About
A published standard, and the people accountable for it
Trusted Firms Global certifies professional services firms on client feedback collected independently of the firms it certifies. This page sets out who we are, who decides, how we relate to Client Culture, and where we operate.
What we are, and what we are not
The distinction matters, because the word “certified” is used loosely in professional services.
We are
- A certification body that publishes its standard in full, with every clause numbered and versioned
- The issuer of credentials that each carry a public record, with the count and window behind every figure
- Accountable for every credential we issue, and for correcting it in public if it is wrong
We are not
- An award, a ranking or a directory. Firms cannot nominate themselves, and tier is not a ranking
- For sale. Fees have no bearing on outcomes, and a firm that does not meet the standard is not certified
- An assessor of legal, accounting or financial advice. We certify how clients experience a firm's service
Who is accountable
A standard is only as credible as the person who answers for it.
Greg Tilse
Founder and Managing Director
Greg supervises the issuance of every Trusted Firms Global credential and is accountable for the standard.
He began his career in law, in commercial litigation at Deacons and then as a prosecutor with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. He was a consultant at Bain & Company, where the Net Promoter System was developed, and later founded and led specialist finance businesses serving the legal profession for sixteen years. He founded Client Culture in 2015 to give professional services firms an independent measure of what their clients experience, and established Trusted Firms Global in 2025 to certify it.
- Law
- Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce, Australian National University
- Business
- MBA, Melbourne Business School (Nobby Clarke Scholar)
- Practice
- Deacons; Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
- Strategy
- Bain & Company
How decisions are made
Issuance follows published rules. People supervise the rules, and a separate person reviews any decision that is challenged.
Rules decide
The standards are code. An assessment function computes every figure from the verified response record and gates issuance. Any exception must be recorded on the credential itself.
A named person supervises
Greg Tilse supervises issuance and is accountable for the standard. Fees have no bearing on outcomes.
Decisions can be reviewed
A firm can ask us to reconsider any assessment or withdrawal decision within 30 days, at no cost. If it still disagrees, an independent reviewer decides.
Independent review
Certification Services Terms 6.2If a firm disagrees with a decision, it can ask for reconsideration within 30 days. This is free and answered within 10 business days. If it still disagrees, the decision goes to an independent reviewer drawn from the ACICA panel of arbitrators and agreed by both parties. If they cannot agree within 10 business days, ACICA makes the appointment. The firm pays all costs of the review, including ACICA's fees, and the reviewer's decision is final. For a request for independent review made before 24 October 2026, Trusted Firms Global bears the reviewer's costs.
To raise a concern about a certified firm or a credential, use the contact form.
Our relationship with Client Culture
Related entities under common ownership, with deliberately separated functions. Both companies are owned by the same shareholder, and Greg Tilse is a director of both.
Client Culture
Client Culture Pty Ltd · ABN 88 619 177 132
- Collects and measures client feedback, independently of the firms certified
- Holds firms' client lists and responses; these are never transferred to Trusted Firms Global
- Runs the ongoing programs firms use to improve their service
Trusted Firms Global
TFG Certification Pty Ltd · ABN 16 695 393 429
- Sets and publishes the standard
- Assesses results against it and issues credentials
- Publishes and corrects the public records
Independence is from the firms certified. It is not a claim of independence from Client Culture, and we state the relationship rather than obscuring it.
Why are Trusted Firms Global and Client Culture separate companies?
Because they do different jobs, and those jobs need to be kept apart. Client Culture works for the firm: it measures what clients experience and helps the firm improve. Trusted Firms Global works for everyone who relies on a credential: it sets a published standard and certifies only the firms whose evidence meets it. One helps a firm improve; the other decides whether it has met the standard.
Keeping them separate means no firm can ask whether a larger Client Culture engagement buys a better result. It cannot. Fees, whether paid to Client Culture or to Trusted Firms Global, have no bearing on certification outcomes.
The two companies share an owner, and we say so. The separation is of function, not ownership, and the safeguards are in how decisions are made: the standard is published and applied by rules, any exception is recorded on the credential, firms' client lists and responses stay with Client Culture, and any decision can be reviewed.
If a firm disagrees with a decision, it can ask for reconsideration within 30 days. This is free and answered within 10 business days. If it still disagrees, the decision goes to an independent reviewer drawn from the ACICA panel of arbitrators and agreed by both parties. If they cannot agree within 10 business days, ACICA makes the appointment. The firm pays all costs of the review, including ACICA's fees, and the reviewer's decision is final. For a request for independent review made before 24 October 2026, Trusted Firms Global bears the reviewer's costs.
Is Trusted Firms Global independent?
Trusted Firms Global is independent of the firms it certifies. It has no commercial relationship with a firm that depends on the outcome of that firm's assessment, and firms cannot select which client responses count toward their result.
Can a firm pay for a higher tier?
No. Tier is determined by the evidence available about the measurement – the source of the client population, the coverage achieved, and whether it was sustained. A firm can move up by changing how it measures, not by paying more.
How is a complaint about a certified firm handled?
Concerns about a certified firm's service quality or the legitimacy of its certification can be raised through the contact form. Every concern is reviewed, and certification can be suspended or withdrawn.
History
A decade of measuring what clients of professional services firms experience, before the first credential was issued.
- 2015–2025
Accreditation issued by Client Culture to professional services firms in Australia and the United Kingdom.
- March 2026
First credential issued by Trusted Firms Global, a separate company, under its own published criteria.
Where we operate
The standard is written to apply in any jurisdiction. It does not depend on local regulation, and every credential is verified in the same way wherever the firm is based. Personal information is handled under Australian, UK and EU privacy law.
- AustraliaCertified firms · Accounting, law and wealth advice
- IrelandCertified firms · Accounting
Firms in any jurisdiction can apply.
Company details
For anyone who needs to verify who we are.
- Legal entity
- TFG Certification Pty Ltd, trading as Trusted Firms Global
- ABN
- 16 695 393 429
- Registered office
- Suite 187 / Level 1, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
- Contact
- Contact form · contact@trustedfirms.global
The research foundations of the standardThe quality review program, for clients
Read the standard
Every requirement, tier and threshold, numbered and versioned.