July 12, 2026 · 5 min · Accountant SEO Company editorial team

Reviews for Accounting Firms: Asking Without Breaking Google's or the FTC's Rules

How an accounting firm can ask for reviews within Google's policy and the FTC's rule, reply without breaching confidentiality, and ask every client alike.

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An accounting firm can ask for reviews as long as it asks every client the same way, offers nothing in return, never steers unhappy clients away from posting, and never writes, buys or fakes a review. Those limits come from Google's review policy and the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials. A third limit comes from your own profession: a reply must never confirm that the reviewer is a client, or say anything about their return or their books.

What Google's policy rules out

Google's review policy bars businesses from four things that matter to a firm:

Offering incentives for reviews. A discount on next year's fee, a gift card, an entry in a prize draw: all out, whatever kind of review you hope to get.
Discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews.
Selectively soliciting positive reviews. This is review gating: sending a satisfaction survey first, then passing the review link only to the people who scored you well.
Fake reviews. A review written by a staff member, a relative or a friend posing as a client is fake by any reading.

The third is the one firms break without meaning to. "Only ask the clients you know are happy" sounds like common sense, and under Google's policy it's exactly what isn't allowed.

What the FTC's rule adds

The FTC's rule, 16 CFR Part 465, has been in effect since October 2024. Among other things, it bans:

fake or false consumer reviews and testimonials;
suppressing reviews through unfounded legal threats, intimidation or false public accusations;
presenting a website the business controls as an independent review site.

For a firm, the second item is the one to remember after a hard season. Threatening a former client with legal action over an honest one-star review, or publicly accusing them of lying without grounds, is the kind of conduct the rule describes. The third catches a "client reviews" page dressed up to look like an outside rating site.

The rule has more provisions than these, and state law and your state board's rules may apply as well. Read the rule itself, and take any specific situation to your own counsel. Nothing here is legal advice.

Replies: confirm nothing

This is where accounting differs from a restaurant or a hardware store. A reviewer can say what they like about you. Your reply can't add facts about them. "We prepared your return in March and you never sent the brokerage statements" confirms the relationship and puts details of a tax matter in public. That can conflict with your professional confidentiality duties, and for tax return preparers, Section 7216 restricts disclosing return information without the taxpayer's written consent.

A reply that stays safe does three things: it acknowledges the comment, states a general policy instead of discussing the case, and offers a private channel. An example, to adapt rather than paste:

Thank you for taking the time to write this. We take concerns about our service seriously. Because of our confidentiality obligations, we don't discuss any client matter in public or confirm whether someone is a client. If you'd like to talk this through, please email our office manager at [address].

The same caution applies to five-star reviews. "Great working with you again this year, Maria" also confirms a client relationship. "Thank you for the kind words" does the job without that.

When to ask

Ask when the work is finished and the client has seen the result:

Individual returns: after the return is filed and the client has a copy in their portal.
Business and extended returns: after filing, which for extension clients means the autumn.
Monthly bookkeeping: after the first clean month-end close, when the client has seen a set of books they can rely on.
Clean-up and advisory projects: at delivery of the reconciled books or the final report.

Tying the request to a fixed point in the workflow does a second job. It makes the ask automatic, and an automatic ask goes to everyone, which keeps you clear of selective asking.

One more check for tax preparers. If the contact list you'd send requests to was built from tax return information, read how Section 7216 applies to marketing uses of return data before you send anything.

Asking everyone the same way

One trigger per service, written into the workflow: filed return, first close, final deliverable.
One message, sent to every client who reaches that trigger, whether or not you think they're pleased.
No survey, star rating or "how did we do" step in front of the review link.
No discount, gift, draw or favor attached, before or after.
Nothing that tells people what to write or what rating to give.
One reminder at most, then stop.
A log of each request: date sent, service, trigger. If anyone questions the process, the log shows that you asked everyone.

Your Business Profile can give you a direct link to its review form; use it so clients land in the right place. An example request:

Hi [first name], your return has been filed and a copy is in your portal. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate a review of your experience with the firm on Google: [link]. Honest feedback of any kind helps us, and it helps other people choosing a firm. Thank you.

"Honest feedback of any kind" is there on purpose. It tells the client, and anyone looking at your process later, that you aren't fishing for five stars.

Where reviews fit

Reviews are what a prospect reads when choosing between three firms on the map. A steady record of them, including a few imperfect ones with calm replies, looks like a working practice. They are still only one part of local search; the profile, categories, citations and local pages are covered on our local SEO for accountants page.

If you want a second opinion on your request wording and trigger points before you switch them on, request a meeting and bring the draft. A process is easier to fix before the first hundred requests go out than after.