An accounting firm website has two seasons. From January through April it is a front desk: who you are, whether you are taking clients, what a return costs, how to book, and where to upload the documents. From May through December it is a sales page for the work that keeps the firm alive in the quiet months, bookkeeping, payroll, cleanup, tax resolution, and entity setup. We build both and switch the front of the site with the calendar.
Credentials come first because clients check them. A CPA license is verified at the California Board of Accountancy, an enrolled agent through the IRS, and a tax preparer who is neither has to be registered with CTEC and bonded. The site shows the number, links it to the lookup, and states it in plain language. A preparer who hides that is competing against firms that do not.
Then the machinery. A portal for secure upload and e-signature, so a client never texts a photo of a Social Security number. A scheduler with the season rules built in. Reminders that go out on their own for the organizer, the missing document, the quarterly estimate, and the October extension deadline. And a receptionist that answers the February phone, says whether you have room, and books the appointment while you keep preparing.
Underneath, the search layer: a page per service and per city, AccountingService schema, a Google Business Profile that matches the site, and copy written to answer the questions people ask a search engine or an AI assistant, like what a small business return costs in Pasadena or who handles an FTB notice in Anaheim.