Meet Donna Culver—CSC Corptax Senior Director

How did you and Corptax come to be?

I graduated in 1999 with a degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame. Firms were recruiting heavily at that time, and I landed a job at Deloitte. I joined a new group there, Tax Management Advisory Services, which included Corptax implementations. My role involved visiting clients, learning about their processes, and implementing software or process improvements within the software. At that time, we would go in person and install CDs in “server rooms” and directly onto customer desktops. We couldn’t access the software without physically being there, so I was on the road Mondays through Thursdays. The role was very customer-facing, and I greatly enjoyed that.

A couple of spinoffs later, in 2011, I accepted a position with CSC in the Corptax Professional Services Group, and I’ve focused on a variety of specialties over the years. I concentrated on international compliance for several years, and then my role expanded to include provision. From there, I moved into management, overseeing a regional team and projects across different Corptax modules. Most recently, I helped with our loan-staff initiative, and now, I’m spearheading a new endeavor in the realm of client training.

What changes have you seen in this timespan?

Between post-pandemic hybrid working models and rapidly evolving technology, we’ve had to adjust how we work. We’ve devised effective ways to connect with tax teams remotely and give them innovative tools to help them respond to the tax world quickly and efficiently. Plus, we’ve expanded our loan-staff services considerably. There’s been a lot of turnover in corporate tax departments since the pandemic, and we help clients fill resource gaps.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

My colleagues over the last 25 years have been an amazing group of people. I’ve had managers that have challenged and mentored me to succeed, and I’ve had the opportunity to help others thrive within the company.

What new projects are you working on now?

Last year, we brought our Education & Curriculum group under the Services umbrella, and I became the director. The skillset of this team compliments Professional Services, providing education to truly springboard our customers into action. It has been a great fit and an exciting new challenge.

What is a customer support story you’re especially proud of?

The early days of the e-file process were very challenging for clients—they were stressed out and working very long hours. We provided them with guidance and the confidence that we would see the process through with them to the very end…even if it were the final hour. There was one client who wanted to make sure I was on the call with them when they popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate after successfully e-filing for the first time.

What is one thing that surprised you about working at Corptax?

The average tenure with the company. Plus, I know it’s cliché, but it really does feel like a family. I’ve experienced a level of respect and communication among my colleagues that I feel is exceptional. Across the company, people are willing to jump in and lend their skills and knowledge where needed, and work-life balance is treated as a priority.

When my now 16-year-old son was born, he was very premature and we were out of state. I had the support of the whole department. My coworkers were offering me hotel points and asking if I needed airline miles to help ease my unplanned stay. That’s the kind of team I work with, and it continues to be.

Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What did you want to be when you grew up?

My younger sister would probably say I wanted to be the boss. I think I would have said, “teacher, not boss”, and I think teaching has been an essential part of my career. Within the Professional Services group, we work side-by-side with our customers, training them over the course of implementations, business process improvements, and so on. Now, I work directly with the Education and Curriculum group to provide an array of training resources to our clients

Any advice work has taught you over the years?

I realized early in my career that you can’t manage something you don’t know how to do, so it’s important to dig into the details. To do a job well, learn all the different pieces. And that’s how I coach people who are early in their careers. If they ask, “How do I get to the next level?”, I tell them to learn as much as they can and jump at opportunities that arise to learn different skills.