Taxologist of Tomorrow Program Gives Students Hands-On Way to Explore Career

Thomson Reuters has launched a new program to help accounting students explore the possibilities of a career as a tax professional. The program, called “Taxologist of Tomorrow”, provides high school students with hands-on, technologically driven lessons to help them understand the role technology will play in the future workplace and the skills they will need to succeed. Last week, Thomson Reuters teamed with Junior Achievement of New York to launch a pilot session.

As a tax technology leader, Thomson Reuters understands how technology impacts its ONESOURCE customers and the role of professionals. ONESOURCE employees have taken their knowledge, expertise and passion to the classroom to help prepare tomorrow’s workforce with the Taxologist of Tomorrow program.

Taxologist of Tomorrow lesson plans expose students to a variety of career options that incorporate technology skill sets. Professionals from finance, marketing, tax and IT will help students build competency in areas that may be critical to their own career development.

The lesson includes:

Building dynamic databases with spreadsheets.
Creating, editing and distributing videos to generate customer leads.
Basic coding and programming.

“For a few years we’ve heard from our customers that our technology is changing the way they work and improving their quality of life,” said Joe Harpaz, managing director of ONESOURCE for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. “However, there’s a clear parallel between how comfortable a user is with technology, how well they can engage with it, and the level of improvement it can bring to their work.”

“We want to connect with tomorrow’s workforce today, so they’re prepared to adopt, use and capitalize on technology in their careers – no matter what field they go into. That’s the goal of Taxologist of Tomorrow. If we can get them excited about tax in the process – well, that’s even better.”

Thomson Reuters teamed with Junior Achievement to launch the inaugural Taxologist of Tomorrow session in New York City on Oct. 24 with Information Technology School in Long Island City, Queens. A class of 30 junior and senior students participated in the 4.5 hour event at a Thomson Reuters New York office. Thomson Reuters plans to expand the program with other schools in the New York area and additional Junior Achievement chapters across the country.

“When Thomson Reuters came to us with this idea, we realized immediately it was a win-win,” said Joseph Peri, President of JA New York. “We’re constantly thinking about ways to incorporate more STEM and technology-focused activities into our school programs. Taxologist of Tomorrow fits perfectly into this vision.”

Since 2004, Thomson Reuters employees have been delivering Junior Achievement programs to high-need schools in NYC. Over the duration of the partnership, nearly 240 Thomson Reuters employees have taught more than 250 Junior Achievement classes, serving nearly 6,500 K-12 students.