The accountancy website checklist.
An accountancy website checklist is a set of practical tests that show whether your firm's site explains who you help, works on a phone, routes each client type, makes booking easy and earns trust. This one has 25 checks in five groups, each with why it matters and how to test it yourself.
By Laith, Co-founder and product designer at FlowConverts, with 14+ years designing websites and apps. Last updated 22 October 2026.
(TL;DR)
The short version.
Most accountancy websites lose prospects on clarity and trust, not design. Work through the 25 checks in five groups: say who you help, make it work on a phone, route each client type, make enquiring easy and show real proof. Fix failures in the first group and the enquiry group first.
(Why)
What the checklist is for.
Your website has one commercial job: turn the people who find you, or get sent to you, into consultations. For most practices that's business owners referred by a solicitor, a bank manager or another client, who look you up that evening before deciding whether to call. These checks test that moment.
They're grouped under the five CRISP dimensions: Contextual, Responsive, Intelligent, Seamless and Powerful. Grab a notepad, mark each one pass, fail or unsure, and note the page where you spotted the problem.
(Contextual)
Can a prospect tell who you help?
Five checks on whether a first-time visitor gets what you do, who it's for and what to do next, within a few seconds.
- Your homepage says who you help in one line. 'Accountants in Leeds' describes you. 'Accounts, tax and advice for owner-managed businesses in Leeds' tells the right person they're in the right place. Check: show the homepage to someone outside the firm for five seconds, then ask who it's for.
- Services are written around client problems. A list of compliance tasks reads like every other firm. Check: count how many sentences on each service page start with 'we' versus the client's situation.
- Advisory work has its own page. Bury it under 'other services' and you mostly attract price-shoppers for year-end accounts. Check: can you reach an advisory page from the main menu in one click?
- Your location and service area are obvious. Lots of prospects want someone local. Check: find your town and service area without scrolling to the footer.
- Every page has one clear next step. Three competing buttons usually means none gets clicked. Check: on each key page, name the single action you want a visitor to take.
(Responsive)
Does the site work on a phone?
Plenty of referrals check you on a phone between meetings. These test speed and mobile usability, which Google also measures through Core Web Vitals.
- Key pages load quickly on mobile. A slow page loses people before they read a word. Check: run your homepage and main service page through Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev/) and look at the mobile result.
- Your phone number is tap-to-call. Check: tap it on your own phone and see if it dials.
- Key services are two taps from the homepage. Mobile menus love hiding the important pages. Check: open the menu on a phone and time how long it takes to reach your main service.
- Forms are easy on a phone. Tiny fields and the wrong keyboard make people give up. Check: fill in your own contact form on a phone, one-handed.
- Fee guides are pages, not heavy PDFs. Big PDFs are slow and fiddly on mobile. Check: list every PDF linked from the site and note its file size.
(Intelligent)
Does the site route each client type?
A sole trader, a growing limited company and a landlord want different things. These check the site sends each one to the right place.
- Visitors can choose by client type. People look for themselves before they look for a service. Check: is there a clear route for each main client type from the homepage?
- Sector pages exist where you have real experience. 'We work with dental practices' beats a generic list, if it's true. Check: list your top three sectors by fee income and see if each has a page.
- Helpful content answers real questions, and is current. Articles on deadlines and tax changes show expertise, but only while they're right. Check: look at your three most recent articles and confirm the dates and facts still hold.
- Search basics are in place. Check: every page has a unique title, your Google Business Profile is up to date, and the site is verified in Google Search Console.
- You explain how fees work. No price list needed, but saying how fees are set helps people decide you're in range. Check: can a visitor find anything about fees without contacting you?
(Seamless)
Is booking a consultation easy?
This is where interest becomes an enquiry, or quietly doesn't.
- The contact form asks only what you need. Every extra field loses someone. Check: count them. Name, email, phone and a short message is usually plenty.
- You say what happens after someone enquires. 'We'll call you within one working day' removes doubt, as long as you keep the promise. Check: read the text around your form.
- People can book a consultation directly. Some would rather pick a slot than wait for a call back. Check: can a visitor book a time without sending a message first?
- The form actually reaches someone. Broken forms and unmonitored inboxes are more common than most partners think. Check: send a test enquiry and track where it lands and how long the reply takes.
- Enquiries are measured. Without tracking you can't tell which pages bring in work. Check: ask whoever runs your analytics whether form submissions and calls are recorded as events.
(Powerful)
Does the site earn trust?
Accountancy is a high-trust purchase. These check the site looks as credible as the firm really is.
- Real team photos, names and qualifications. Stock handshakes don't help. Check: can a visitor see who they'd actually work with?
- Proof sits near the decision. Testimonials work best on the service pages they relate to. Check: look for proof on each main service page, and only use quotes you have permission to publish.
- Professional body membership is shown correctly. Bodies such as ICAEW and ACCA set rules on how firms describe themselves and use logos. Check: compare your wording and logos with your body's current guidance.
- Company and privacy details are complete. A limited company must show certain details on its website. Check: compare your footer with the GOV.UK guidance on company details (gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/signs-stationery-and-promotional-material), and make sure your privacy policy and cookie notice are current.
- The design matches your fees. A dated site makes a premium firm look like a budget one. Check: put your homepage next to two competitors and ask a client which looks most credible. Check text contrast against the WCAG guidelines while you're there.
(Priorities)
What to fix first.
You'll probably fail more checks than you expected. That's normal. You don't have to fix everything at once.
(01)
1. Contextual and Seamless
These affect every visitor on every page, so start here.
(02)
2. Mobile speed
Then make sure the site is quick and usable on a phone.
(03)
3. Trust signals
Then people, proof and credentials.
(04)
4. Routing and content
Then client-type routes, sector pages and articles.
(05)
5. Write down a baseline
Note the date and your results before you change anything, so you can tell whether the changes worked.
(Questions)
Accountancy website questions.
What should an accountancy firm website include?
At minimum: one clear line saying who you help, service pages written around client problems, a separate page for advisory work, real team profiles with qualifications, proof such as testimonials used with permission, an easy way to book a consultation, and the legal details a UK company has to show. Everything else in this checklist makes those basics work harder for you.
How often should an accountancy firm review its website?
A light review every quarter and a full pass once a year, or after any big change like a merger, new service line, new office or senior hire. Websites drift quietly. Team pages go stale, forms break after updates and speed slips as content piles up. A regular check catches it before prospects notice, and it only takes an afternoon.
Can I check my accountancy website for free?
Yes. Every check in this list can be done with your own phone and free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Google Search Console. For a quick starting point, take the free CRISP self-check: five questions, one per dimension. If you'd rather have someone go through your site properly and rank the fixes, that's what our paid website audit is for.
Do accountants need a good website if most work comes from referrals?
Usually, yes. Referred prospects still look you up before they call. The website either confirms the recommendation or gives them a reason to hesitate. A clear, credible site won't replace referrals, but it can stop good ones going cold before you ever hear about them. That's the quiet cost of a weak site: you never see the calls that didn't happen.
Want a rough read first?
The CRISP self-check is five questions, one per dimension. Free, and done in a couple of minutes.
Rather we did it?
In a website audit we go through your firm's site against the full CRISP method and hand you the fixes in priority order.