Accounting marketing
How people choose
an accountant.
Most people choose an accountant on a recommendation, then check the firm makes sense. In Intuit QuickBooks' 2025 survey, 7 in 10 small businesses found their current accountant through a referral or word of mouth, and 58% of those still looking would ask for one. When they switch, the reasons are mostly about cost, expertise and communication. So the practical levers are asking for referrals on purpose, making your niche obvious and being clear about fees.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Referral first,
search second.
In the same survey, over 9 in 10 firms said word of mouth was their main source of clients. Yet only 38% asked most of their clients for referrals, and 32% of small practices asked none. Only 22% of businesses had referred their accountant in the past year.
Those are vendor figures from a software company, so read them as one survey, not the whole market. But the gap they show is common: firms depend on referrals and leave them to chance.
Firms depend on referrals and leave them to chance.
How many referrals
aren't you asking for?
Put in your own numbers. The point isn't the exact figure. It's seeing how much changes when you ask everyone, at the right moment.
Referral gap
How many referrals
aren't you asking for?
Most firms say referrals are their main source of clients. Few ask for them on purpose. Put in your numbers. The starting ones are made up.
New clients a year from referrals
-
Why people
switch.
In QuickBooks' earlier survey, most businesses were satisfied with their accountant. Of those considering a change, the top reasons were cost, limited expertise, more complex needs and poor communication. Over 7 in 10 businesses preferred fixed-price billing.
That's useful for marketing. 'Limited expertise' and 'more complex needs' mean a business has outgrown its accountant. A page that speaks to a business at that stage, like a sole trader becoming a company, catches people right when they're ready to move.
When they
decide.
Tax time sets the rhythm. Individual returns open on 1 July, and self-preparers must lodge by 31 October. The ATO's lodgment figures show more self-prepared returns than agent returns lodged by late September, because registered agents get later due dates.
The new financial year is also when a lot of businesses review who does their books. A late, stressful tax time is often what tips someone into looking.
What they check
before calling.
Careful clients check registration. Registered tax agents appear on the TPB register, and registered agents must tell prospective clients how to search it.
Then the website: do you work with businesses like theirs, how do fees work, and who would they actually deal with. Reviews matter less when someone arrives by referral, but they still look.
What I see most often
What I see
on accounting sites.
- 1
No niche on the site
Every kind of client on one page, so the tradie, the landlord and the startup each feel like an afterthought.
- 2
The referral ask is an afterthought
A line in the email signature, rather than a moment in the process.
- 3
Nothing about switching
No page explaining how you take over from the previous accountant, which is the part people dread.
- 4
Fees hidden
Not even how you charge, which sends price-anxious people elsewhere.
The honest bit. Survey data from software companies is useful but not neutral. Your own client list is the best source: ask your last ten new clients how they found you.
Questions
people ask.
How do most people find an accountant?
Through referrals. In one vendor survey, 7 in 10 small businesses found their current accountant by referral or word of mouth. Search engines were the next most common way people looked.
Why do businesses change accountants?
Mainly cost, limited expertise for their needs, more complex needs and poor communication, according to QuickBooks' survey.
When do people change accountants?
Often around the new financial year, before tax time gets busy, or after a stressful year. A business that has outgrown its accountant may move at any time.
How can I check my accountant is registered?
Search the Tax Practitioners Board register. Registered agents must tell clients how to search it.
Do clients prefer fixed fees?
In one vendor survey, over 7 in 10 small businesses preferred fixed-price billing.
Related
Keep
going.
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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.