TaxAssist Accountants
TaxAssist Accountants is arguably the most renowned accountancy franchise in the UK, if not worldwide. But, is a Tax Assist Franchise worth it?
Serving over 85,000 small businesses worldwide, becoming a franchisee of a brand with colossal awareness is undoubtedly appealing.
While the brand will naturally support franchisees with business development; clients aren’t served to you on a plate – you’ve still got to do the work yourself despite the initial £40,000 franchise fee.
And, that poses the question: Tax Assist Franchise: Is It Worth It?
I’ve taken the time to dive into data that you wouldn’t know unless you do SEO for Accountants. But, now, you have access.
Support
Starting an accounting business on your own is daunting.
TaxAssist Accountants heavily promote their support for new and existing franchisees with their support centre.
Having won The Best Franchise Awards 2021, Best Franchise Marketing Support, and 5-Star Franchise Satisfaction; their support claims undoubtedly feel supported.
Beyond the support provided by the head office, franchisees benefit from the TaxAssist Accountants Network.
This network of support can help franchisees feel more confident starting a TaxAssist Accountants franchise as opposed to their brand.
Like a few of the franchisees mentioned in one of the published videos, support is always available, including training.
Model
It’s no surprise that new businesses have to establish a model and continue to refine it until it’s most profitable.
With an established franchise network like TaxAssist Accountants, the model’s likely efficient and highly profitable, and effectively given to you to follow to the tee.
While these restrictions can be frustrating for some, if you want to answer to yourself (or should I say your clients), it’s something you have to accept as a franchisee.
Development
Like other business owners, you’ve got to spend time developing the business.
With TaxAssist Accountants, they suggest at least 50% of your time, which could be seen as two and a half days a week. While that’s not uncommon for businesses, it feels like you’re on your own in this regard.
So, why franchise? Just for support, the name, and an established model?
To be fair to TaxAssist Accountants, they appear to support franchisees with promotion to some extent, but it’s likely part of your ongoing fee.
From our research, TaxAssist Accountants invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Google Ads on their main website, as franchisees don’t receive their own.
However, it seems they can manage their own social media, though.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Service Pages
Most accountants starting their business seem to ignore this aspect on their website, but it’s a brilliant way to build quality content without blogging.
TaxAssist Accountants have created over 20 independent service pages, which is great because it’s generating national traffic to help their accountants gain customers in various franchise areas potentially.
Interestingly, their best performing web page generates over 10,000 visitors every month, and it’s Self-Assessment Tax Return.
Bookkeeping and VAT Returns see just shy of 1000, but the rest are significantly lower every month, and could be improved considerably.
Local Pages
While you may not be of interest to you now, web pages dedicated to specific locations and offices can skyrocket client growth without investing 50% of your time. These types of pages are optimised to the location, and if done right, can rank for multiple profitable keywords.
You’ll be pleased to hear that TaxAssist Accountants have created local pages, and some of them are performing incredibly well. In fact, Edinburgh is their 9th best-performing web page with just shy of 1,000 monthly visitors.
However, of the hundreds of local pages, only 78 keywords are in the top 5 positions. To put this into perspective, they have 247 franchised locations and a further 130+ franchise opportunities. So, just over 25% of locations are performing on Google in terms of SEO.
I looked at Canterbury, and there are 210 monthly searches for “Accountants Canterbury”, plus more for all the other services. Their page isn’t in the Google Map Pack or the Top 5. In other words, the accountant in this location has to push hard with networking and social media to gain clients.
Google Ads
Well, it’s not all doom and gloom for every practice in a similar situation to Canterbury. TaxAssist Accountants are advertising their services on Google Ads to drum up business for each practice, I presume. It was certainly evident with Canterbury.
Now, I don’t think it’s a bad action that they’re advertising, but you, as an accountant and your “own business”, have absolutely no control over the ads. It’s likely not up to you when they’re live and the cost of the ads, but I guess it comes out of your fee, whether monthly or annually.
My point is, if you run your own firm, literally, you call the shots. Whether you choose to run a hands-off Smart Campaign, or spend some time diving into expert mode, it’s your decision on the budget. With a little bit of training and practice, you could easily do it yourself.
Final Verdict on TaxAssist Accountants
It’s completely up to you because you’re the judge as to whether you go ahead with a Tax Assist Franchise or not. We’ve created this post to support your due diligence on Tax Assist Accountants.