Held at the impressive Alpha Hotel in Canberra on 29th and 30th June, TaxAssist Accountants Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria celebrated its inaugural Annual Conference.

Delegates received tax agent training from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on Friday and attended the conference on Saturday, which involved leading TaxAssist support centre personnel delivering keynote presentations designed to help each franchisee get the most out of the next 12 months.

Director Terry Murphy provided guidance on tax tips and system updates. Mandy Sigaloff, who heads up the business development training, explained how to get the best out of referrals and marketing. Financial Planner Steve Toews presented ‘Accountants are the Future of Financial Advice’ – partnering with Financial Planners, and Graham Gilkison from the Support Team presented a section on cyber security.

The conference was rounded off with a fantastic evening gala dinner, which included excellent entertainment from Wally Bell, a Ngunnawal Elder, performing a traditional welcome ceremony, and comedian Idris Stanton, the Last King of Vaudeville, wowing everyone with his juggling and wit.

The night revolved around women in business and saw the launch of a mentoring programme. Awards were presented during the night, which went to franchisees and members of the Support Teams for their valuable contributions over the last 12 months.

“It was a fantastic, fun weekend with all of our franchisees attending, including their partners, children and staff. We had 100% attendance which we are very proud of,” said Celeste Godwin, Director.

Terry added: “Four new franchisees have recently joined TaxAssist, so the weekend was perfect timing for them to be able to meet up with other franchisees, receive further training and fully integrate into the network.

“We have had a great year in terms of growth, and now cover 10 territories, looking after more than 3,600 clients with a collective fee bank of $1million.”

Established in 1995, TaxAssist specialises in providing accounting services to small businesses and individuals and is planning to open over 100 branches across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and ACT.

TaxAssist Accountants is a multi-award-winning accounting franchise with more than 290 shops and offices in the UK, over 20 in Ireland and 17 locations in Australia.