New Business?

How to grow an accounting firm: Breaking the feast-or-famine cycle for good

You’re either buried in client work with no time to win new business, or you’re staring at an empty pipeline wondering where the next client is coming from. Sound familiar? This article explains why that swing isn’t a time management problem, and it isn’t a sign that you’re bad at business development. It’s what happens when winning work is the first thing you drop the moment things get busy. This article breaks down the Work In/Work On Trap that stalls most firms between £150k and £500k turnover, the Red/Black/Blue time audit that shows you exactly where your hours are going (and where they should be going), and the daily, weekly and quarterly routines that keep new business ticking over whether you feel like doing it or not. Reading this will help you systemise your business development (so that it doesn’t depend on you remembering to do it). Click here to read

How to differentiate your accounting firm: 3 proven ways to stand out

Your website says you’re proactive, you speak their language, and you’re not the “average accountant.” The problem? So does every other firm’s. When prospects can’t see a difference between you and the practice down the road, they compare the only thing left: price. That’s how you end up with tyre kickers, hagglers, and a conversion rate that makes you wince. This article shows you the three changes that make your firm the obvious choice. Picking a niche that’s specific enough to actually market, writing messaging that creates an emotional connection instead of listing services, and putting a pricing signpost on your website so price-sensitive leads filter themselves out before they ever reach your diary. Reading this will help you overcome the two fears that stop most accountants from niching: alienating the clients you already have, and winning fewer leads. (Spoiler alert: neither of these are true). Click here to read

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Beyond the website: SEO for accounting firms in 2026

You’ve got a website, a LinkedIn profile, and there’s even a Google My Business profile you set up three years ago (but haven’t touched since). So why are price-shoppers filling your inbox while the clients you actually want go to your competitors? There is a reason: the way people look for an accountant has changed. AI tools now handle the “What is Corporation Tax?” type questions, which takes the browsers off your hands, but the buyers who are ready to buy? They are still on Google searching “accountant near me” more than ever. This article covers the three places those high-intent buyers go looking for you and exactly what to fix in each one. Reading this will show you how to get more qualified enquiries every month, along with a this-week, this-month, this-quarter action plan you can start on today. Click here to read

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From “I’ll think about it” to “Where do I sign?”: The sales process for accounting firms that actually works

This article gives you the four-stage sales process we teach our Accountants Growth Club members. Qualifying leads with the DUFF framework so you stop writing proposals for people who were never going to buy; a velvet rope filter that ends free consultancy for anyone who rings; the As-Is versus To-Be questioning that makes your fee feel like an investment rather than a cost; and a follow-up system built on small acts of commitment instead of chasing. If you want to increase your sales (without becoming the pushy salesperson you’ve spent your career avoiding), this one is for you. One of our members used the As-Is/To-Be approach on what looked like a £10k enquiry and came away with £23k. Click here to read

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Unlock hidden revenue: How to grow your accounting firm through referrals and upsells

You’ve just finished a brilliant piece of work; the client is delighted. So you sit back, hands behind your head, and wait for the referrals that surely must follow. The result? Nothing. Again. Research from BNI found that while 98% of accountants rely on word of mouth, only 3% have any system for making it happen, and it’s that 3% who are getting high-quality referrals month after month. This article gives you the SERVICE framework for turning your existing network into a predictable source of introductions, along with the three mistakes that kill most referral conversations (including the well-meaning “Who do you know?” that dumps all the mental effort onto your client). You’ll learn how to build a Power Team of four to six introducers, how to ask for advice rather than business, and how to upsell your existing clients without a hint of the hard sell. Click here to read

How to get your team to see business development as their responsibility too

If you’re the only person in your firm who can bring in work, your growth is capped by your own diary. You get busy with client work…marketing stops…no marketing means no leads…and round you go again. We call it the Technician’s Ceiling, and it’s a big part of why firms stall between £150k and £500k. (Not to mention, it also takes a serious dent out of what your practice is worth when you come to sell it). So what can you do about it? This article busts the belief that stops most owners from even trying: “my team won’t do sales.” And it reveals the truth that we often tell our Accountants Growth Club members: it’s because you have trained them that they don’t have to. When you reframe business development as helping clients to buy and break it down into our Create It, Convert It and Cultivate It process, you can hand each stage to the people whose natural strengths fit it, whether that’s technical content, research, relationship nurturing or qualifying enquiries, while the high-stakes closing stays with you. Reading this article, you’ll learn the delegation framework, what to write into job descriptions, the leading indicators worth measuring, and how Sian built a £1.5m practice without writing a single word of her own marketing. Click here to read

The 90-day recovery: How to replace lost revenue fast without cutting your fees

Your biggest client has just given notice. Maybe they’ve been acquired, maybe they found someone cheaper, maybe you finally had to let them go. Either way, you’re now looking at a hole in your revenue and a very loud, panicky voice in your head is telling you to slash your prices and take on anyone who’ll have you. Our advice? Don’t. This article explains what’s actually happening in your brain when a big client walks, why panic-discounting costs you far more than the fees it wins back, and the three numbers you need in front of you before you make a single decision. Then it walks you through the 90-day plan we give members: the week-one calls and portfolio analysis that typically uncover £5k to £20k hiding in your existing client base (one member added £18k of recurring advisory fees within a month of doing this), the network reactivation that costs you nothing but a few phone calls, and the pipeline building in weeks five to twelve that stops you ever being this exposed again. Click here to read