Title: Tax Accounting Manager
Company: Kansas State University
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, United States
Richard Gilliam III, MBA, tax accounting manager at Kansas State University, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Executives for dedication, achievements, and leadership in accounting.
With a unique career journey stretching across nearly 20 years, Mr. Gilliam embodies a strong example of how professional athletes can gracefully transition into other vocational paths. He got his start as a professional basketball player in 2006. Deeply talented in this sport, Mr. Gilliam played internationally, focusing much of his time in South America but also competing in Europe and Italy. He spent some time playing for the NBA Development League, now known as the NBA G League, and was drafted by an American Basketball Association team.
However, basketball is only the beginning of Mr. Gilliam’s story. As a college student, he primarily concentrated on athletics, so he wasn’t surprised to find himself stressed for a test in his accounting class, expecting to fail. Instead, Mr. Gilliam earned a top grade. Afterward, the professor for that class asked him if he had considered pursuing accounting as his field of study, noting that he possessed a natural understanding of the subject.
Even during his time as a professional basketball player, Mr. Gilliam kept his mathematics skills sharp. He would receive regular emails and phone calls from friends and family members who needed help with their taxes. Mr. Gilliam discovered that the timing worked perfectly as well; his normal basketball season would end just as tax season began. Starting small, he launched his own company, MaxTax Services, in 2009. Since then, Mr. Gilliam has operated as a tax consultant while expanding the organization. What began with him helping a handful of close friends and family members has grown to the point that MaxTax Services now handles a significant number of individual tax returns, as well as some estate and trust returns.
Beyond his work running MaxTax Services, Mr. Gilliam held the role of joint interest billing accountant at Burgher Haggard for two years after retiring from professional basketball. Since 2015, he has served as a tax accounting manager with Kansas State University. Mr. Gilliam’s responsibilities in that position include managing tax filing requirements for the Kansas State University Foundation, which is the organization responsible for collecting and distributing charitable donations to the institution. He also helps to maintain financial statements and regulatory compliance.
Among his many accomplishments throughout his career, Mr. Gilliam is particularly proud of his leadership during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of the difficulties of navigating employee safety, he aided the Kansas State University Foundation in updating outdated processes and shifting to a more reliable and efficient system for sending tax return documents to donors. The institution’s leadership committee recognized Mr. Gilliam’s vision and have retained his ideas years later. He is also happy to have demonstrated how an athlete can experience success and gain recognition in a new field, noting that basketball was not his identity but rather simply something he did.
Prior to embarking upon his professional life as a basketball player, Mr. Gilliam sought a strong education that could serve as a foundation for his future. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in accounting and business management from Lander University in 2006. After moving on from full-time basketball, Mr. Gilliam earned a Master of Business Administration from Kansas State University in 2015. He credits his career achievements to the attitude instilled in him as a basketball player, including respect, teamwork, and prioritizing practice and preparation.
In addition to his esteemed history as a basketball player and his current work in accounting, Mr. Gilliam is a devoted husband to his wife, Ebony, who is the associate head coach for women’s basketball at Kansas State University. He is also a loving father to three children, all of whom have taken up basketball as a pastime. As he moves forward, Mr. Gilliam aims to ensure that his family has strong support in whatever they choose to do. He hopes to build off his success in accounting and become a chief financial officer at an organization in the near future.
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