Should accountants use Facebook? Yes, if your clients are local, and here is how to keep it simple

The short answer

It depends on who your clients are. Facebook suits accountancy firms whose clients are local: households, sole traders, landlords and small businesses who ask friends and community groups to recommend an accountant. It suits almost nobody as a first channel if most of your work comes from referrals, limited companies and LinkedIn.

If you go ahead, keep it simple: a complete Page in the firm's name, one or two short, useful posts a week, and no client details anywhere. If you decide against it, that is a sound choice. Put the time into LinkedIn and your website instead.

Which firms Facebook suits

Facebook works best for firms that serve people and very small businesses in one area. Ask one question: when my best clients want a plumber, a dentist or an accountant, where do they ask? If the answer is often "in a local Facebook group", a Page is worth having.

• High-street and village practices. A firm that wants clients within a few miles can be found, checked and messaged on Facebook by people who would never search LinkedIn.
• Firms serving sole traders and tradespeople. Builders, cleaners, hairdressers and small shop owners often run their business from a phone, and many of them use Facebook for their own business too.
• Firms doing personal tax work. Self Assessment, landlords and pensioners with tax questions are individuals first, and Facebook is where many individuals already are.
• Firms whose clients ask "are you on Facebook?" If clients or prospects keep asking, that is the clearest signal you will get.

If your ideal clients are younger owners and creatives, read our guide on whether accountants should use Instagram as well. The two often suit the same firms but need different posts.

When to skip Facebook

Skip Facebook, at least for now, if any of these describes your firm. The hours are better spent elsewhere.

• Your work comes from referrals and established companies. Company directors, finance teams and professional referrers are far more likely to see you on LinkedIn. Our guide to LinkedIn for accountants shows where to start.
• Your clients are spread across the country.Much of Facebook's value for a small firm is local word of mouth. A firm with a national niche gets less of that.
• Nobody can post once a week. A Page needs a small, steady effort. If nobody owns it, it will go quiet within a month.
• You are only doing it because a rival firm is. Their clients may not be your clients. Copying a channel without a reason rarely brings enquiries.

A quiet Page can do more harm than no Page. A last post from two years ago tells a prospect the firm has stopped trying, or worse, stopped trading. If you are unsure whether you need social media at all, our guide on whether accountants need social media sets out the minimum that still works.

Use a Page, never a personal profile

Run the firm on a Facebook Page, not on a partner's personal profile. Facebook's help centre describes the difference between profiles and Pages: a profile is a place to share information about yourself, while Pages are where businesses connect with their customers. Meta also says that Pages are public, free, and may be indexed by Google, which helps people find you.

You still need a personal profile to create and manage a Page, but the firm's posts and messages then live on the Page. That keeps a partner's holiday photos and political views away from the firm, and it means the Page stays with the firm if a partner retires or leaves. Give at least two people in the firm access to the Page, so it is never locked to one person's login.

Set up the Page before you post

Most people who find you on Facebook look at the Page details before they read a single post. Facebook's guide to creating a Page walks through the steps; these are the parts that matter most for an accountancy firm.

• Name and category.Use the firm's trading name exactly as it appears on your website and letterhead.
• A short bio that says who you help and where."Accountants for sole traders, landlords and small businesses in Norwich" tells the right person in two seconds that they are in the right place.
• Services, location, hours and contact details. Address, phone number, website and opening hours, so someone can check you are real and nearby.
• One clear way to enquire.Set the Page's action button to whatever you actually want people to do: call, message or visit your contact page.
• A recognisable profile picture and cover photo. Your logo, and a real photo of the office or the team rather than a stock image of a calculator.

What works on Facebook for accountants

The posts that work are short, plain and about one thing. Write as you would explain it to a client across the desk, not as you would in a technical note.

Short posts answering one question

Pick a question a client asked this week and answer it in a few sentences. "Do I need to register for Self Assessment if I sell things online?" is more useful, and more shareable, than a general post about tax.

Deadline reminders in plain language

Say who the deadline affects, the date, and what to do now. Check every date and figure against GOV.UK on the day you post, and end with a simple next step such as "send us a message if you are not sure".

Local and community posts

Sponsoring the under-10s football team, a stall at the village fete, a welcome to a new member of staff. These show that the firm is real and local, which is what Facebook users are often checking for.

Practical notices

Office hours over Christmas, a new parking arrangement, a change of phone number. They are dull but useful, and they keep the Page current.

That post is written by us to show the shape: who it is for, what it means, one next step. It names no threshold or date, because those change; add them from GOV.UK the day you post.

Local groups and recommendations

Much of the value of Facebook for a local firm happens away from your own Page. In many towns, people ask in community groups "can anyone recommend an accountant?", and the answers come from neighbours and clients.

• Make the Page easy to tag. When a happy client recommends you, a complete, active Page is what the person asking will click on.
• Ask happy clients to mention you.A quiet "if anyone ever asks, we would be grateful for a mention" is fine. Never offer anything in return for a recommendation.
• Answer general questions helpfully, then stop. If someone asks a tax question in a group, a short, correct general answer and an offer to help privately does more than a sales pitch.
• Never knock another firm. ICAEW's marketing helpsheet says firms must not say anything disparaging of the practice or services of others, and that applies in a group thread as much as in an advert.

What does not work

Firms that give up on Facebook usually made one of the same few mistakes.

• Stock graphics with generic captions.A picture of a piggy bank and "Tax time is here! Contact us today" looks like every other firm and gives nobody a reason to read on.
• Posting daily with no point. Volume without substance tires followers. One useful post beats five empty ones.
• Chasing likes.Competitions, "like and share" posts and bought followers bring numbers, not clients. Followers outside your area cannot hire you.
• Arguing in the comments. A row about tax policy or a client complaint in public helps nobody. Our guide on how accountants handle negative comments covers how to reply, and when to hide or delete a comment on a Facebook Page.

How much time it takes

Be honest about the time before you start. One or two posts a week is a realistic rhythm for a small firm, and it is plenty. As a rough guide, allow an hour or so a week once you have a routine, plus time to answer messages, and more in the first month while you set up the Page.

Steady beats bursts. One post a week for a year will do far more than daily posts for three weeks followed by silence. Our guide to a social media content calendar for accountants shows how to plan Facebook alongside LinkedIn from the same set of topics.

The easiest way to keep going is to draft and schedule a week or a month in one sitting. Pillr, for example, drafts posts from your firm's website and can schedule text posts, image posts and carousels to Facebook, but only once a partner has approved each one. That leaves your Facebook time for the local posts and messages only your team can handle.

What never goes on Facebook

Facebook feels informal, and in a small town the reader may well know your clients. Agree a short list of what never appears, and check every post and photo against it.

• Anything that identifies a client, including names, photos, premises, or a story a neighbour would recognise, unless the client has agreed in writing to that specific use.
• Client figures, even rounded or anonymised. "We saved a local builder £8,000" invites questions you cannot answer.
• HMRC correspondence, even blurred or partly covered.
• Advice on someone's own affairs in public. Move the conversation to a private message or a call, and keep the public reply general.
• Claims you cannot back up, such as "the best accountants in town".

Who may post on the firm's Page, and who approves before anything goes live, belongs in your wider rules. Our guide on whether accountants should have a social media policy covers both. If you are thinking about paid Facebook adverts rather than an organic Page, see our guide on how to advertise accounting services.

How to tell if it is working

Judge Facebook by whether local people get in touch, not by likes. Meta says Page insights show the actions people take on your Page, and the Page inbox collects the messages people send you. Check these once a month.

• Messages and enquiries through the Page. These are the number that matters most.
• Page visits, calls and website clicks after a post goes out.
• How new clients found you.Ask every new client and note the answer. "Someone recommended you in the village group" counts as a Facebook win.

Give it three to six months of steady posting before you decide. If it has brought no messages and no enquiries by then, stop and put the hours into LinkedIn. To see a month of posts drafted for your own firm, paste your website address on the home page.

Questions accountants ask about Facebook