Jet Specialty, Inc.
Client: Jet Specialty, Inc.
Client Contact: Ted Williams, CFO
Oil field supplier experiences less taxing state audit with Weaver
Headquartered in Boerne, Jet Specialty Inc. offers equipment, fabrication and measurement services to the oil and gas industry from 18 warehouse locations in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
In 2006, the company’s sales tax records were audited by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. For support, Jet Specialty’s Chief Financial Officer Ted Williams, engaged a tax consulting group comprised of former Texas sales tax auditors in hopes of bringing the audit to a speedy resolution.
It was not to be. To Williams’ dismay, the consultants and the state’s auditors were unable to negotiate a satisfactory resolution to the issues under review. Nearly 18 months later, he had had enough. “I finally dismissed the consultants and settled the audit, just to get it over with,” Williams admits.
When the state audit cycle recurred three years later, Williams was ready for a more positive experience. He was introduced to Tony Rocha, Senior Manager for State and Local Tax Services at Weaver’s Dallas location by another Weaver associate in the firm’s San Antonio offices. This time, Williams engaged Rocha to interface with the state auditor on behalf of Jet Specialty.
Prior to the state auditor’s visit, Rocha spent five days at Jet Specialty, thoroughly reviewing the company’s records and identifying areas of potential concern. When the state auditor visited the company, Rocha acted as the main point of contact, saving Williams and his team both the time and the anxieties that can come with an on-site review.
“Turning over the sales tax audit to Tony helped me and my staff to limit the amount of time we had to devote to the audit. Further, Tony did a very good job reconciling our general ledger accounts—which was probably not in his job description,” says Williams.
Because of the time spent in advance to prepare for the state auditor, she only had to spend one day at Jet Specialty’s headquarters, notes Rocha. “After that, I continued to serve as her main point of contact, and throughout the audit process we communicated by e-mails, conference calls and snail-mail as needed,” he notes.
“Tony was there for both our in-person entrance conference and our exit interview, which was conducted by phone,” Williams continues. “Not only was his work excellent, but also the state auditor told us that Tony had been up front and honest throughout the audit. That gave her confidence in the work he did and made it easier for her to accept our explanations of variances.”
The audit concluded with no disputes.
“We had a very good experience and are totally satisfied both with Tony’s performance and with the audit results,” says Williams. “His knowledge and experience saved us a lot of money in taxes and penalties, and we have invited Tony back to work on our tax accounts so that our next audit will go even better. We will definitely have Tony back for the next audit—whether it be in Texas, Oklahoma or New Mexico.”
Ted Williams
Chief Financial Officer
Jet Specialty, Inc.
www.jetspecialty.com
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