Hiring an accountant can save you time and reduce stress. But how do you find the right person for the job? If I were to start with an online search, there are some key things I would look for on a great accounting website. A clean, professional design should be a given, along with service descriptions, industry certifications, and contact details.
However, these are just some basics. I would prioritize customer reviews, wanting to be reassured that my money matters are in safe hands, and learning a little about the accounting team. If you're burning to get started on your own website, use our accounting AI website builder to create a first-rate site in under a minute.
Zarla checks that sites meet basic web standards for mobile and desktop. We also use Google's PageSpeed Insights, and WAVE, a service that evaluates accessibility for individuals with disabilities. PageSpeed scores and accessibility are important factors for search engine rankings. PageSpeed scores may not match user experience and can vary substantially.
https://www.provisionwealth.com/
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
ProVision is a CPA firm that helps its clients, who are entrepreneurs and investors, build their net worth. The website design reflects a professional image and leverages a variety of graphics and formats that make browsing the site's pages a pleasant and engaging experience. While the site features plenty of client reviews, strengthening the firm's reputation, I would have liked to see certifications and awards to be reassured of their credibility.
I thought the site did a great job presenting the firm's services and benefits to clients and explaining key concepts that may not be inherently clear to readers. It further provided several UX-enhancing features, such as a client portal, an online wealth calculator, and FAQs, demonstrating the importance placed on user-centricity.
The site is easy to navigate and features well-crafted content that efficiently conveys the firm’s service scope. I found the individual page designs particularly compelling. The wealth calculator tool, blog, and client portal offer additional value and convenience, and the home page performed exceptionally well on WAVE.
While team members' professional titles are featured beneath their profile photos, the site lacks further details regarding certifications or awards to strengthen the firm's credibility. The site also relies rather heavily on stock photos, making a very impersonal impression.
The desktop site appears clean and professional, with a range of mouseover effects enhancing its modern appeal and adding a dynamic quality. Down arrows and a back-to-top button aid an efficient browsing process, and the CTA buttons in the content and the sticky top navigation menu are sufficiently prominent to allow for easy access.
The mobile site maintains the desktop version's professional, modern appeal and dynamic effects, although the latter is only triggered upon clicking as opposed to the mouseover effects on the desktop site. Displaying the "SCHEDULE" CTA at the top of the page instead of hiding it behind the hamburger menu makes it instantly noticeable and accessible, which I thought was great.
While I did not experience any significant delays in loading times during my real-world experience, Google's PageSpeed Insights gave the mobile site's home page a performance score of 37/100.
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
OnTarget CPA is a family-owned business that provides accounting, taxation, and consulting services for small to mid-sized businesses. I found their website's uncomplicated, on-brand design choices very appealing, as they are subtle, complement the content, and do not distract the viewer. A snappy lead message on the home page and clear contact CTAs encourage users to engage with the business.
I was also pleased to find an FAQ page, a blog, a downloadable tax planning guide, and a client portal, as these elements present additional resources that enhance the user experience. A concise summary of the business’s story and team photos add a personal touch and build trust, further supported by their professional affiliations and awards.
The "About" page features team photos and a concise overview of the firm and its values, along with professional affiliations and awards, creating an open, approachable, and trustworthy brand image. The CTAs throughout the site stand out very well in a cheerful shade of orange, and a user-centric philosophy is evident given the number of features and resources geared toward customers.
The links to the "Contact Us," "Stories and News," and "Careers" pages and the tax planning download are easily missed, as they are only featured in the bottom page menu. WAVE flagged a handful of errors and contrast issues on most of the site's pages, indicating reduced accessibility.
I thought that the simplicity of the hero banner on the desktop home page gives its headline and CTA a comfortable breathing room that allows the eye to focus on the message. While a phone number is featured at the very top of the page, it is not linked, which some users may consider inconvenient. The desktop home page also impressed on Google's PageSpeed Insights, collecting a score of 97/100 for performance and 100/100 for best practices.
Unlike its desktop counterpart, the phone number featured at the top of the mobile site's pages is linked, making it easy for users to call the company with one click. However, the hero space on the home page does not have the generous spacing of the desktop version, which could be remedied by resizing the featured graphic slightly.
Hidden in a drop-down menu at the bottom of the page, the links to the "FAQs" and "Stories and News" pages are more likely to be missed than on the desktop site. While the mobile site's home page also scored 100/100 for best practices on Google's PageSpeed Insights, its performance score was a tad lower at 80/100.
https://beyondaccountancy.com.au/
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Beyond Accountancy is a Melbourne-based accounting business that caters to individuals and business clients across Australia via online consultations, offering a range of services, from financial planning to mortgage brokering. My first impression of the website was one of modernity and optimism, achieved by a simple hero image of a smiling individual and a bright and cheerful color scheme.
However, I was disappointed not to see a profile of the same individual on the "Team" page, as a hero image depicting an employee would create more of an emotional resonance with users. I did like the clean and straightforward style of the website and the prominent CTAs that make it easy to contact the firm.
Featured industry affiliations and awards present an important symbol of trust. A price guide, FAQs, and a blog offer users additional information. The site has an appealing minimalist design that makes it easy on the eyes. Aside from some contrast issues, the site performed well on WAVE, which detected no or very few errors on most pages.
The site features only one client review — a few more would carry more weight. The FAQs page is easily overlooked, as its link appears in the bottom page menu only. I would also have preferred the hero image on the home page to depict a team member to make it feel more personalized.
I liked the generous spacing on the desktop site, which on the home page affords the headline text great visibility thanks to a good contrast ratio against a uniform background color. It also lets the friendly, cheerful demeanor of the individual in the hero image positively beam at the reader without any overlaying noise.
Given the great first impression of the desktop home page, I was rather disappointed by some images in the "Services" pages' hero spaces, as these vary in focus and contrast to their overlaying headlines. I also would have liked to see greater consistency regarding the use of images, instead of just an odd few pages having one.
The hero image on the mobile site's home page is roped instead of resized, changing its effect on a smaller screen. The overlaying text differs from that on the desktop version, and while the headline is shorter, the somewhat lengthier description beneath is tough to read due to very poor contrast against the background colors.
On a more positive note, I liked that the CTA buttons stood out as prominently as on the desktop site. However, in terms of performance, Google's PageSpeed Insights gave the mobile home page a rather low score of 47/100.
Auburn, Maine, U.S.
Chasse & Company is a financial service provider offering comprehensive consulting and accounting services to businesses across various industries in Maine. While the website's domain differs from the company name, which can cause confusion and is less ideal for search, I thought the site's color scheme was rather smart.
The moderate shade of brownish-orange seems like an unusual choice for the sector, with blues being more popular, but adds a distinct sense of trust and maturity. Other design decisions, such as the jagged bottom edge of the home page's hero image, supplement the overall look with a modern, creative touch.
Aside from an unusual but attractive choice of primary colors for the site's branding, I also thought the extensive content covered was exemplary. The client reviews aid trust building, while key personnel profiles add a personal element that also aids credibility.
While key elements I would expect of an accounting website are present, I would have liked to see an FAQ page and possibly a few more resources, such as a tax calculator or financial calendar. Some sections also appear rather text-heavy, and WAVE identified several errors and contrast issues on most of the site's pages, impacting its accessibility.
The brownish color accents and a candid photo of a staff member on the desktop home page create the image of a grounded and approachable business. While this works great to convey the brand personality, the color rather subdues the CTA overlaying the hero image. I also thought the wording "straight forward approach" in the headline beneath a clearly jagged image edge presented a contradiction in concepts, which is a bit distracting.
I was a little disappointed by the way the home page hero image was displayed on the mobile site, as the individual in the image is only partially visible, reducing its personalized and grounding effect. I had the same concern as on the desktop version regarding the jagged edge of the hero image followed by the text "straight forward approach."
However, I liked the highlighted sticky "EMAIL US" CTA at the top of the mobile sites' pages, as it made this contact option stand out well compared to the "CONTACT US" tab on the desktop site. While I did not experience significant delays loading the site in my real-world tests, Google's PageSpeed Insights assigned the mobile home page a rather low performance score of 38/100.
https://www.rendaandrenda.com/
Cheektowaga, New York, U.S.
Renda & Renda is a CPA firm providing accounting and tax planning and preparation services to businesses across Western New York. The website has a modern, professional appeal that features a typically corporate color scheme and primarily uses illustrations to add visual appeal to its text sections. However, this has a rather impersonal effect, seemingly contradicting the firm’s assertion that their staff is their biggest asset.
While the site features service descriptions and offers easy access to contact information, the absence of client testimonials and proof of certifications really stood out to me.
The site has a neat and professional appeal with easy access to contact information. It features a client portal, offering the firm's customers added convenience, and provides clear service descriptions accessible via a well-organized navigation menu.
The site is missing trust-building and credibility-supporting elements, such as a list of affiliations, accreditations, and client reviews. I also thought its "Resources" page looked rather bare, and WAVE determined some accessibility concerns, flagging a few errors and multiple elements with low contrast on most pages.
The neat layout and well-ordered page menu made the desktop site easy and pleasant for me to navigate. While it features a useful back-to-top button, there is also a downward-facing arrow on the "About" page that is a little misleading, as it may be mistaken as a clickable navigation point.
The phone number featured at the top of the desktop site is also a little too small for my liking and could be enhanced with a brightly colored frame and larger numbers to stand out better. I really liked that the address in that same line, which is also just a bit too small, is linked to Google Maps, making it incredibly easy to locate the business and get directions.
Unlike the desktop version, the mobile site does not have a back-to-top button, which — without a sticky top menu — makes for a rather cumbersome navigation experience. I would have preferred the phone number and address of the firm to be displayed prominently at the top of each page instead of being hidden behind the hamburger menu to make them quicker to access.
While I thought the mobile site's airy layout worked very well to maintain its smart and professional appeal, the subheadings beneath the titles in the "Choose Your Area of Need" section are quite small, with their light gray coloring further reducing legibility. In my real-world tests, loading times were decent, but on Google's PageSpeed Insights test, the home page scored a rather low 37/100 for performance.
A website is certainly a valuable asset for accountants, as it provides a platform to showcase the services offered, adds credibility, and can help to attract clients.
Many better-known website builders offer industry-specific website templates for accounting businesses, among others. Alternatively, you can use an AI website builder, such as Zarla, to generate a site tailored to your business.
You can browse accounting website templates on website builders that offer a free plan or trial, or simply search and view existing accounting websites to get an idea of what works well. To make this even easier for you, we put together a list of five such websites, along with detailed reviews assessing their merits.
While there are plenty of good accounting websites, our top picks include ProVision and OnTarget CPA.
The best accounting website design is one that has a professional appeal, meets accessibility standards, is mobile-optimized, boasts fast loading times, and features client reviews, proof of qualifications, compelling service descriptions, and clear CTAs that make it easy to find and contact the business.
