Fiducial | We help your business grow and be profitable.

Fiducial in the United States has a rich heritage derived from its "Legacy Networks," the companies that it has acquired since its entry here.

Bringing with them talented individuals and resources, our legacy networks have contributed a great deal towards the systems and processes that make Fiducial what it is today. We invite you to learn a little about our history, and how our predecessors have helped shape our culture.

Fiducial acquired CSBS on November 1 , 2000, from Century Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIZ). Formerly known as Comprehensive Business Services, Inc. , the then-Mission Viejo, California-based holding company had changed its name on July 15, 1998, to coincide with its acquisition of franchise systems General Business Services (GBS) and Edwin K. Williams & Co. (EKW).

In its over two and a half years of existence prior to our acquiring it, Century had begun the process of integrating all the best practices of its own former legacy groups. Fiducial continued this process to arrive at the "best of the best" in professional services practice systems that are enabling us to reach our goal of becoming the premier outsourcing company in the U.S.

EKW became part of the Fiducial Network through our acquisition of the Century Small Business Solutions franchisor in November 2000. EKW had been acquired by Century on July 15, 1998, along with the General Business Services franchise system. Over 150 offices throughout the U.S. were in existence prior to the Century purchase.

The E.K. Williams group of offices had been in business since 1935, and specialized in providing meaningful information to small business owners. The franchise was renowned for its specialized manual record systems that eventually made its way into the proprietary internal and end-user, write-up software we now call Advantage. With Advantage and its predecessors, EKW clients were privy to many specialized reports on Monthly Profit/Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Payroll Check Writing and other management tools. These specialized reports enabled EKW practitioners to provide accurate and timely information that were the basis for personalized counseling sessions that would improve clients' businesses. (View a sample of these management reports in the "Elite Client Case Study.")

The ability to capture industry specific information and interpret it successfully for clients became a trademark for EKW, especially in the oil and petroleum industry. Even today, former EKW practitioners are nationally recognized for their ability to service gas stations, automotive repair and service garage businesses.

CBS is the former name of Century Small Business Solutions, Inc., the accounting and franchise network Fiducial acquired on November 1, 2000. The company changed its name on July 15, 1998, to coincide with its acquisition of the General Business Services and E.K. Williams franchise networks.

Traditionally, Comprehensive offices have always offered monthly bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll services, along with other business couseling to provide "financial intelligence for small business clients." Many Comprehensive practitioners have branched out to offer tax and financial services to their clients as well.

From this Legacy Network comes an extremely efficient system for the accurate and profitable processing of monthly client information. The key is in the standardization of bookkeeping methodology and practices, and the on-going analyses of production status and processing volume. Much of this has been incorporated in Fiducial's proprietary write-up software, Advantage, and core Accounting and Financial Management service methodologies. Small business owners benefit tremendously by our efficiency, which allows us to provide superior quality at competitive rates.

GBS became part of the Fiducial Network through our acquisition of the Century Small Business Solutions franchisor in November, 2000. GBS had been acquired by Century on July 15, 1998 along with the EK Williams franchise system.

Established in 1962 and then a member of The Dwyer Group Inc., the GBS companies grew to include 350 offices prior to being purchased by Century. The network had been nationally recognized as a top provider of comprehensive business management services for small businesses and professionals, with services such as: business counseling, financial counseling, tax planning, accounting services, personnel services, and management services.

Prior to its 1998 acquisition, GBS had consistently earned top rankings as a franchise industry leader in such magazines as Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur International, Franchise Times, Income Opportunities and Business Start-Ups. Entrepreneur magazine had ranked GBS the "No. 1 Accounting & Tax Service Franchise."

With the addition of the GBS offices, Fiducial has gained a premier system to counsel small business owners to build their businesses by increasing profits, simplifying business systems and reducing taxes.

Triple Check was the first of Fiducial's acquired franchise systems in the United States. In April 1999, we purchased this tax preparation and advisory services franchisor whose mission statement read "Triple Check exists to meet the needs of our clients by providing—with the highest quality and integrity—personalized tax, financial and business services."

Triple Check Income Tax Service was formed in 1982 by David Lieberman, a Wharton graduate who first had the vision that strong systems and formalization of recurring procedures could be used to bring efficiency and structure to the tax return preparation and advisory business. During that year, David acquired our trademark systems, including our proprietary interview worksheets, that enable our professionals to service clients with exceptionally high quality.

Today, these systems, having been continuously improved with technology and modifed to take into account new tax laws and client service trends, are the cornerstone of Fiducial's Tax Preparation and Advisory Services Business Line.

From the Triple Check franchise, Fiducial also acquired its strong systems that comprise the Fiducial Financial Services Business Line. Additional proprietary worksheets and a mutually beneficial relationship with broker-dealer National Planning Corporation (NPC) are added contributions from this Legacy Network.

From the 60 offices that existed in 1982, the Triple Check franchise had grown to approximately 250 offices in 39 states. In 1999, when Fiducial acquired the franchise, it had been ranked 24th on the list of "Top 100 Accounting Firms" by Accounting Today.

So there you have it, a brief introduction to Fiducial in the United States, how and why we acquired our "legacy networks," and how we’ve put together the best of the best of our systems to place us in a unique postion to help small businesses grow and be profitable.