • Genuine interest in Canadian tax — not a stepping stone to audit or assurance
  • Comfortable with bookkeeping and general ledger fundamentals
  • Willingness to learn tax modelling, journal entries for reorganizations, and steps memo drafting
  • Basic understanding of Canadian tax regulations and GST/HST, or willingness to learn quickly
  • Comfortable with QBO or Xero, and able to pick up Taxprep and Microsoft 365
  • Organized, detail-oriented, clear communicator
  • Curious, takes feedback well, asks questions
  • Valid driver's licence and reliable access to a vehicle, or willingness to relocate within a reasonable commute of our Oakville office
BENEFITS
  • Advisory environment, not a compliance mill — no traditional busy season
  • Talented teammates who want to help you grow
  • Firm-sponsored In-Depth Tax Course with paid in-residence weeks
  • Health Spending Account for medical and dental expenses
  • An AI-forward firm that invests in modern tools and technology
  • Work-life balance: 8 hours a day, 5 days a week
  • Clear career path with real growth opportunities

Not sure you meet every requirement? Apply anyways. We'd rather meet a curious person who's eager to learn than a perfect resume. If tax excites you, we want to hear from you.

HIRING PROCESS
  1. 1Resume reviewthe full team reads every application together
  2. 2Phone screen15–20 minutes, if there's a fit
  3. 3In-person interviewat our Oakville office
  4. 4Offer
WHO YOU’D WORK WITH

You’d work directly with the principals — not through layers. Cedar is a team of 17 across tax, legal, valuation and US cross-border, and the people who’d review your work are the same people who take the client calls.

Know someone who’d be good?

Referrals from people who know the work are how we’ve found some of our best hires.

APPLY

Apply for this role.

Takes about 5 minutes. Your answers go straight to the team that reviews resumes together.

Step 1 of 3

About you

Step 2 of 3

A few questions

These are the same things we'd ask on a first call — answering now means we can skip ahead.

A couple of sentences is plenty.

Have you prepared tax returns before?
How comfortable are you with bookkeeping and accounting software?
The CPA In-Depth Tax Course — where are you with it?
This role is full-time, in person at our Oakville office. Does that work?
Do you have a driver's licence and reliable transportation?

Optional — happy to talk numbers early.

Step 3 of 3Added for this role

A question from the hiring team

There's no single right answer — we want to see how you think.

Prefer email? sunny@cedargroup.ca