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Website brief template for accounting firms
Most firm websites are briefed in one meeting that ends with "you know what we do, make it look good", and the builder guesses at everything only the firm knows. This brief puts those decisions on paper. Pull the four prep items together and you can fill it in in about an hour, whoever builds the site.
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How to use it
How to use this template
1
Do the prep first
Export every URL on your current site, note your top pages and searches from Search Console and analytics, find where your last twenty good clients came from, and list who holds each login. The accounting firm website guide covers what a good firm site needs before you brief anyone.
2
Answer every line
Short answers are fine, and so is "not sure", written down so the builder knows to ask.
3
Agree it with the partners, then name one owner
The partners agree the brief once. One person with authority to approve copy then answers the builder’s questions within a day or two.
4
Judge the first version against the brief
Use the last section to read what comes back against the brief, not against taste. The get found in search and AI playbook covers what to do once it is live.
The template
The template in full
[Firm name] website brief
Replace everything in [square brackets].
Brief details
Item
Detail
Firm
[Firm name]
Website project owner (approves copy)
[Name, role]
Builder
[Us on a template, freelancer, agency or studio; contact]
Brief agreed by
[Partners, date]
Launch date we are working to
[Date, and why]
Before you start: four things to pull together
A list of every URL on the current site, from the website platform, the sitemap (usually yourdomain/sitemap.xml) or Google Search Console. Attach it.
Top pages and top searches from Search Console and analytics: which pages bring people in, and on which queries.
Where the last twenty good clients came from (referral, search, a partner, a seminar). Your practice management system (Xero Practice Manager, FYI, Kloud Connect, AccountKit or Karbon) may hold it; if not, ask the team.
A login list: who holds the domain, DNS, hosting, Google Business Profile and analytics.
1. Goals
Question
Our answer
The one thing this site must do better than the current one
[Answer]
What a good enquiry looks like (type of business, size, need)
[Answer]
How we will measure it after launch (enquiries by source, booked calls, a named page’s traffic)
[Answer]
2. Ideal client
Question
Our answer
Who we want more of (industry, size, stage, location)
[Answer]
The problem they have when they go looking for an accountant
[Answer]
Words they use for that problem (from emails and first calls, not our jargon)
[Answer]
Who we do not want, and how the site should politely signal it
[Answer]
3. Services and niches
Question
Our answer
Core services, in the order we want to sell them
[Answer]
Niches or industries that deserve their own page
[Answer]
Services we offer but do not want to promote
[Answer]
Services we do not offer (so the site never implies them)
[Answer]
4. How we charge
Question
Our answer
Method: fixed monthly packages, fixed price per job, scoped per engagement, or a mix
[Answer]
Whether the site shows prices, a "from" guide, or explains the method only (our decision, not the builder’s)
[Answer]
What happens between enquiry and proposal (a call, a questionnaire, a proposal tool)
[Answer]
5. Proof
Question
Our answer
Client testimonials we have written permission to use, with names and businesses
[Answer]
Case studies or before-and-after stories we can tell honestly
[Answer]
Credentials, memberships and registrations (with numbers where they apply)
[Answer]
Team members who will appear, with current photos and short bios
[Answer]
6. Voice
Question
Our answer
Three words for how we sound, and one word we never want to sound like
[Answer]
Two websites (any industry) whose tone we like, and what we like about them
[Answer]
Who approves copy, and how quickly they can turn it around
[Answer]
7. Pages
Must have: home, services, one page per niche, about and team, contact.
Useful extras we want: [pricing approach, client resources, careers, a "new client" page explaining onboarding].
Attach the full URL export from the prep step. Google’s guidance on moving a site with URL changes is to map each old URL to its new one, use server-side permanent redirects (301 or 308), keep them, generally, for at least a year, and submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
Old URL
New URL, or "retire" with a reason
[Old URL]
[New URL]
[Old URL]
[New URL]
[Old URL]
[Retire: reason]
Pages that must keep their exact URL (links from partners, directories, printed material): [list].
Who checks the redirects work on launch day: [name].
9. Integrations and links
Item
Tool and where it goes
Booking
[Tool, and which calendars it books into]
Enquiry forms
[Where each submission goes (an inbox, a CRM or practice management) and who is notified]
Client portal and document requests
[The login link for your practice management, document or onboarding tool]
Newsletter signup
[If any, and which list it feeds]
10. Compliance lines
Item
Our answer
Registration symbols and numbers we must display, and where
[Answer]
Limited liability or professional standards wording, if we participate in a scheme
[Answer]
Privacy policy, terms, and cookie or tracking notice: owner
[Name]
Who at the firm signs off that these are correct
[Name]
These vary by country and professional body. Two Australian examples: the Tax Practitioners Board’s symbol guidelines say registered tax practitioners must use the symbol with their registration number (the firm’s own number where the firm is the registered entity), and CPA Australia tells members in its professional standards scheme to carry the statement "Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation" on promotional material. Elsewhere, check your state board of accountancy or professional body’s advertising rules.
This template is a starting point, not legal advice. Your obligations depend on where you practise, your professional body and your clients; take advice on anything you are unsure of.
11. Access checklist
Account
What to record
Domain registrar
Account holder is the firm (yes or no); login owner: [name]
DNS
Where it is managed, and who can change records (email records live here too): [answer]
Hosting and website platform
Current logins and owner: [answer]
Google Business Profile
The firm is an owner; the builder is invited as a manager on their own Google account: [yes or no]
Analytics and Google Search Console
The firm owns the property; the builder has their own user, removed when the project ends: [yes or no]
12. How we will judge it
Our top five pages from the prep step each have a clear new home.
A stranger can tell in ten seconds who we help and how to start.
Our ideal client would recognise their problem in the first screen of the homepage (section 2).
Every niche we listed has a page, and nothing implies a service we do not offer (section 3).
Ten old URLs from the export each land on the right new page, not the homepage and not an error (section 8).
Every form and booking link has been tested end to end and lands where section 9 says (section 9).
The person named in section 10 has signed off the compliance lines in writing.
It works on a phone as well as a desktop.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How long should a website brief be?
Long enough to answer every line of this template, which for most firms is a few pages. A sharp ideal client and a complete URL list beat twenty pages of adjectives.
What should I ask a web builder before I hire them?
Who writes the copy, how redirects from your old site are handled, who owns the domain, hosting and analytics at the end, how many revision rounds are included, what happens if the date slips, and what ongoing costs exist after launch. Get the pricing answer in writing, with what is and is not included.
Do I need a new website or just better pages?
Often the second. If your top pages already bring the right people in and the gap is thin service pages or missing niche pages, rewriting on the current site may do more than a rebuild. The prep step usually makes the answer obvious. AI-ready websites for accounting firms explains what search and AI assistants look for.
Should the brief include our logo and brand colours?
Include whatever you have: logo files, colours, fonts, any brand guide. If you have none, say whether the builder is being asked to create them. A new identity is a separate job with its own decisions.
Who at the firm should own the website project?
One person with authority to approve copy and the time to answer questions within a day or two. The partners agree the brief up front, then delegate approvals to that owner.