Accounting marketing
Google Ads for
accountants.
Google Ads works for accountants when the budget goes on people ready to hire, not people doing it themselves. In 2023-24, 37.5% of individual returns were self-lodged through myTax, so tax-time searches are full of do-it-yourselfers. Bid on searches like 'tax accountant near me' or 'accountant for tradies', build a strong negative keyword list, time spend to the lodgment dates, and stop when the team is full.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.A lot of your clicks
may be DIY.
Tax time brings a flood of searches, and many come from people doing their own return. The ATO's statistics show 62.1% of individual returns were lodged by an agent in 2023-24, and 37.5% through myTax. Searches like 'mytax login', 'how to do my own tax return' and 'tax calculator' are almost never clients.
The search terms report shows what people actually typed. Read it weekly at tax time, and add the do-it-yourself words as negative keywords.
DIY or
hire?
Paste your search terms. It splits them and builds the negative keyword list.
DIY or hire?
Who are you
paying to reach?
Paste your search terms report, one search per line. It splits the people who want to hire someone from the people doing it themselves, and builds the negative keyword list. The starting list is an example.
Share of these searches not looking to hire
-
Check these first
Negative keywords to add
A first sort by wording. Check each one before you add it as a negative.
What to
bid on.
Hire-ready searches name the person or the job: 'tax accountant near me', 'accountant for small business', 'bookkeeper [suburb]', 'set up a company accountant'. Niche searches, like 'accountant for doctors', usually cost less to win and tend to convert better, because the page can answer them exactly.
Send each to the page that matches it. An ad for 'accountant for tradies' should land on the tradies page, not the home page.
Time it to
the calendar.
Individual returns are due 31 October for self-preparers, and agent clients get later dates under the lodgment program. Business clients follow the quarterly BAS dates.
Spend when demand is highest and you can take the work. The tax time page has a capacity planner for working out when to stop.
Policies
to check.
In Australia, Google requires advertisers of financial services to complete financial services verification. Tax and accounting aren't named in its examples, but a firm advertising financial advice, including SMSF advice, should expect to be in scope. Since 1 July 2016, accountants need an AFS licence, or to act for a licensee, to advise on SMSFs.
Google also restricts ads for getting government documents and business identifiers, which it says includes the ABN. It also covers ads for unclaimed tax rebates. If you advertise ABN or business name registration, check the policy first.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
in an accounting ad account.
- 1
No negative keywords
Ads showing for myTax, calculators and 'how to' searches all through tax time.
- 2
Every ad to the home page
Niche searches landing on a page that talks about everything.
- 3
Spend that ignores capacity
The same budget in October as in August, long after the team stopped taking new returns.
- 4
Calls not tracked
Many enquiries come by phone, and nobody knows which ad made the phone ring.
The honest bit. Ads won't fix a practice that's slow to call back. In a busy tax time, the firm that answers first usually gets the client.
Questions
people ask.
Do Google Ads work for accountants?
They can, when the budget goes on hire-ready and niche searches, the do-it-yourself searches are blocked, and spend is timed to tax time and capacity.
What keywords should accountants bid on?
Searches that name the person or job ('tax accountant near me', 'accountant for small business') and niche searches ('accountant for tradies'). Block 'mytax', 'calculator', 'how to' and similar.
Do accountants need financial services verification for Google Ads?
Google requires it for financial services advertisers in Australia. Firms advertising financial or SMSF advice should expect it. For pure tax and bookkeeping ads, check with Google.
When should accountants run ads?
Around the ATO's dates, and only while you can take the work. The hub's demand calendar maps the year.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
Google Ads audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.