A website for accountants and bookkeepers that brings in the right clients

People don't visit an accountant's website for fun. They arrive with a job to get done: a tax return with a deadline on it, a new limited company, a bookkeeper who's retiring, or a business that has outgrown doing the books on a Sunday night.

Whoever they are, they want three answers quickly. Do you do what I need? Do you work with people like me? How do I get in touch? Good web design for an accountancy or bookkeeping practice is mostly about answering those three on the first screen, then backing the answers up.

Here's what an accountant's or bookkeeper's website needs to do, what a practice must or should show on it, how to get found locally, and what to leave off.

Start with who you help, and with what

The strongest line on a practice website is usually the one that names the client. "We look after the books, VAT and year-end accounts for small limited companies and sole traders" tells the right visitor they're in the right place. It tells the wrong visitor too, which is just as useful.

A few things make that line work:

• Name the clients you want more of. Sole traders, landlords, contractors, limited companies, charities, a particular trade. If you'd like more of one kind, put them first.
• Use your clients' words. "Self Assessment tax returns" and "doing your books" beat "personal tax compliance" and "outsourced finance function".
• Say whether you're accountants, bookkeepers or both. Not every visitor knows the difference, so a sentence on what you do and don't take on helps them pick the right door.
• Say where you work. The towns you cover, that you work remotely with clients further afield, or both. If you meet clients in person, say where.

What every accountancy or bookkeeping website needs

Beyond that opening line, the essentials are the same for a one-person bookkeeping business and a practice with a dozen staff.

A page for each main service

Tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, year-end accounts, company formation: whatever you most want to sell gets its own page. Each one says who the service is for, what's included, what you need from the client and what happens next. A page about payroll also stands a better chance of being found by someone looking for payroll help than one line on a long "Services" list.

How you charge

You don't have to publish a full price list to be useful about money. Say how you charge (a fixed monthly fee, a fee per return, or a quote after a first call) and what moves the price: turnover, the number of transactions, VAT, payroll and the state of the records. A visitor who can see how you price can decide whether to get in touch without a phone call first, and the ones who were never going to fit can tell before they ring.

If you do set prices in advance for some services, the Provision of Services Regulations have something to say about that, covered below.

A clear way to get in touch

Put a phone number and email address on every page, not just the contact page. Add a short enquiry form that asks for a name, a way to reply and what they need help with. Then make sure every enquiry lands with a person who will answer it, and send yourself a test from your phone now and then.

A way to book a call

Some people would rather pick a time than wait for a reply. A link that lets them book a short introductory call straight into your diary takes the phone tennis out of the first step. Say how long the call is, what it covers and whether it's free.

A client login link, if you use a portal

If clients log in to a portal or your bookkeeping software to upload records or sign documents, put a "Client login" link in the header. It's the link existing clients use most, and it shouldn't take a search to find.

The people behind it

Choosing an accountant is a trust decision. Real names, real photos and a line on each person's qualifications and what they look after do more for that than any amount of "friendly, professional service".

What a practice must show on its website, and what it should

This part is about rules, so treat it as a starting point rather than advice. Check what applies to your practice with your professional body.

If the practice is a limited company

GOV.UK says that on business letters, order forms and websites, a limited company must show:

• its registered number;
• its registered office address;
• where it's registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland);
• the fact that it's a limited company, usually by spelling out its full name including "Limited" or "Ltd".

It also says that if you include directors' names, you must list all of them. The footer is a tidy place for the company details, because it appears on every page.

Information for clients under the Provision of Services Regulations

The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 list information a service provider must make available to the people it serves. Regulation 8 includes:

• your name, your legal status and form, and the geographic address where you're established;
• contact details that let clients reach you quickly and directly;
• the name of any trade or similar public register you're on, and your registration number;
• your VAT number, if you're registered for VAT;
• for a regulated profession, the professional body you're registered with and your professional title;
• any general terms and conditions you use;
• the price, where you set it in advance for a type of service;
• where professional liability insurance is required, your insurer's contact details and where the cover applies.

The regulations accept several ways of making this information available. One is making it easy to find electronically at an address you give the client, so a clear page on your website, linked from the footer, is a tidy way to do it. Which items apply to your practice, and how, is a question for your professional body.

Professional body membership, logos and titles

Membership of a professional body is one of the strongest trust signals you can put on the page, and the bodies have rules about how you show it:

• ICAEW restricts the description "Chartered Accountants". A firm can use it if it meets ICAEW's regulations, and a firm that doesn't can apply for permission, which ICAEW calls a dispensation.
• ACCA says only members with a current, valid ACCA practising certificate may use its logo. Its Rulebook allows the logo on letterheads, stationery and a website when the firm is controlled overall by holders of recognised accountancy qualifications, and ACCA asks firms to request it through myACCA.
• AAT lists use of its licensed member logos among the benefits of an AAT licence.

If you belong to another body, such as the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, or to more than one, read its current rules before a logo or a title goes on the site.

Trust signals that do the selling

Nobody can taste-test an accountant before they sign up, so the website has to show why you're a safe pair of hands.

• Professional body membership, shown the way your body allows.
• Reviews. Google says how well known a business is plays a part in its local results, and that includes how many reviews it has. Ask every client, the same way, rather than only the ones you know are happy: Google's rules for reviews on Maps don't allow picking and choosing. Then reply to the reviews you get: Google says replying shows you value feedback. If you'd like to quote testimonials on your website too, check your professional body's guidance on publicity first.
• How you work. A short "what happens when you join us" section: the first call, the engagement letter, the identity checks, getting set up on the software. It takes the mystery out of switching.
• A site that's clearly looked after. Current deadlines, a recent photo, a contact page that works.

Local SEO for accountants: the basics

Google says its local results are based mainly on three things: how well a business matches the search, how far it is from the person searching, and how well known it is. You can't move the second one, but you can help with the other two.

Set up a Google Business Profile, if you qualify

Google's guidelines for Business Profiles tie a profile to a place customers can visit, or to a business that travels to its customers. A virtual office doesn't count.

• If clients come to your office, show the address. Google expects a staffed location that can receive customers during the hours you list, so keep those hours accurate, including special hours.
• If you visit clients but work from home, Google says to hide your address and set a service area instead: up to 20 areas, by city, postcode or another area you serve, not a radius around you.
• If you do both, Google says to enter both.
• If you never meet clients in person, read Google's guidelines before you set one up, to see whether you qualify. Your website still does the work in search either way.

Then fill it in properly:

• Use your real business name, the one on your sign and your letters. Google's guidelines don't allow extra information in the name, so leave out "tax returns near Staines" and anything like it.
• Choose the category that describes what kind of business you are, and complete every section you can.
• Ask for reviews, and reply to them.

Google is clear that there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What helps is complete, accurate information and a business people know about.

Give each main service a page, and say where you work

Back on the website, give each main service its own page, with the area you cover, or the fact that you work remotely, said plainly on it. One good page about the area you serve reads better than a page for every nearby town with the names swapped. Link your profile to your website, and your website to the pages that matter.

Improving how a website is found, locally and beyond, is what our growth plans do each month. Here's how we help local businesses get found in search.

What to leave off

• Jargon in the headings. "Compliance services" and "advisory" mean more to accountants than to the people choosing one.
• Tax rates and deadlines you won't keep current. If you publish them, update them, or link to GOV.UK, which keeps them current for you.
• A news page that stopped a few years ago. Keep it going or take it off.
• Titles and logos you're not entitled to use. See your professional body's rules above.
• A form that asks for everything. A form that wants a UTR, a company number and last year's accounts before anyone has said hello isn't an enquiry form. It's homework.
• Making people ring to find out whether you do what they need. That's what the service pages are for.

The work behind the website

A website that brings in the right enquiries is half the job. The other half is what happens after someone gets in touch: the reply, the first call, the engagement letter and getting their records in. Enquiries that land straight in the place you manage clients, rather than sitting in someone's inbox, are easier to follow up.

If you're also weighing up where AI could help inside the practice, with chasing records or onboarding paperwork for example, we've written about that separately: AI for accountants, where it helps and where it does not.

What it costs

The price of a practice website depends mostly on how many pages it needs, what it connects to (a booking calendar or the place you keep client records, say) and who writes the words and takes the photos. We've written a full guide to what a small business website costs.

Our own prices are published in full on our pricing page. Every website we host then needs Care or a growth plan, on a 12-month agreement, and every price is plus VAT.

Already have a website and not sure it needs replacing? Start with do you need a new website, or just a good tidy-up? We're happy to take a look at the website you have now and tell you honestly what we think. We don't take over looking after websites someone else built. In most cases we recommend a rebuild, so the site can be improved quickly and kept up to date properly.

If you're near Staines

Orange Jelly is based in Stanwell Moor, Staines, and we look for clients close to home first. The first chat is by phone or video call. Once we have agreed to work together, we will happily come to you anywhere within about 40 miles of Staines. Further than that, we ask you to cover the travel. Here's how we work with local businesses.

The short version

• Say who you help and with what, on the first screen, in your clients' words.
• Give each main service a page, explain how you charge, and say where you work or that you work remotely.
• Make getting in touch easy: phone, email, a short form and a way to book a call, plus a client login link if you use a portal.
• If the practice is a limited company, show the details GOV.UK lists, and check what the Provision of Services Regulations and your professional body ask of you.
• Get found locally with a Google Business Profile if you qualify, reviews you reply to, and a page for each service.
• Want a website that does all of that? Let's chat. It starts with a free first chat.

Sources

All read on 7 November 2026.

• GOV.UK: Running a limited company: signs, stationery and promotional material
• legislation.gov.uk: The Provision of Services Regulations 2009, regulation 8
• ICAEW: Use of the description "Chartered Accountants"
• ACCA: Using the ACCA logo
• AAT: Licensed membership
• Google Business Profile Help: How local ranking works, and tips to improve it
• Google Business Profile Help: Managing your service area
• Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google
• Google Maps user-generated content policy: Prohibited and restricted content