What Does a Transfer Pricing Associate Do?

A transfer pricing associate is a person who examines prices charged by a particular part of an organization for services or goods that it provides to another area of the business. He or she aims to determine each individual part of the company’s losses or profits as a result of these transactions. Transfer pricing associates are responsible for advising businesses on these activities and producing monetary reports that meet established standards. They also must understand how to use financial statements to help to direct companies as well as supervise staff members.

A primary responsibility of a transfer pricing associate is to offer advice to clients in this industry. For instance, this type of professional helps a company to evaluate the monetary effects of different types of transfers within the organization, including those of goods, services, or even intangible property such as patent rights — government-provided rights to exclusively make certain products. Performing company and market research and conducting financial analysis is an important part of this process.

Generating financial reports is a significant aspect of a job role in this field as well. A transfer pricing associate has to analyze and put together data documents that meet the requirements of tax laws and other related government regulations to prevent his or her clients from getting into legal trouble. For this reason, a person in this career area must know how to use statistical software along with computer word processing and spreadsheet programs. He or she also must stay current on financial legislation by attending industry conferences.

Reviewing the content of statements that highlight a company’s financial status also constitutes a valuable part of a position in this industry. Transfer pricing associates need to analyze company accounting statements such as statements of cash flows, which describe how money enters and leaves organizations. He or she also looks over the organization’s balance sheet, which details its assets and liabilities at the end of a certain period, along with an income statement that highlights current revenues and expenses. Understanding the data in these documents helps an associate in this field to assist company leaders with making important business decisions that enable organizations to meet their goals.

Leadership skills are critical for a person in this career area. A transfer pricing associate often is responsible for overseeing the activities of staff members beneath them as well as training interns on the principles of the industry. He or she additionally conducts employees’ performance evaluations and assesses their work in preparation for engagement reviews — analyses of the team’s accounting work conducted by independent reviewers to make sure that professional standards are being met.