Sound familiar?
- Most enquiries are tiny self-assessment jobs when you want limited company clients
- January brings a flood of last-minute calls and the rest of the year is quiet
- Your ads say 'chartered accountants' and not everyone at the firm is sure the firm qualifies
- You send a newsletter, but to a list nobody has cleaned since 2019
- Prospects compare you on price alone
- You do not know which of last year's new clients came from marketing
Key facts
- Google Ads management from £150 a month + VAT, or 10 to 15% of ad spend if higher, plus ad spend paid to Google
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax started on 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000; £30,000 follows in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028
- ICAEW's regulations strictly control which firms can describe themselves as 'chartered accountants'
- Under PECR, companies and LLPs are corporate subscribers; sole traders and ordinary partnerships are treated as individuals for email marketing
- Email newsletters from £95 a month + VAT
- Monthly, cancel with notice
Make Tax Digital a reason to talk
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is the biggest change to sole trader and landlord compliance in years, and it is a clear marketing hook. According to HMRC, it applied from 6 April 2026 to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 from April 2027 and to those over £20,000 from April 2028. Qualifying income is gross turnover from self-employment and property, not profit, so plenty of people are caught who do not expect to be.
We build campaigns around searches such as 'MTD accountant', 'making tax digital for landlords' and 'quarterly updates HMRC', with landing pages that explain the thresholds simply and offer a fixed-fee MTD package. The same message works in email to existing clients and in LinkedIn posts. Content and copywriting are available from £45 per piece + VAT.
Search ads for the clients you actually want
Generic searches like 'accountant near me' bring in a mix of enquiries, many of them small one-off returns. If your growth plan is limited companies, contractors, landlords, ecommerce sellers or a niche such as dentists or farms, the campaigns should say so. We split the account by service and by client type, so each has its own budget, ads and landing page.
- Negatives: jobs, AAT course, salary, free, HMRC phone number, calculator, template.
- Ad copy: name the software you support (Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage) and any fixed fees.
- Schedule: run harder from October to January when self-assessment searches peak, and use the quiet months for higher-value business clients.
Google's UK financial services verification applies to advertisers of financial products and services. Most accountancy advertising does not trigger it, but if you advertise anything that touches investments, lending or regulated advice, check the policy first; we will help you work out which side you fall on.
Titles and claims
Accountancy is lightly regulated for advertising compared with law, but descriptions still matter. ICAEW's Use of the 'Chartered Accountants' Description Regulations set out which firms may call themselves chartered accountants, based on who owns and controls the firm. ACCA, AAT and ICB members have their own rules on how designations and logos are used. We check every ad and landing page against what your firm is entitled to say, and avoid claims about tax savings that cannot be backed up. Comparative fee claims, such as 'cheaper than high street accountants', need evidence under the CAP Code.
Email and LinkedIn for long-term relationships
Most practices win as much from referrals and reputation as from ads. Email and LinkedIn keep you in front of clients, introducers and prospects all year.
- Client newsletter: deadline reminders (31 January, payment on account, VAT quarters, MTD updates), budget summaries and one useful tip. Email marketing is from £95 a month + VAT.
- B2B email rules: under PECR, companies and LLPs are corporate subscribers, so you can email them without prior consent if you identify yourself and offer an opt-out. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships count as individuals, so they need consent or the soft opt-in.
- LinkedIn: partner-led posts and targeted ads to company owners and finance directors by region and company size.
Tracking from enquiry to engagement letter
We record calls, form fills and booked consultations as key events in GA4 and conversions in Google Ads. If your practice management software (for example, a CRM or proposal tool) records which prospects signed, we can import those as offline conversions so Google learns what a good client looks like. Over a few months that shifts spend away from searches that bring one-off returns and towards those that bring recurring monthly clients. We also tag enquiries by source in a simple spreadsheet or CRM field, so you can see how ads compare with referrals and your website. Conversion tracking set-up is £145 + VAT one-off.
What you get
- Search campaigns for the services you want: limited company accounts, MTD, payroll, R&D, sector niches
- Negative keyword list to filter DIY, jobs, courses and HMRC helpline searches
- Landing pages that show fixed fees or fee ranges where you are comfortable doing so
- Monthly or quarterly client newsletter with deadline reminders
- LinkedIn content and ads for business owners and finance directors
- Tracking from first call to signed engagement letter
How it works and what it costs
Google Ads management from £150 a month, social media management from £125 a month and email marketing from £95 a month, all + VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid to the platform. No long contracts.
Free review
We look at your current ads, social, email and analytics, or your plans if you are starting out, and tell you plainly what we would change.
Plan and price
You get a written plan with targets, budgets and a fixed monthly fee before anything starts.
Set up properly
Tracking and consent first, then campaigns, audiences, content calendars or email flows, all in accounts you own.
Run and improve
We manage it every week: search terms, bids, creative, posts and tests, cutting what does not pay and doing more of what does.
Report in plain English
A monthly report on leads, sales and cost per result, not vanity numbers, with what we will do next.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Ads worth it for a small accountancy practice?
It can be, if you target the services worth having and filter out low-value searches. A single limited company client can be worth several years of fees. We start with a modest budget on your best services, track enquiries properly and scale only what works.
Can we email businesses without consent?
Under PECR, limited companies and LLPs are corporate subscribers, so you can send marketing emails to them without prior consent, provided you identify yourself and include an opt-out. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are treated as individuals and need consent or the soft opt-in. UK GDPR still applies to named contacts.
When is the best time to advertise?
Self-assessment searches rise from October and peak in January. Business owners look for new accountants around their year end and when they incorporate. We plan budgets around both, and around Making Tax Digital deadlines.
Do you write content for accountants?
Yes. Blog posts and guides are from £45 per piece + VAT, and content marketing retainers from £195 a month + VAT. Typical topics are MTD, allowable expenses, incorporation and sector guides. Final technical sign-off stays with you.
Can you help with LinkedIn?
Yes. Organic social media management is from £125 a month + VAT per platform package, and LinkedIn ads from £150 a month + VAT plus ad spend. Posts work best when they come from a named partner rather than the firm page.
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Get a free marketing review
We'll look at your ads, social, email and tracking, and tell you plainly what we'd change. No obligation.