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Support

Our ongoing training and comprehensive support packages will help your practice succeed.

Certax Support

  • Our training courses are run by experienced chartered accountants who can offer the right technical and practical advice.

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  • Additionally, there will be Certax Accounting practice update courses for you to attend which will keep you abreast of any changes in legislation, tax regulations, marketing initiatives and other developments.

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  • In addition to assisting with your CPD, the bi-annual seminars provide a forum to meet with other Certax franchisees.

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  • We also offer franchisees our dedicated Marketing team, who will work alongside you to help you build your own successful Certax practice.

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  • Our lead generation will help you attract new clients in your area while we also help you identify and maximise local networking opportunities.

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  • We also offer unrivalled technical support provided by expert staff who have complete up-to-date knowledge of current accountancy and taxation legislation and the practical ways in which these should be applied.

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  • This includes access to our Technical Support Helpline to answer a vast array of queries you or your clients may have. We also offer high-level IT technical support team for your practice, hardware and software requirements.

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  • Finally, our practice review panel is in place, producing statistical information on a regular basis to help franchisees assess their practice as a comparison to other franchisees as well as against their own initial annual expectations.

  • By entering into a Franchise business, you are investing in tried and tested systems proven to be successful. All legislative and compliance requirements are noted and provided for by the franchisor. There is more risk attached to a lone business operator in that there is more trial and error involved which means a more costly and time-consuming period is spent finding what works and what does not. Certax Accounting has a wealth of experience in both franchising and operating an established Accounting and Tax Advisory practice, to be passed on and used by its Franchisees.

  • With 100’s of franchises over 20 years, we have no evidence to suggest that there is a disadvantage in not being a qualified accountant. The unique benefit of belonging to the Certax Accounting franchise is that many of our Directors and technical advisors are indeed Professionally Qualified Accountants and Tax advisors, meaning that should a Franchisee require the expertise of such a person – this can be arranged quickly.


    However, the overwhelming majority of all the day-to-day activities carried out in a busy high street accounting practice can be done by well-trained and supported Franchisees without the need for any formal qualifications. Being a Certax Franchisee will lead to professional qualifications with the AFA or any other accounting body.

  • An application for business finance starts with the preparation of a business plan to be assessed by the lender. Certax Accounting can provide you with a Pro-forma business plan populatedwith expected average figures for revenue and costs for yourself to personalise. Lenders expect approximately 33% of the total borrowing figure to be provided by the loanee. The lender then provides the remainder. Certax Accounting is a highly regarded proven franchise organisation of over 20 years standing known by all the major Lending Institutions. Introductions can be arranged at your request.

  • After reviewing your CV and attending our presentation day, you will be able to contact and speak to any of our franchisees. We will assist in this process by identifying relevant franchises such as members close to your local area, new members, established members and so on.

  • The ongoing fees incurred throughout the term of the Agreement will consist of the monthly management service fee of 8.5% of your monthly fee income or a flat £265 per month, whichever is the highest.


    There is also a central marketing fund to which you will make a contribution of £450 (+ VAT) per annum.

  • There are many considerations to take into account when deciding upon the business entity you should operate from. Primarily, you should take into account the tax implications of a limited company status compared to a non-limited company status. This comparison will differ for each individual depending upon their personal circumstances. Other considerations would include Kudos, status, credibility factor associated with limited company status and privacy or lack of privacy attached to financial statements of limited company status. We can advise and offer guidance on this at your request.

  • The Qualified Accountants Package: initial training course is 3 days in duration and is aimed
    at professionally qualified Accountants including ACCA, CIMA, ACA and AAT. It may also be appropriate for people qualified by experience. Attendees must have an up-to-date working knowledge of general accounting principles. The course would build on this and cover current tax legislation along with recommended supporting software.

    The Full Accountants Package: a 4-week course aimed at financially capable persons who may not specifically have current knowledge of general accounting principles or tax legislation. This course is much more intense, covers a much wider variety of subjects and includes a greater number of case studies to be completed.

    The Book-keeping Package: a 3-day course and includes general double-entry book-keeping principles, MTD, VAT, Payroll, monthly management accounts and SA100 tax returns.

  • You should be able to offer all the mainstream services of an established high street Accountancy practice except for Statutory Audit services which are now very uncommon due to the recent exemptions available to the majority of trading companies in the UK. Therefore, such services have little or no effect on the success or profitability of the general accountancy practice.

  • Guidance is given on the course regarding the pricing of services offered. This will vary depending on whether the work is measured on an hourly basis or a market value basis per completion of the specific task. The course will cover those types of work usually measured on an hourly basis, for example, “one-off” tasks compared to annual repeat work such as preparation of annual accounts. You would also be able to contact the technical help team for further guidance when you are quoting fees in the real world.

  • One of the big advantages of joining our organisation is that you will have your very own marketing department to assist you with the growth of your client base. This will start with 15 appointments with businesses in your area. You don’t need to do anything to achieve these, therefore the initial contact and marketing of your practice are done for you. Your part in the signing-up of those clients’ only starts when they have expressed an interest in hearing about your services.


    A large part of the selling has therefore already been done on your behalf, although you will have to exercise some selling techniques at the meeting itself. Thereafter, we will be working hard to produce inbound leads and coaching/mentoring yourself regularly, especially in the initial stages of your business.

  • We aim to provide you with territory in an area that includes, or is as near as possible, to your home town. Our experience is that an area with at least a 3,500-business count is of an adequate size to build a successful accounting practice. So, your territory would include a mixture of Limited Companies, Sole Traders and Partnerships of approximately this number. There are several options in respect of your place of work; operating from home is a possibility. However, it is expected that you would very quickly outgrow this option and would need to source office accommodation within a short period. A more long-term option would be to consider a serviced or independent office in primary or secondary locations. We would be able to offer guidance on this at your request.

  • Our policy, wherever possible, is to allow as much freedom of choice to the franchisee as possible. However, we think that your choice of office accommodation will indeed play a big part in the marketing and speed with which your client base will grow. In our experience, the fastest-growing franchises are accommodated in office or shop front premises in primary locations. We will discuss your options in depth at our presentation day meeting.

  • There are two situations referred to in the Franchises Agreement covering the termination of the Agreement. The vast majority of people who join our organisation realise that their decision to
    join the Franchise should not be taken lightly. Indeed, the investment alone is significant, as is the commitment required to build a successful practice. There are, however, occasions when mistakes
    are made and the individual wishes to walk away from the arrangement. The first situation covers
    the decision to terminate before the expiry of the Agreement, in which case there is a termination payment of 2 times the current annual management service fee. The second situation occurs when a Franchisee has reached the termination date and wishes to break from the franchise and “go it alone”. In this case, a termination payment of 1 times the annual management service fee would be due.

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