Small CPA firm, Sole Practitioner plan, 4 months
12 new business clients in a four-month campaign
12new business clients
Four-month campaign.
A focused ten-keyword campaign for an accounting practice.
Accounting firm marketing: a plan by channel
Marketing for accountants that keeps new clients coming
Referrals, local search, content, email, ads and social: what each costs, how to measure it and the rule that governs it. We do the search part, from $125 a month. The plan holds even if you never hire us.
4 plans from $125 a month, cancel by email anytime. See the plans
A small CPA firm: six of ten keywords in the top five and 12 new business clients over four months. See results
Who this is for
For practices that grow by referral and want a steadier year
Owners and managing partners of 1 to 25 person practices: CPA firms, enrolled agents and tax shops, bookkeepers, remote practices. The trouble usually sounds like one of these.
"Referrals come when they come."
They follow clients' lives, not your capacity. A second steady source evens out the year.
"Every inquiry arrives in March."
Visibility built in summer answers the January search. Visibility bought in March meets a full calendar.
"The last campaign brought $99-return shoppers."
The searches you target decide who calls. Aim at the work you want more of.
"I can't tell what the agency did."
Every line of spend should trace to something you can open: a URL, a page, a date.
The search part of your plan, at a fixed monthly price
All four plans cover your Google Business Profile, citations built and cleaned up, and review requests. Month to month, cancel by email.
Sole Practitioner
$125 a month
One month only: $140, no subscriptionFocused services in one town or a narrow practice niche.
Start Sole Practitioner- Search phrases
- 10
- Outreach articles
- 10
- Platform pages
- 10
- Second-tier links
- 3,000
- Websites covered
- 1
- Delivered within
- 10-12 days
Growing Practice
$235 a month
One month only: $260, no subscriptionAn established local market with competing practices.
Start Growing Practice- Search phrases
- 20
- Outreach articles
- 20
- Platform pages
- 20
- Second-tier links
- 5,000
- Websites covered
- 1
- Delivered within
- 12-14 days
Established FirmBest value
$325 a month
One month only: $380, no subscriptionBroader services or a second website, with competitor analysis.
Start Established Firm- Search phrases
- 40
- Outreach articles
- 30
- Platform pages
- 30
- Second-tier links
- 10,000
- Websites covered
- 2
- Delivered within
- 14-16 days
Regional Firm
$575 a month
One month only: $620, no subscriptionA large keyword scope across up to four websites.
Start Regional Firm- Search phrases
- 100
- Outreach articles
- 50
- Platform pages
- 50
- Second-tier links
- 20,000
- Websites covered
- 4
- Delivered within
- 16-18 days
What the link lines mean
- Outreach articles: articles placed on other real sites (DA 20+), each linking to a page of yours.
- Platform pages: pages we publish on high-authority publishing platforms (DA 50+), pointing at your site.
- Second-tier links: links aimed at those articles and pages, never at your site, so they get indexed and carry weight.
Accounting campaign evidence
A focused campaign, measured in clients
Start with the engagements you want
The case records the keyword scope, campaign duration and client result. For your practice, we start with the services you can take on, your existing visibility and the competition around those services.
A short target list keeps the priorities clear. Your monthly report lets you follow the activity and keyword movement while you track whether inquiries become suitable engagements.
Find my search opportunitiesMake the service and next step easy to find
How prospective clients search
Make the service and next step easy to find
A prospect looking for help with payroll needs a different answer from someone filing an individual return. Give each service a clear destination, explain who it is for and show what a prospective client should prepare before contacting the practice.
Local appointments need accurate location and opening-hour information. Remote engagements need a clear explanation of the handoff, the software you support and how a first conversation works.
Marketing strategies for accounting firms, on one schedule
The marketing plan
Marketing strategies for accounting firms, on one schedule
Six channels, in the order we would fund them for a small practice. Read the cost column next to partner hours: in busy season, hours run out first.
| Channel | What it costs | Suits | Measure it by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Referrals and partners | Partner time, little cash | Every firm; business and advisory work most | Referred inquiries by source, each quarter |
| 2 Local search | Your time, or an SEO plan from $125/mo | Any firm with an office or a set service area | Profile calls and site clicks; map position |
| 3 Service pages and SEO | Writing and links; months to build | Firms with services they want more of | Inquiries per page; keyword positions |
| 4 Content and email | Writing time, or plans from $26/mo | Keeping clients; moving them into advisory | Replies and meetings booked per send |
| 5 Search ads | Every click, from day one | Tests, new offices, deadline windows | Cost per signed engagement letter |
| 6 Social | Time; promoted posts extra | Advisory and niche firms; credibility checks | Meetings that mention it (hard to trace) |
Referrals first: the channel you already run
Referrals and partners
Referrals first: the channel you already run
- Ask at a moment of relief (return delivered, clean-up done, first clean month-end) and ask every client at that point, the same way.
- List the advisers who meet your clients first (attorneys, financial advisors, bankers, payroll providers) and send each something useful every quarter.
- Software partner directories exist for QuickBooks (ProAdvisor) and Xero (an advisor directory). Check each program's current terms; our page on bookkeeper marketing covers them.
- Add one intake question, "How did you hear about us?", and log every answer.
The weak point
A referred prospect still searches your name before calling. A thin site or an empty profile can hand the referral you earned to the next firm on the list. That is where search work earns its line in the budget.
Digital marketing for accountants starts where the client searches
Digital marketing for accountants
Digital marketing for accountants starts where the client searches
Three things decide whether a search becomes an inquiry. We work on all three; a partner with a free afternoon can do much of the first.
Map results
The Google Business Profile
Google names relevance, distance and prominence as the main local factors. Categories and services drive relevance; reviews, citations and links build prominence. More on our local SEO for accountants page.
Service pages
One page per service you want more of
Business returns, monthly bookkeeping, IRS notice work: each gets a page written for the person searching it, with the fee approach stated. That is the core of SEO for accountants.
The site
Credentials, booking and speed
Credentials in wording your rules allow, an intake or booking form, a portal link, and pages that load fast on a phone. If the site can't carry that, see accounting website design, from $400.
Content marketing and email that stay inside 7216
Content and email
Content marketing and email that stay inside 7216
Content marketing for accountants works best on the narrow questions clients ask: what to bring for a business return, how a clean-up engagement runs, what an extension changes. Write each once and keep it current.
Timing helps. Form 4868 gives an automatic extension of time to file, not of time to pay. A page and an email saying so in September answer the question before it turns into October phone calls.
Email, with the rules
- Best for clients you already have: planning reminders, document checklists, news of a new service.
- If the list came from returns you prepared, Reg. 301.7216 applies: written consent before using return information to solicit other services, naming each type, and a separate document for any disclosure.
- Review requests go to every client at the same point. Google's policy bars asking only the happy ones.
Content plans: monthly
Content plans for firms that would rather not write the articles
From $26 a month for four 500-word articles, up to 30 articles a month. Each is written for a search your clients make, and you approve it before it goes live, because under the AICPA code its claims are yours.
PPC for accountants: fast, countable and rented
Paid search and advertising
PPC for accountants: fast, countable and rented
Search ads are a fair tool, though we don't run them: the firm appears on top soon after launch, every click is counted, and the visibility lasts exactly as long as the budget.
Where ads earn their cost
- Testing which services sign before you write pages for them
- A new office or service, while the profile is young
- January, or the weeks before extended returns come due in mid-October
Where they leak money
- Broad terms: in our research "cpa marketing" meant affiliate marketing and "website for cpa" meant licensing boards
- Price-only searches, unless you want the $99 return
- Campaigns not tracked to a signed letter
- Cost per click (invented)
- $15
- Clicks per inquiry
- x 12
- Inquiries per signed letter
- x 3
- Cost per engagement letter
- $540
Ads fall under AICPA 1.600 like any promotion. A bigger-refund promise creates the "false or unjustified expectations of favorable results" that .02(a) names. "Returns from $X" becomes a .02(c) problem when the fee was likely to go up substantially without the prospect being told. And under Circular 230, an enrolled agent's ad can't say "certified".
Google Ads and social ads are outside our service. If ads fit, run them in-house or with a specialist and point them at service pages built to convert, which are our part.
Social media and lead generation, with the rules attached
Social, outreach and bought leads
Social media and lead generation, with the rules attached
Social media marketing for accountants
For a small practice, social is mainly where a referred prospect checks that the firm is active and specific; count cold inquiries from it as a bonus. Testimonials you post fall under the FTC's rule (16 CFR Part 465), which bans fake or false ones, and a reply to a comment should never confirm that someone is a client.
Lead generation for accountants: build, buy or chase
Built leads come from your profile, pages and referrals. Bought leads come from services that may sell one inquiry to several firms, so ask. Chased leads are cold outreach, limited by AICPA 1.600.001's ban on coercion, over-reaching and harassing conduct. And 1.600.010 puts a vendor's promotion on you: "members must not do through others what they are prohibited from doing themselves."
These are the rules we write to. State boards add their own, and we are a marketing service, not your counsel: check the sources or ask your adviser before a campaign runs.
How much to spend, and how to tell if it worked
Budget and measurement
How much to spend, and how to tell if it worked
Start from what one new client is worth to you, then set a spend you can carry while the slow channels mature.
- Monthly fee x 12
- $4,800
- Annual return fee
- + $1,200
- Years the client stays
- x 4
- Margin
- x 40%
- Gross profit per client
- $9,600
On those invented numbers, one new client covers a year of Growing Practice several times over: break-even arithmetic, not a forecast. Try your own figures in the client value calculator.
| Measure | Source |
|---|---|
| Inquiries by source | The intake question, logged every time |
| Letters signed by source | Engagement letters tagged with that source |
| Month of inquiry | The intake log, read against capacity |
| Cost per signed letter | Channel spend divided by its letters |
| Profile actions | Calls, site clicks and direction requests in the profile's performance view |
| Links and positions | Our monthly report, link by link |
Who does what, set out like an engagement letter
Division of work
Who does what, set out like an engagement letter
The same split an engagement letter makes between the firm's work and management's responsibilities.
Ours
- Profile optimization, citation building and cleanup, and review-generation work (no gating, no incentives) on every plan
- 10 to 100 target keywords; guest posts (DA 20+), Web 2.0s (DA 50+) and amplification links aimed at those, not at your site
- On-page audit and content gap analysis from Growing Practice, competitor analysis from Established Firm, a toxic link check on Regional Firm
- A monthly report: every live link URL, its target page and anchor text
Yours
- Referral partners and the asks to clients
- The client list, any 7216 consents and every email sent
- Ads and social, if you run them
- Approving every page before it goes live, since a third party's promotion counts as yours
- How many new clients the season can hold
Plans run month to month; cancel anytime. We may work with more than one firm in your area, and no client's data or plans are shared with another. Every price is on the pricing page.
How long each channel takes to show anything
Timing
How long each channel takes to show anything
Search ads: soon after launch
Judge them in weeks, on cost per signed letter.
Profile fixes: weeks
More calls and site clicks from the profile come first.
Service pages and links: months
Longer in a crowded metro. Watch keywords move and inquiries name the service.
Referral partners: a quarter or two
A partner sending a second name is the signal.
None of these is a promise. Google's guide to hiring an SEO says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and results depend on who else competes for your searches. Start the slow channels in the off-season so they are ready for January.
Tax practices: tax preparer marketing sets this against the filing season, and the tax-season capacity planner shows how many returns you can still take.
Plan the next step for your practice
Our accounting search guide explains service-page priorities, seasonal planning and how to judge the results.
Find my search opportunitiesHow do you market a CPA firm?
Start with what already works: referrals, and the searches people run before they call. Ask for referrals at a fixed point in the year, keep the Google Business Profile complete, and give each service you want more of its own page. Then add email for current clients, and ads only where you can count the cost per signed engagement letter. Keep every claim inside AICPA 1.600 and your state board's rules.
How much should an accounting firm spend on marketing?
Work back from what a client is worth to you, not from a percentage someone quotes. Add a year of fees, multiply by the years a typical client stays and by your margin: that is the most one new client can cost. Divide a month of spend by it to see how many new clients a month break even. Our client value calculator does the arithmetic.
Is PPC better than SEO for accountants?
They do different jobs. Search ads put the firm on top soon after launch and stop when the budget stops. SEO builds over months and keeps working after the work slows, though nobody can guarantee a position. You can run ads while the organic work matures, then trim them where rankings take over. We do the SEO side only.
Can we send marketing emails to our tax clients?
Not from return information without consent. Under Reg. 301.7216, a tax return preparer generally may not use return information to solicit other products or services before getting the taxpayer's written consent, which must name each type of product or service. Disclosing the list to anyone else needs a separate consent. Read the IRS Section 7216 information center, or ask your counsel, before the first send.
Can I do my firm's marketing myself?
Much of it. The profile, review requests, referral asks and a short newsletter need judgment more than tools, and the partner who knows the clients often does them best. What is hard alone is steady page writing and link building through busy season. A workable split: keep the client-facing work in-house and hand off the parts that need hours every month.
Is SEO still worth it now that Google shows AI answers?
Yes. Every accounting-SEO search we checked in October 2026 showed an AI Overview, but a prospect still has to choose one firm, contact it and sign. What helps them choose you has not changed: service pages that say what you do and for whom, a complete profile and honest reviews. That work serves the ordinary results and gives any summary accurate material.
What should we budget, and can we stop after a month?
Monthly SEO starts at $125 for Sole Practitioner. You can also choose a single month at the listed one-time price. There is no setup fee or minimum contract term. To stop a monthly plan, email before the next billing cycle. We confirm the scope and send a payment link before work starts.
How soon can we judge progress, and are results guaranteed?
Allow months to evaluate search progress, especially for a new website or a competitive city. Fixes and deliverables appear in the report before they necessarily produce new inquiries. We cannot guarantee a position, a client count or revenue. Together we choose the services and searches worth tracking so the review reflects your practice priorities.
Who looks after the account and explains the reports?
The Accountant SEO team handles the campaign and answers questions by email or a requested meeting. We confirm the scope before payment and send a monthly report with the activity and live links. Tell us which partner or practice manager should receive updates so reporting reaches the person making marketing decisions.
Will you also work with another accounting firm in our market?
We do not promise exclusive coverage of a city. Ask about competing services and markets before engaging us so we can discuss any overlap and the proposed scope. Your firm should choose its own service priorities and positioning; another practice may be pursuing different clients, but that distinction needs to be assessed rather than assumed.
Can a plan this size compete in a busy market?
The scope has to match the competition and your priorities. Sole Practitioner can suit a focused start; Growing Practice adds an on-page audit and content gap review. Established Firm and Regional Firm support broader keyword sets and competitor analysis. We review your site and market before recommending a tier. No package guarantees a ranking or a number of clients.
What if AI answers change how people find accountants?
Clear service information still helps a prospect understand what you offer. We focus on accurate pages, a suitable local profile and a clear inquiry route. Search features change, so we assess visibility alongside relevant inquiries rather than promising placement inside a particular AI answer.
How do you handle link placements?
Guest posts are outreach placements on sites the agency does not own. The plan table separates guest posts, Web 2.0 pages and amplification links. Reports identify the live URLs so you can inspect the activity. A placement does not guarantee a Google ranking.
Next step
Before you fund a channel, see where you stand
Tell us the services you want more of. We send back a written look at your site and Google Business Profile, who holds those searches now and what to fix first, within one business day. No cost, no call needed.
Get the free firm reviewRequest a meeting
Or open the assistant at the bottom right, or write to support@accountantseo.company.