If I was a bookkeeper looking to get clients right now, there are four steps I would follow. This is the exact strategy we plugged into one of our client’s bookkeeping firms. Within about 20 days of running ads with some organic content mixed in, he added $130,000 in annual sales between tax and bookkeeping. That is roughly 20% growth in just over three weeks.

The stuff I am about to walk you through works. Let me break down all four steps.

Step 1: Figure Out Who You Are Trying to Attract

A lot of people call this market research, but it is really just answering one question: who is my ideal client?

If your answer is something like “small businesses making over $500,000 a year,” you are going to have a massive flop on your hands. Your niche is your competitive edge. It is how you stand out.

Think about it this way. If I am an agency owner choosing between a bookkeeping firm that works with accountants, lawyers, agencies, home service companies, and a dozen other types of businesses versus a bookkeeping firm that specifically works with agencies, I am going with the specialist every time. Even if their service costs a little more.

To find your niche, go through your existing client list and ask three questions:

  1. Who do I like working with?
  2. Who is operationally easiest to serve?
  3. Who gets the best results from my service?

How you weight those questions depends on the type of business you want to build. If you are building a lifestyle business, weight question one higher. If you are building an empire, optimize for operational efficiency. But somewhere in the center of those three answers, you will find your ideal client.

Take Brock Hartzler, for example. He runs Pro Mover Accounting and only works with residential moving companies. That is incredibly specific. And it works incredibly well. He went from $30,000 a month to $92,000 a month in less than a year.

Your ideal client might be defined by a specific industry, a phase of business, or a highly specific set of problems. The key word there is specific. If the problems are vague, like “they do not know their numbers,” that is too generic. That applies to every small business owner on the planet.

Step 2: Build the Funnel

Once you know who you are targeting and what message will resonate with them, you need somewhere to send people. Most bookkeepers have a website with a contact page and maybe a Calendly link. That is a fine starting point, but it is not the end goal.

What I like to build is an application funnel. It is really just a better contact page. Four elements:

A Video Sales Letter (VSL): A 5 to 10 minute video where you walk prospects through one or two of those core talking points that matter most to your ideal client. Brock’s is titled “The 3 Questions Every Moving Company Owner Can Ask to Know Their Numbers.” By the time someone gets to that video, they already want to learn how to know their numbers because all the ads and content have been building that desire.

Case Studies and Testimonials: You need to show prospects you have done this for people just like them. Video testimonials are best because you cannot fake someone looking into a camera and talking about how great it is to work with you.

An Application Form: You do not want just anyone booking a call. The application lets you vet leads before they hit your calendar. Are they in the right industry? What is their revenue? Are they even based in a market you serve?

A Call Booking Form: Only after someone passes through the application do they get to schedule a call.

That is it. One video, a couple of testimonials, an application, and a booking form. It does not have to be complicated.

Step 3: Get in Front of People

There are really only three ways to get in front of prospects: reach out to them, post content, or run ads.

I almost never recommend outreach. It can work, but it is a massive time suck. Here is how I think about the other two:

If you are under $500K to $1M a year, focus on creating content. Pick a platform where your ideal client spends time. If you work with home services companies, get on Facebook and Instagram. If you work with CPG startup founders, go to LinkedIn. If you are in crypto or tech, X is your spot.

The interesting thing about YouTube is that it works for almost any industry. Pew Research found that 80 to 90% of households earning over $100,000 a year spend time on YouTube regularly. That is higher than any other platform.

Whatever platform you pick, create content that feels native. On LinkedIn, that means written posts with images. On Instagram, high quality reels and carousels. On YouTube, I would go 100% long-form how-to content over 20 minutes, covering the questions your ideal client is already asking.

If you are over $1M a year, go straight into paid advertising. Do not overcomplicate it. They click an ad, watch your VSL, fill out the application, and book a call. Keep it simple and go straight for the conversion.

Step 4: Track Your ROI

You need to know how much you are making back from your investment in marketing. I track two main metrics with every client.

Return on Marketing Spend (ROMS): This tells you how much you immediately make back. Spent $5,000 on ads and brought in $10,000 in new monthly sales? That is a 2x ROMS. Spent $3,000 on content and brought in $9,000? That is a 3x. This metric is all about understanding your cash flow as you invest in marketing.

Lifetime Gross Profit to CAC (LTGP to CAC): This is the big-picture metric. Take your customer lifetime value, subtract the cost of delivering the service, and that gives you lifetime gross profit. Then divide it by your cost to acquire a customer.

Here is an example. You charge $1,000 a month for bookkeeping. Your average client stays 24 months. It costs you $300 a month to deliver the service. That is $16,800 in lifetime gross profit per client.

Now, if you spend $9,000 a month on marketing and sales combined and you bring on 10 new clients, your CAC is $900. Your LTGP to CAC ratio is 18.67 to 1.

That is an outstanding benchmark. If you are hitting numbers like that, you should be scaling your marketing spend as fast as you can. Because once your lifestyle costs are covered, the question becomes: where do I get the best return on my money? And if you have built a good business, the answer is almost always putting it back into the business.

The Bottom Line

Know who your ideal client is. Build a simple funnel that vets and converts them. Get in front of them through content or ads depending on your stage. And track your ROI so you know exactly what is working and what is not.

This is not theoretical. This is the exact playbook we are running with firms around the country right now. And it works if you commit to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do bookkeepers get clients in 2025?

Start by niching down to a specific industry, then build an application funnel with a VSL, testimonials, and a vetting process. Drive traffic through content if you are under $1M a year, or paid ads if you are above that. Track your return on marketing spend so you know exactly what is working.

How much should a bookkeeping firm spend on marketing?

Most bookkeeping firms see results starting at $3,000 to $5,000 per month in ad spend within the first 90 days. The key metric is your return on marketing spend — if you are putting a dollar in and getting two or more dollars out, keep scaling.

What is an application funnel for accountants?

An application funnel is a smarter version of a contact page. It includes a video sales letter, client testimonials, an application form to vet leads before they book, and a call booking form. This way only qualified prospects end up on your calendar.

Do bookkeepers need a niche to get clients?

Yes. Your niche is your competitive edge. A bookkeeping firm that specializes in one industry will always beat a generalist because prospects trust a specialist who deeply understands their business. One of our clients niched into moving companies and tripled his revenue in under a year.

What is a good ROI for accounting firm marketing?

A healthy return on marketing spend is 2x or higher in the short term. For long-term profitability, look at your lifetime gross profit to customer acquisition cost ratio — anything above 3 to 1 means you have a scalable machine and should be increasing your marketing budget.