How to Get More Customers as a Accountant in Australia

Published by MoneyNearMe | Updated January 2026

Introduction

You didn't become an accountant to spend your evenings worrying about where the next client is coming from. You got into this profession because you're sharp with numbers, you understand compliance, and you genuinely help people and businesses keep more of what they earn.

But here's the reality: being excellent at accounting doesn't automatically fill your appointment book.

Most accounting firms in Australia still rely almost entirely on word of mouth and referrals. And look, referrals are brilliant. They convert well, they cost nothing, and they tend to stick around. But referrals alone create a feast-or-famine cycle that makes it nearly impossible to plan for growth, hire staff, or scale beyond a certain ceiling.

The landscape has shifted. In 2026, 97% of Australians search online before choosing a local service provider — including accountants. When a small business owner in Parramatta needs a new BAS agent, they're not flipping through the Yellow Pages. They're Googling "accountant near me" or asking ChatGPT for a recommendation.

The accounting firms that show up in those moments are the ones winning new clients every single week — without spending a fortune on advertising.

This guide walks you through exactly how to get more customers as an accountant in Australia, step by step, using strategies that actually work right now.

The average accounting engagement ranges from $200 for basic tax returns to $5,000+ for ongoing business advisory packages. Even one or two extra clients per month can transform your bottom line.

Let's get into it.

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TL;DR

• This is a step-by-step guide to getting more customers as an accountant in Australia
• We cover Google Maps optimisation, reviews, local SEO, content marketing, and AI search
• Average client value for accountants: $200–$5,000+ per engagement
• Most strategies cost nothing but time — and the ROI compounds over months
• If you want faster results, we handle all of this at MoneyNearMe for $500–$2,000/month

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Step 1: Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile

If you do nothing else from this guide, do this. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most powerful free tool available to any accounting firm in Australia. It's the listing that appears in the map pack when someone searches "accountant near me" or "tax accountant [suburb]."

And here's what most accountants get wrong: they either haven't claimed their profile at all, or they claimed it three years ago and haven't touched it since.

Here's how to set it up properly:

Claim your listing. Head to business.google.com and search for your firm. If it exists, claim it. If it doesn't, create it. Google will verify you via postcard, phone, or email.

Complete every single field. Business name (exactly as it appears on your signage — no keyword stuffing), address, phone number, website URL, business hours, and business category. Your primary category should be "Accountant" or "Tax Preparation Service." Add secondary categories like "Bookkeeping Service" or "Business Management Consultant" where relevant.

Write a compelling business description. You have 750 characters. Use them. Mention your location, your specialties (tax returns, BAS lodgement, business advisory, SMSF), and who you serve (individuals, small businesses, tradies, medical professionals). Write for humans, not algorithms.

Upload quality photos. Your office, your team, your signage. Profiles with photos receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs. Use real images — not stock photography.

Add your services with descriptions and price ranges. Google lets you list individual services. Add them all: individual tax returns, business tax planning, BAS preparation, company setup, SMSF administration — whatever you offer.

Post weekly updates. Google Business Profiles have a "Posts" feature that most accountants completely ignore. Share tax deadline reminders, legislative changes, client wins (with permission), or links to blog articles. This signals to Google that your profile is active and relevant.

Keep your NAP consistent. NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. These details must be identical across your website, your Google Business Profile, your social media, and every online directory you're listed on. Inconsistencies confuse Google and hurt your rankings.

A fully optimised Google Business Profile can drive 50–200+ calls per month for accounting firms in competitive suburbs. It's not optional — it's foundational.

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Step 2: Get Your Website Ranking for Local Keywords

Your Google Business Profile gets you into the map pack. Your website gets you into the organic results below it. Owning both positions means you're dominating the search results page — and your competitors aren't getting a look in.

The key to ranking locally as an accountant is specificity.

Target service + location keywords. Think about what your ideal client actually types into Google:

• "Tax accountant Penrith"
• "Small business accountant Melbourne CBD"
• "BAS agent near Parramatta"
• "SMSF accountant Brisbane"

Each of these searches represents someone actively looking for what you offer, in the area where you operate. Each one deserves its own page on your website.

Create dedicated service pages. Don't lump everything onto a single "Services" page. Build individual pages for each core service: individual tax returns, business tax planning, bookkeeping, BAS lodgement, company and trust setup, SMSF administration, and business advisory. Each page should include:

• A clear headline with the service name and your primary location
• 500–800 words explaining the service, who it's for, and why your firm is the right choice
• A strong call to action (phone number, booking link, contact form)
• Schema markup so Google understands the content structure

Build suburb-specific landing pages. If you serve multiple areas, create a page for each one. "Accountant in Blacktown," "Tax Returns Liverpool," "Small Business Accountant Castle Hill." Include genuine local details — mention nearby landmarks, parking information, or how clients in that area typically find you. Thin, duplicated pages won't rank. Unique, useful content will.

Nail the technical basics. Your website needs to load in under three seconds, work flawlessly on mobile (70%+ of local searches happen on phones), use HTTPS, and have a logical site structure. If your site was built five years ago on a cheap template and hasn't been updated since, it's probably hurting you more than helping.

Build local citations and backlinks. Get listed on Australian business directories: Yellow Pages, TrueLocal, Hotfrog, and industry-specific platforms like the Tax Practitioners Board directory. Each quality listing sends a trust signal to Google that your firm is legitimate and established.

At MoneyNearMe, we build local SEO strategies specifically for accountants that target the exact keywords your ideal clients are searching. If you'd rather focus on serving clients while we handle the rankings, get in touch with our team today.

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Step 3: Build a Review Generation System

Reviews are the modern word of mouth. They're visible, permanent, and enormously influential. BrightLocal's 2025 research found that 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and accountants are no exception.

But here's the problem: happy clients rarely leave reviews on their own. Unhappy ones sometimes do. Without a system, your review profile will never reflect the quality of your work.

When to ask: The best time to request a review is immediately after a positive outcome — right after you've saved a client money on their tax return, resolved a BAS issue, or helped them set up their new company structure. The positive emotion is fresh, and they're most likely to follow through.

How to ask: Keep it simple and direct. After delivering a result, say something like:

"Really glad we could get that sorted for you, [Name]. If you've got 30 seconds, a Google review would mean the world to us — it helps other business owners in [suburb] find us. I'll text you the link."

Then actually send the link. Make it as frictionless as possible.

Use a direct review link. Google lets you create a short URL that takes clients straight to your review form. No searching, no clicking around. Drop this link into an SMS, email, or even a QR code on your invoice.

Create an email template for your admin team:

Subject: Quick favour, [Name]?

Hi [Name], thanks for trusting us with your [service]. If you had a good experience, we'd really appreciate a quick Google review — it helps local business owners find reliable accounting support. Here's the link: [URL]. Takes 30 seconds. Thanks so much!

Respond to every review. Positive or negative. Thank reviewers by name, mention the specific service where appropriate, and keep it professional. Google's algorithm considers review responses as an engagement signal, and potential clients read them closely.

Aim for consistency, not volume spikes. Two or three reviews per week, month after month, looks far more natural to Google than 20 reviews in a single day followed by silence. Build the habit into your client offboarding process.

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Step 4: Create Content That Attracts Customers

Content marketing for accountants isn't about going viral on social media. It's about publishing genuinely useful information that ranks in Google, demonstrates your expertise, and gives potential clients a reason to trust you before they've ever picked up the phone.

Blog posts that answer real questions. Think about what your clients ask you every single week:

• "Can I claim my home office on tax?"
• "What's the difference between a sole trader and a company?"
• "When is BAS due this quarter?"
• "How much super do I need to pay my employees?"

Each of these questions is a blog post waiting to be written. And each one can rank in Google, bringing in potential clients who are actively looking for answers you provide every day.

Guides and checklists. "End of Financial Year Checklist for Australian Small Businesses" or "First-Time Business Owner's Guide to Tax in Australia" — these are the types of resources that get bookmarked, shared, and linked to. They establish your firm as an authority.

FAQs on every service page. Add three to five frequently asked questions at the bottom of each service page. These can capture featured snippets in Google (the answer boxes that appear at the top of search results) and directly address objections that might stop someone from calling.

Write for your ideal client, not for other accountants. Use plain language. Avoid jargon. If you're targeting tradies, write like you'd talk to a tradie. If you're targeting medical professionals, address their specific concerns (practice setup, income splitting, HECS implications).

We build content and SEO strategies for accountants that turn your expertise into a steady stream of inbound enquiries. It compounds over time — articles you publish today can generate leads for years.

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Step 5: Optimise for AI Search (GEO)

This is the frontier, and most accountants haven't even heard of it yet. That's exactly why it matters.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of getting your firm recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. These platforms are rapidly becoming the first place Australians turn for recommendations — especially younger business owners and professionals.

When someone asks ChatGPT, "Who's a good small business accountant in Sydney's western suburbs?" the AI pulls its answer from structured, authoritative, well-cited web content. If your firm has that content, you get recommended. If you don't, your competitor does.

How to optimise for AI search:

• Structure your content clearly with headers, lists, and direct answers to specific questions. AI models favour content that's easy to parse and unambiguous.
• Build topical authority. Publish multiple pieces of interlinked content around your core services. An AI model is more likely to recommend a firm that appears authoritative across many related topics.
• Get mentioned on third-party sites. Directory listings, guest articles, industry profiles, and media mentions all feed the data that AI models reference.
• Keep your information current. AI tools increasingly prioritise recency. Outdated content gets skipped.

We cover this in depth in our GEO guide for accountants. This is a genuine competitive advantage right now — the window won't stay open forever.

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Step 6: Track Your Results

Marketing without measurement is just spending money and hoping. You need to know what's working, what isn't, and where to double down.

Track these metrics monthly:

• Google Business Profile insights: calls, direction requests, website clicks, and search queries that triggered your listing.
• Website traffic from organic search: use Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. Monitor which pages are driving traffic and which keywords are growing.
• Form submissions and phone calls: install call tracking (we recommend CallRail or a similar platform) and ensure your contact forms feed into a CRM or spreadsheet you actually check.
• Review velocity: how many new reviews you're getting per week or month, and your average star rating.
• Keyword rankings: track your target keywords (service + suburb combinations) weekly. Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or BrightLocal make this straightforward.
• Cost per lead and cost per client: if you know your average client value ($200–$5,000+), you can calculate the actual return on your marketing spend.

Don't obsess over vanity metrics like total website visitors or social media followers. Focus on the numbers that translate to phone calls, consultations, and signed engagement letters.

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When to Hire a Professional

Everything in this guide can be done yourself. The question is whether it should be.

If you're a sole practitioner with spare time between clients and a genuine interest in digital marketing, DIY is a reasonable starting point. Claim your Google profile, tidy up your website, and start asking for reviews.

But if your time is better spent serving clients — and it almost certainly is at $200–$500+ per hour — then the maths is simple. A single new business advisory client worth $3,000–$5,000 per year more than covers professional marketing support.

At MoneyNearMe, we work exclusively with Australian service businesses like accounting firms. Our packages range from $500 to $2,000 per month and include Google Business Profile optimisation, local SEO, content creation, review strategy, and GEO — everything covered in this guide, done properly, done consistently.

We've helped accountants across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth go from invisible online to fully booked within six to twelve months.

Talk to us about growing your accounting firm →

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can accountants get more customers online? Optimise your Google Business Profile, rank your website for local keywords, collect reviews consistently, and publish helpful content that builds trust with potential clients.

What's the fastest way to get more calls as an accountant? Fully optimise your Google Business Profile and start asking every happy client for a review. Most firms see increased calls within 30–60 days.

How much should I spend on marketing as an accountant? Most successful accounting firms invest 5–10% of revenue. For targeted local SEO and GEO, expect $500–$2,000 per month for professional management.

Is Google Ads or SEO better for accountants? SEO delivers better long-term ROI. Google Ads can generate immediate leads but costs add up quickly. The best strategy uses both together.