Franchising is one way of owning and running a business without the risk of starting a company from scratch. This marketing concept is whereby the owner, known as a franchisor owns the trade marks, business model strategies, operational procedures, services, rights and branding and distributes their business through affiliated persons or corporations known as franchisee. The franchisor licenses the use of their business within a specified region to the franchisee in exchange for fees. Fees are subject to the franchisor terms of the agreement.
As for any business, there needs to be some basic accounting tasks but with franchise accounting, a few extra steps is required to ensure your business is run smoothly.
Accounting and Tax Services for Franchisors
We communicate with the franchisor to gain a fully detailed understanding of the business and in turn this gives the franchisees assurance that we understand their business.
Furthermore we have experience in carrying out mini audits and compliance visits on behalf of the franchisor to ensure that the franchisees are maintaining suitable records and are reporting correct information.
If you are a franchisor, you will need to consider the following from an accounting perspective:
- Financial management training and set-up for franchisees
- Consistent and uniform accounting processes and reports
- Regular updates on individual and network performance
- Independent compliance reviews
- Plan for your own franchise accounting requirements
Accounting and Tax Services for Franchisees
If you are considering a franchise, you may need to consider the following accounting areas:
- Advice on the contractual requirements for your accounting records
- Advice on how best to structure your business
- Help preparing the financials and cash flow forecast to support your business plan
A new franchisee:
- Company formation (if applicable)
- Advice on VAT schemes and help with the registration process
- Other registrations with HM Revenue & Customs
All franchisees:
- Review of existing position and arrangements to ascertain if any immediate changes can be made to improve things, such as changing VAT schemes
- A fully tailored bookkeeping and management accounts package to suit your needs and budget
- Benchmarking your results against the rest of the network (where we act for a number of franchisees)
- Payroll
- Preparation of VAT
- Credit control
- Year End Accounts and Taxation
- Registered office and company secretarial services
We will work with you and strive to deliver an impeccable accounting service so you can manage your day-to-day business.
