History

Now an international brand, a large percentage of the global network operates successfully from highly visible, welcoming shop fronts.

The TaxAssist Accountants model is fundamentally simple but has evolved to keep up with the pace of changing technology, focusing on the supply of professional accounting, taxation, and now more advisory and associated services to small and medium sized business owners, self-employed professionals and personal taxpayers. Through innovation and franchising, TaxAssist Accountants delivers superior services to clients and maximises growth potential for franchisees.

The Group appointed its first franchisee in 1996 and through consistent recruitment now has a global network of more than 400 accounting practices in the UK, Ireland, Australia the US and Canada.

TaxAssist Accountants Timeline

2024

• Finalists for In-house Marketing Campaign of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards.
• The TaxAssist Group earns 2024 Great Place to Work Certification.
• ​TaxAssist Direct Acquisitions Limited completed its first transaction acquiring a majority stake in the largest TaxAssist Accountants franchisee practice in its network.
• ​Georgina Foster appointed as Managing Director of Financial Planning by TaxAssist and joins the Group Operational Board.
• New franchise packages launched leading to new franchise fees.
• TaxAssist Accountants unveiled a new look series of brands in the UK and Ireland to highlight that it can support clients with much more than accountancy and tax services.
• Nic Redfern appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer.
• Mike Melling appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer.
• New Operations Board is established consisting of existing Group Board members, the Managing Directors of individual group companies and senior team members.
• Andy Gibbs joins the Operations Board and is promoted to Director of Services.
• Richard Washington joins the Operations Board.

2023

• TaxAssist builds its own in-house Pricing Calculator. This can take a prospective client’s details from our lead system and, via a series of tailoring questions, arrive at a quote for the prospect and offer other services that may be of interest. 
• TaxAssist is launch partner for Intuit’s innovative new QuickBooks Practice Manager (QBPM) software.
• ‘TaxAssist Practice Engine’ launched - a major initiative to deliver best practices, systems and capabilities to TaxAssist Accountants. 
• TaxAssist Accountants Kam and Sejal Sira nominated for SME Accountancy Firm of the Year at the British Business Awards.
• Finalists for In-house Marketing Team of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards.
• WorkBuzz awards TaxAssist Accountants '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the eleventh consecutive year.
• TaxAssist ranks 23rd in the Top 75 Accounting firms league table.
• The TaxAssist Growth Academy is launched.
• 7th place for TaxAssist Accountants in the Elite Franchise Top 100 league table.
• TaxAssist Accountants at 26th position in the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings.

2022

• Following a Franchisee Assisted Management Buyout, Karl Sandall and Phil Sullivan step down as executive directors, with Phil Sullivan becoming a non-executive director.
• Daren Moore FCCA becomes Group Chief Executive Officer.
• Sarah Robertson becomes the UK Managing Director and Group Director.
• James Mattam continues in his role as Group Business Development Director
• Mike Melling is appointed as Group Commercial Director, the first franchisee to take an executive role on the board of directors.
• TaxAssist shortlisted for Best White Collar Franchise at the Global Franchise Awards.
• WorkBuzz awards TaxAssist Accountants '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the tenth consecutive year.

2021

• First franchisees and Area Representatives recruited in the USA.
• First franchisee recruited in Canada.
• Finalist in the 'Business to Business' category at the Best Franchise Awards.
• WorkBuzz awards TaxAssist Accountants '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the ninth consecutive year.
• TaxAssist Accountants launches in Canada.
• New TaxAssist client websites launched plus a new dedicated corporate website to showcase all of the Group's activity. 
• Finalist for 'Best Franchise £10m+ Network Turnover' at the Best Franchise Awards.
• TaxAssist shortlisted for Global Franchise Award in the White Collar Franchise category.
• TaxAssist opens 250th shop in the UK.
• TaxAssist rises two places to 21st in Accountancy Daily's Top 75 firms survey.
• The TaxAssist Support Centre awarded '5 star employer status' from WorkBuzz for the third year running.

2020

• TaxAssist Accountants launches in the USA.
• Karl Sandall, Group Chief Executive Director celebrates 20 years at the helm of TaxAssist Accountants.
• The TaxAssist Group Support Centre awarded '5 star employer status' from WorkBuzz for the second year running.
• Wins 'Best Franchisee Marketing Support' award at the Franchise Marketing Awards 2020.
• Finalist for 'Franchisor of the Year' at the bfa/HSBC British Franchise Awards.
• TaxAssist Accountants retains 21st position in the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings.
• The TaxAssist Group finalist for 'Best Large Business' at Norfolk Business Awards.
• WorkBuzz awards TaxAssist Accountants '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the eighth year in a row, as well as a 'Continuous Improvement award' due to an increase in the overall satisfaction score for three consecutive surveys.
• The TaxAssist Group wins Business of the Year at the Norfolk Business awards.

2019

• The TaxAssist Group Support Centre awarded '5 star employer status' from WorkBuzz.
• TaxAssist Accountants rises one place to 21st in the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings.
• The TaxAssist Group named as finalist in the Large Business category in the Norfolk Business Awards.
• UK network reaches 75,000 clients and a combined fee bank of £50 million.
• WorkBuzz awards TaxAssist Accountants '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the seventh year in a row.

2018

• Jo Nockels is listed in the prestigious AccountancyAge’s Top 35 Under 35 for her work with the TaxAssist Accountants Training Academy.
• TaxAssist partners with TaxCalc, a compliance piece of software producing accounts and tax returns. TaxCalc was selected because of its suitability for the small business market and its ease of use. 
• TaxAssist partners with software house, Practice Ignition, now known as Ignition. Ignition produces proposals, invoices and engagement letters that clients can interface with online, giving a slick client experience. Through integration with Stripe, accountants can initiate one-off payments or regular collections from their clients, meaning cashflow is improved and debtors are a thing of the past.  
• TaxAssist partners with the software house, Receipt Bank, now known as Dext. Dext uses OCR technology to extract information from expenses, sales and bank statements to automate bookkeeping for clients and accountants.   
• WorkBuzz (formerly Smith + Henderson) awards TaxAssist '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the sixth year in a row.
• UK network reaches 70,000 clients and a combined fee bank of £47 million.
• TaxAssist named as bfa HSBC 'Franchisor of the Year' finalist.
• TaxAssist Accountants maintains 22nd place in the Accountancy magazine Top 75 rankings.
• Daren Moore, FCCA joins the TaxAssist Accountants Executive Board of Directors as Group Commercial Director.

2017

• TaxAssist wins 'business to business' category in Smith + Henderson's Best Franchise 2017 awards. 
• Smith + Henderson awards TaxAssist with '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the fifth year in a row.
• Karl Sandall, Group Chief Executive of TaxAssist, awarded with honorary membership of the Association of International Accountants in recognition of his contribution to accountancy and finance.
• 200th TaxAssist Accountants shop opens.
• TaxAssist wins 'The Local Campaign of the Year' award at the UK Biddable Media Awards, a prestigious award received for our local digital marketing campaign.

2016

• Recognising the digital shift, TaxAssist partners with Quickbooks Online. The tech giant offer cloud bookkeeping solutions for both clients and their accountants, meaning records can be accessed anywhere in the world with an internet connection.    
• Smith & Henderson awards TaxAssist with '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the fourth year in a row.
• TaxAssist moves up three places to 21st in the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings.
• James Mattam joins the TaxAssist Accountants Executive Board of Directors as Business Development Director.
• Sarah Robertson moves role to become Operations Director.
• Phil Sullivan moves role to become Finance Director.
• Launch of first Australian TaxAssist Accountants shop.
• UK network reaches 60,000 clients and a combined fee bank of £40 million.
• TaxAssist Ireland scoops 'Best Marketing Campaign' award at Irish Franchise Award Ceremony.
• CEO of The TaxAssist Group Karl Sandall moves up 3 places to 47 on the 2016 Accountancy Age 'Financial Power' List.

2015

• TaxAssist Accountants in the Republic of Ireland celebrate 5 years of success at their Annual Conference. They have built up to a network of 26 franchisees with a fee bank of over €5,000,000 and over 5,000 clients.
• Accountancy Age publish their Financial Power List 2015 with CEO of The TaxAssist Direct Group Ltd Karl Sandall making it to number 50.
• Alison McGinley of TaxAssist Ireland wins the Irish Franchise Association award "Irish Franchising Woman of the year".
• TaxAssist Accountants celebrates 20th Anniversary in style at Annual Conference.
• TaxAssist Accountants wins the 2015 Bronze Award for bfa Franchisor of the Year.
• TaxAssist moves up one place to 24th in the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings.
• Smith & Henderson awards TaxAssist with 'Best Franchise' in our category. We are also awarded with '5 star franchisee satisfaction' for the third year in a row.
• The milestone figure of 200 franchises in the network is reached.
• The Master Franchise Rights are awarded for Queensland, New South Wales and ACT in Australia.

2014

• For the third year running, Smith & Henderson awards TaxAssist Accountants the award for "Best Training and Support" and is also awarded a "5 star franchisee satisfaction Recognition Award".
• In the Accountancy Age Top 50 rankings, TaxAssist Accountants beats the "Big 4" international groups achieving the fifth highest growth across the whole Top 50.
• TaxAssist Ireland breaks into the Top 20 accountancy firms in the Republic.
• The Network has a record start to 2014 when for the first time, a Franchisee exceeds £100,000 sales in one month.
• TaxAssist Accountants are up to 25th in the Annual Accountancy Age Top 50 UK accountancy firms rankings.
• Franchisee Assisted Management Buyout. John Westgarth retires as Chairman and Director after TaxAssist Accountants completes a MBO. This is believed to be the UK's first ever franchisee-assisted management buyout.
• UK network client total reaches 50,000.

2013

• TaxAssist Accountants voted winner of "The Accountancy Firm of The Year" award by the members of the Association of International Accountants (AIA) beating global groups and industry giants.
• 150th Shop front opens.
• Jo Nockels FCCA FMAAT, Head of Group Practice Capabilities, is awarded Unbiased.co.uk’s ‘Professional adviser of the year’ award. 

2012

• Debbie Corbett and Vince Dalaimo become the first franchisees in the history of the network to exceed the £1,000,000 fee bank milestone.
• TaxAssist Accountants wins "Best Large Franchisor" awarded by Smith & Henderson.
• A TaxAssist Accountants resale breaks the million pound barrier when Mark Fordham sells his franchise to Mike Melling.

2011

• Our commitment to training leads to the founding of the TaxAssist Accountants Training Academy. This is made up of our in house team of qualified accountants and specialist trainers, who design and deliver our initial and ongoing face to face and online, and Continuing Professional Development programmes. This partnership ensures that materials are up to date, directly relevant to our network and of the highest quality.

2010

• TaxAssist Accountants wins the BFA Franchisor of the Year Award.
• TaxAssist Accountants enters the Accountancy Age Top 50 accountancy firms rankings for the first time at number 34, with growth in sales of 19.9%, one of just six top 60 firms that achieved double-digit growth.
• Sarah Robertson wins 2020 Innovation Group "Marketing Person of the Year" for the second time (she previously won the award in 2007).
• 100th TaxAssist shop opens.

2009

• The Master Franchise Rights are awarded to an established firm of Accountants in the Republic of Ireland.

2008

• Phil Sullivan joins the Board of Directors as Network Operations and Finance Director.

2005

• With full network agreement, the name of the franchise is changed from TaxAssist Direct to TaxAssist Accountants. This decision was made so franchisees' potential clients could more clearly understand the core services being provided.

2004

• Sarah Robertson joins the TaxAssist Accountants Board as Business Development Director.

2000

• Karl Sandall joins TaxAssist Accountants as Chief Executive and Director.

1996

• First franchise awarded.

1995

• Founded by John Westgarth.