How can an accountancy practice find new clients?
Updated 26 October 2026 · by Matt Vallis, Salenovo · numbers from the Companies House public register
Reach a company before it has chosen an accountant, or as its accounts fall due while it isn't registered at an accountant's address. About 15,020 companies were incorporated in the UK in the week of 19 October to 25 October 2026, and we expect about 6,209 of them to become trading businesses (Companies House register, our own count and model). Each needs its first accounts filed within 21 months of incorporation.
The usual ways, and what each is good for
Referrals and existing clients
The cheapest clients and the best fit. You can't turn the volume up when you need more.
Your website and Google Business Profile
These bring in people already searching for an accountant near them, who are also looking at the practices beside you.
Directories
ICAEW and ACCA both run find-an-accountant directories of their members, and comparison sites list practices by area.
Banks, solicitors and other introducers
Good clients, slowly. It takes months of relationship before the first introduction.
Bought lists of new companies
Every company formed last week, unranked. Most will never trade, and you can't tell which from the list.
A ranked list at incorporation, and accounts due
What we send: each council's new companies every week, ranked by how likely each is to trade from the outcomes of 2.5 million earlier companies, with a checked website, mailbox or landline where one is public, and the companies whose accounts fall due soon that aren't registered at an accountant's address.
Why the first weeks matter
A new company has to file accounts and a confirmation statement whether it trades or not, so its directors look for help in its first months, and the practice that writes first is the one they meet. A company coming up to its first accounts with no accountant's address on the register is the second moment: the deadline is public, and late filing costs £150 to £1,500 in penalties.
What we send
£29 a month for a council, with the first two weeks free. Prices for a region or the UK, what a row looks like, and how many new companies trade.
Questions people also ask
Is it legal to email a new limited company?
Yes, under PECR a limited company or an LLP can be emailed without its prior consent, as long as you say who you are and give a way to opt out.
How many new companies actually trade?
About a third of those formed from 2022 to 2024 were trading by September 2026; about two in five of those formed since the 2024 fee rise.