The Best Ways to Find New Clients as an Accountant in 2025

The accounting profession in the UK is fiercely competitive. There are over 36,000 registered accounting firms across England and Wales alone, and every one of them is fighting for the same pool of clients. Yet every working day, over 2,500 brand-new companies are incorporated at Companies House — each of which needs an accountant.

The firms that grow in 2025 won't be the ones with the fanciest office or the longest credentials list. They'll be the ones with the smartest client acquisition strategies. Here are the methods that actually work.

1. Referrals: still the gold standard

Ask any successful accounting practice where their best clients come from and the answer is almost always the same: referrals. Word-of-mouth recommendations from existing clients carry an implicit trust that no advertisement can replicate.

The problem? Referrals are passive. You can't control when they happen, and most firms do nothing to systematically encourage them. Here's how to change that:

• Ask directly. After completing a successful engagement — year-end accounts, a tax saving, a smooth audit — ask your client if they know anyone who could benefit from similar help.
• Create a referral incentive. A modest discount on next year's fees, a gift voucher, or simply a handwritten thank-you note can make clients more likely to refer.
• Make it easy. Give clients a simple link or email template they can forward. The less effort required, the more referrals you'll receive.

Referrals should be the backbone of your growth strategy, but they shouldn't be your only strategy. They're inherently unpredictable and difficult to scale.

2. Networking and professional partnerships

Strategic partnerships with complementary professionals can create a steady pipeline of warm introductions. Consider building relationships with:

• Solicitors — particularly those advising on business formation, property transactions, or commercial contracts
• Mortgage brokers and financial advisers — who encounter self-employed clients needing accountancy support
• Business formation agents — who interact with new company founders at the very moment they need an accountant
• Insurance brokers — who serve a similar client base and can cross-refer

Local business networking groups like BNI, FSB events, and Chamber of Commerce meetings remain effective for building these relationships, though they do require a significant time commitment.

3. Content marketing and SEO

A well-maintained blog that answers the questions your ideal clients are already searching for is one of the most cost-effective long-term marketing investments an accounting firm can make.

Topics that consistently attract new business enquiries include:

• "Do I need an accountant for my limited company?"
• "How to register for VAT in the UK"
• "Director's salary vs dividends 2025"
• "When is my company tax return due?"

These are searches made by people who are actively looking for help — the highest-intent prospects you can find. A single well-optimised article can generate enquiries for years.

The key is consistency. Publishing one in-depth, genuinely helpful article per month will outperform a sporadic flurry of thin content every time.

4. Online directories and comparison sites

Being listed on platforms where potential clients actively search for accountants puts you in front of high-intent buyers. The most effective directories for UK accountants include:

Your Google Business Profile deserves particular attention. It's free, it appears in local search results, and it's often the first thing potential clients see. Ensure your listing is complete, your opening hours are accurate, and you actively collect Google reviews.

5. Cold outreach to newly incorporated companies

This is where the biggest untapped opportunity lies for accounting firms in 2025. Every working day, approximately 2,500 new companies are registered at Companies House. Every single one of them needs an accountant.

When a new limited company is formed, the directors face immediate obligations: registering for Corporation Tax within three months, filing a Confirmation Statement within 14 days of their first anniversary, preparing annual accounts, and potentially registering for VAT and PAYE. Many first-time directors don't fully understand these obligations, and they're actively looking for help.

The challenge has traditionally been accessing this data in a usable format. Companies House provides a free API, but it requires technical knowledge to query, doesn't allow you to filter by sector or location easily, and doesn't provide the data in a format ready for outreach.

Using NewCo Data for accountant lead generation

This is exactly the problem NewCo Data solves. We pull every new incorporation from Companies House daily, enrich it with director names and full registered addresses, classify each company by SIC code sector, and deliver it to your inbox as a filtered lead report before 9am each morning.

As an accountant, you can filter for the sectors you specialise in — whether that's construction, property, e-commerce, or professional services — and reach out to new company directors on the day their business is formed.

Timing is everything. A director who incorporated their company yesterday is far more receptive to an approach from an accountant than one who set up their business six months ago and has already chosen one. Being first matters enormously in this space.

6. Paid advertising (used wisely)

Google Ads can work for accountants, but the cost per click for competitive terms like "accountant near me" can be eye-watering — often £8–15 per click in major cities. That means you might spend £800–1,500 to generate just 100 website visitors, of whom perhaps 3–5 will make an enquiry.

If you do use paid ads, focus on long-tail keywords with clear commercial intent: "accountant for landlords in Manchester" will be cheaper and more targeted than "accountant UK."

Compare this to the cost of a data-driven approach. A daily feed of new company leads filtered to your target sector costs a fraction of a Google Ads budget and provides direct contact details for business owners who demonstrably need your services right now.

7. Social media (LinkedIn in particular)

For B2B professional services, LinkedIn remains the most effective social platform. Regularly posting insights about tax deadlines, common bookkeeping mistakes, and regulatory changes positions you as a knowledgeable professional and keeps your firm top of mind.

The most effective LinkedIn strategy for accountants isn't broadcasting — it's connecting directly with your target audience. If you're using a service like NewCo Data to identify newly incorporated companies, you can find the directors on LinkedIn and send a personalised connection request that references their new venture.

Combining strategies for maximum impact

No single channel will build a thriving practice on its own. The most successful accounting firms we've spoken to use a combination approach:

• Long-term foundation: SEO content and referral programmes for steady inbound enquiries
• Daily pipeline: New company data for proactive outreach to freshly incorporated businesses
• Brand building: LinkedIn presence and networking for credibility and warm introductions
• Quick wins: Directory listings and strategic partnerships for low-effort lead flow

The key insight is that proactive outreach to new companies fills the gap that passive strategies can't. You're not waiting for clients to find you — you're reaching them at the exact moment they need you most.

Key takeaways

Referrals remain the highest-quality source of new accounting clients, but they're difficult to scale. Content marketing and SEO build a long-term inbound pipeline. Online directories, particularly Google Business Profile, are low-effort and high-impact. Cold outreach to newly incorporated companies offers the biggest untapped opportunity in 2025. Timing is critical — reaching a new company director on day one dramatically increases your conversion rate. Tools like NewCo Data make it easy to access this data without any technical setup.

The firms that grow fastest in 2025 will be the ones that don't rely on a single strategy but combine passive brand building with proactive, data-driven outreach. Every day you're not reaching out to new companies is a day your competitors might be.