‘Accountants and business advisors.’ But what do you advise on?
It's one of the most common phrases in accountancy marketing, and one of the least useful. Here's why 'business advisers' falls flat, and what to say instead.
Compared to the average person on the planet, I’ve spent many more hours analysing websites that belong to accountancy firms.
Despite what you may think, this isn’t a cry for help. And if it is, my health insurance will pick up the tab.
But I can assure you that, if you spend five minutes or more Googling accountancy firm websites, you’ll start seeing the same phrase, over and over again.
Accountants and business advisors
It’s not difficult to see why firms use it. They want to tell prospective clients that they do more than annual accounts, tax returns and the usual compliance work.
But, as far as I can see, it’s a waste of time.
That’s because ‘business advisor’ can mean so many things.
Many accountants seem to think it’s a magic search phrase that will land them clients who are looking for help with cash flow, forecasting or setting up the right business structure.
Which is great, until you realise those people are just as likely to be looking for help with recruitment, HR, technology, leadership training or getting their company ready for an IPO.
It’s like using a very large colander to catch a very few raindrops. It doesn’t work, it’s faintly ridiculous, and it doesn’t help you think clearly about what you actually do offer.
I’m not the first to notice the problem
It seems that I’m not alone in objecting to this tired bit of accountancy copy.
In August 2025, Shane Lukas published an article on the ACCA website called Why some accountants don’t like the term ‘business advisory’.
His verdict was clear:
“It’s meaningless.”
He also said:
“Almost every accountant’s website says ‘Accountants and Business Advisers’ without explaining what they actually do.”
Futrli made a similar point in an article on the ICAEW website entitled How to build an advisory culture in your accountancy firm. It describes advisory as “overhyped and overused” and says:
“Advisory is simply everything firms do that isn’t compliance.”
That’s quite a lot to ask one word to cover.
And there’s another problem. Once a whole sector starts using the same language – especially when it’s imprecise and short on meaning – firms start sounding like each other.
The irony? There’s money in advisory work
I’d say the main reason accountancy firms keep plugging themselves as ‘business advisors’ (or business ‘advisers’) is because, increasingly, there’s money to be made in advisory work.
Xero’s 2025 UK Accounting and Bookkeeping Industry Report found that 79% of firms reported higher revenue, with advisory services playing a bigger role.
ICAEW’s 2026 research into UK mid-tier firms also found that 83% expected the accountant’s role to move away from compliance and reporting towards areas such as judgement, systems thinking and ethical oversight by 2030.
But the point remains that, if this kind of work is going to generate more of a firm’s revenue, it needs to be sold properly.
Calling it ‘business advisory’ doesn’t do that.
Clients are looking for help with a problem
ICAEW published a useful article in April 2026. It’s called The advice that businesses want most from their accountants.
Arshia Bhatnagar, co-founder of drinks business Bhangra Blends, described what her business wanted from its accountant:
“What we really needed was someone who could help us build the financial side of the business like cash flow, understanding our margins properly.”
That’s how clients think. It’s worth remembering.
Sell ‘business advisory’ at your own peril
Call yourself a ‘business advisor’ and you’ll find it’s too broad, used by too many competitors and often describes work that has nothing to do with accountancy.
There’s a better way to do it.
Instead, work out which problems your clients want fixed. Remember that your prospective clients are looking for specific help by typing queries into search engines or AI assistants.
They might say:
Which accountant can help me work out whether I can afford to take on two more employees?
Or:
My company is profitable, but cash is always tight. What should I ask my accountant to look at?
Or:
Who can help me build a forecast before I open a second site?
Match those problems to the services you genuinely provide. Then build your website and content around the connections between them.
That will make your services easier to find in Google, easier for AI systems to understand and, most importantly, easier for a prospective client to recognise as the answer to the problem they have.
So, if your website is still asking clients to buy business advisory when you could be showing them exactly how you can help, talk to me about fixing it.
