Why Is Public Relations Important for Accounting Firms?
It can be hard to know what is genuine or which businesses to trust online with the proliferation of AI-generated content, deepfakes and dubious sources of information.
This is why effective digital public relations is so important.
Positioning your accounting firm as a reputable source of expertise with public validation from trusted sources provides reassurance to current and prospective clients who want to know if you are capable enough to help solve their problems.
The digital world is an environment where taking time to build high-quality connections and relationships is a strategic means for boosting the credibility of your organization. Doing so effectively achieves more than just attracting potential business. It also encourages traditional and AI-driven search engines—Google and AI Overviews, for example— to want to display or cite your website for readers.
What Are Important Principles for Effective Public Relations At An Accounting Firm?
Accounting firms ready to invest in building effective digital public relations should consider these four principles as they build their programs.
The importance of earning trust.
Building a positive perception of your accounting firm online means focusing on professionalism, expertise and credibility. Consumers don’t make buying decisions or even inquiries without first researching potential service providers. So it is important to look and “feel" good to others.
Generate authority through quality backlinks.
When reputable media and industry organizations choose to link to your website, it is a signal of trust. In turn, this lets search engines (including AI search engines) believe in your authority. The result can be higher rankings and a higher likelihood of a citation in response to a user query.
Thought leadership drives belief among clients.
Earning a spot for one of your firm’s professionals in a podcast interview or as author of an article in a well-known industry trade publication reinforces a broad belief in your team’s expertise. This, in turn, builds perceptions among prospective clients and attracts them to your firm’s brand.
Quality content attracts AI search engines.
As I wrote in the recent guide, How to Keep Your Accounting Firm Visible Online in an AI-Driven World (link coming soon!), your ability to produce in-depth, quality content will often outcompete the top-level summaries shared by AI Overviews and could even earn a citation as a result. Publish high-quality insights as frequently as possible to build strong digital authority.
What Are the Steps to Implementing a Public Relations Program at a Mid-Sized Accounting Firm?
Building an effective public relations program for your accounting firm doesn’t need to be a complex process. Focusing on a few important principles positions your accounting firm to benefit from positive online perceptions and a reputation for trust and authority.
Define Your Objectives and Positioning
Define your public relations goals. Which audiences do you want to engage and attract with your content – prospective clients, new referral sources or, perhaps, even prospective team members? What expertise does your firm offer (e.g. nonprofit audits, financial planning, industry professionals or CAS expertise) that will encourage your audiences to want to reach out?
Once you have answered these questions, build messaging or audit your current messaging to ensure it reflects your positioning goals.
Attract Industry Audiences Including Media
Your accounting firm’s professionals, especially your partners and managers, are uniquely positioned to share your brand’s story. Ensure your website and other digital media assets such as their LinkedIn profiles reflect their backgrounds and capabilities. Their online bios should include up-to-date details about their presentations, interviews and articles as well as media-friendly summaries of their qualifications and expertise.
Upload high-resolution, professional headshots, provide easy-to-find contact details and reinforce to those team members the importance of responding to media queries promptly while informing the firm’s marketing and communications team.
See my article Content With Personality (I) - Author Information for more details.
Generate In-Depth Thought Leadership Content
Clients and industry stakeholders including media need immediate signals of credibility and expertise when they visit your website, social media and other digital assets. This comes in the form of in-depth blogs, podcasts, infographics, videos and social posts. Topics to cover could include:
Expert commentary on the latest tax bill (as of this writing in late June 2025, writing or speaking about President Trump’s “big, beautiful tax bill” is a good opportunity)
Financial trends in specific industry niches relevant to your firm’s business
Practical tips (including case studies) for small business owners
Attribute your firm’s thought leadership to a professional at your firm so reporters or event organizers know who to contact for additional information. Anonymous insights cannot be attributed to a particular professional and therefore make it likelier that someone who might want to reach out to your firm for a conversation will move on.
Don’t wait until a reporter demonstrates interest before you publish. We’ve all heard the expression “dress for success”. That means preparing as early as possible—now, in other words—to generate content that positions your firm, and its experienced professionals, as thought leaders with something worthwhile to contribute to industry conversations.
Be Proactive in Your Outreach
There is no need to wait for a reporter to contact your accounting firm. In fact, many media representatives are sought-after by forward-thinking firms who recognize the value of being associated with reputable contacts.
Being proactive should start with building a list of local business and industry publications where visibility could build trust with readers and potential clients. Examples include:
The Washington Business Journal and the Maryland Daily Record*
Industry-specific publications such as Construction Executive or the National Automobile Dealers Association's publications
*These examples are relevant to me in Maryland, but your firm will want to include others based on publications that cover your geographic location.
Then consider short pitches your firm could make based on its expertise in certain areas such as “Revenue Diversification Strategies for Nonprofits” or “Top 5 Small Business Financial Strategies in Maryland”.
Keep the pitches focused on how the information your team members share will benefit readers, viewers or listeners; avoid self-promotion.
Earn Backlinks and Monitor Mentions
Backlinks from reputable sources such as the websites of business or industry publications provide trust and authority. First, they increase the likelihood that search engines will want to display your site due to the perception of credibility. Secondly, backlinks provide an easy path for readers of the publications to visit your website and experience your branding and thought leadership.
Whenever you are quoted in a business publication or publish a bylined article for another site, always ask for a backlink to your site. If an outlet would prefer not to do that, you always have the alternative option of building an “As Seen In” page on your website where you can list the publications in which your team members have been quoted and include links to those articles or interviews.
Finally, be sure to track when your accounting firm is mentioned online. Google Alerts is a great, free tool that lets you schedule keyword-based notifications for delivery to your inbox whenever your firm or one of your professionals is mentioned.
Be Patient. Track Results and Repeat.
It takes time for an accounting firm to build an effective public relations program so be patient when you start. None of the above-mentioned tactics bear fruit instantly since they are typically preceded by effective relationship-building with reporters and other industry representatives. Perceptions of trust and authority do not come easily – take the time to build credibility with the individuals and groups who can ultimately help you succeed by avoiding self-promotional pitches.
With that in mind, once your accounting firm does begin to establish a digital public relations presence in the industry, measure your progress.
Monitor your website for traffic spikes after your company is mentioned in a business publication
Monitor your SEO rankings for improved positioning over time, especially for branded and service keywords for which you are seeking public relations visibility.
Ask inbound inquiries or referral sources who contact you how they heard about your firm. Can their decision be tied to your public relations coverage?
Monitor the frequency of your media coverage and pitch acceptance rate. Have you successfully established trust with reporters and editors?
Final Thought: PR Builds Reputation Your Accounting Firm Needs
Review your public relations strategy occasionally to evaluate your successes and areas for improvement. It can be exciting to see your results if your firm is truly committed to serving high-value, current insights to readers, listeners and viewers in your industry.
At the end of the day, a small or mid-sized accounting firm doesn’t need a Super Bowl ad or a Wall Street Journal op-ed to achieve its public relations goals. While brand recognition is stellar, your firm is more likely to succeed by focusing on media outlets that serve your target client audience. Most of these will be regional or industry-specific publications.
Establishing trust and credibility with a digital public relations program is possible by using the right strategies, building good relationships and being patient.
An effective presence gives your firm the chance to be seen, heard and trusted in the places that matter most — while also impressing traditional and AI-driven search engines for enhanced SEO and possible citations.
In today’s digital marketplace, good work isn’t enough to succeed. Build a reputation that precedes you. Digital public relations is how you do it.
Joe Kovacs, APR is founder and managing director of Kovacs Communications, a consultancy that serves small to mid-sized accounting firms with strategic lead generation and marketing solutions that drive growth. Joe has 15+ years of in-house marketing and business development leadership experience at two Top 225 firms in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. Connect with us on LinkedIn or via email. Or schedule a complimentary consultation.