Key points at a glance
- A clear target group such as start-ups, trades, e-commerce or associations makes you visible and referrals easier.
- Tax advisory firms are your most important partners: they handle what you are not allowed to do and are happy to pass on ongoing bookkeeping. Commissions for referrals are off-limits.
- Google profile, the official register (in Austria) and partner listings of accounting software bring enquiries from people who are already searching.
- In Germany, bookkeepers may solicit individual engagements (§ 8 Abs. 2 StBerG). Email and phone marketing generally require consent in both countries.
- Transparent prices filter out the right enquiries and save you first meetings that lead nowhere.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice for your individual case. Laws, professional guidelines and chamber fees change: check the details with your chamber, the relevant authority or your professional association before you make a decision.
Where bookkeeping clients come from
Ask established bookkeeping firms where their clients come from and you almost always hear the same three answers: referrals from satisfied clients, tax advisory firms passing on ongoing work, and people who searched on Google or in a directory. Cold outreach plays a smaller role. For your start this means: first build the foundations that support all three channels, namely a clear positioning, a website with properly described services and a complete Google profile.
There is a particularity of your profession that you need to keep in mind with every channel: you may only advertise what falls within your scope of authorisation. In Austria, merely offering services without authorisation is punishable (§ 61 Abs. 1 Z 1 BiBuG); in Germany, advertising that goes beyond § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 StBerG is misleading. The article on the website for bookkeeping firms explains what this means for your website.
Choosing a target group
“Bookkeeping for everyone” is not an argument. “Payroll for restaurants in Innsbruck” or “bookkeeping for online retailers” is. A target group makes your website, your Google profile and your referrals more concrete, and it makes you faster: if you look after twenty trade businesses, you know the typical questions and receipts. But make sure every target group matches your authorisation.
| Target group | What they need | Watch out for your authorisation |
|---|---|---|
| Start-ups | Organised receipts from the outset, chart of accounts, ongoing postings, first payroll | In Germany no cash-basis accounts (Einnahmen-Überschussrechnung); in Austria cash-basis accounts (Einnahmen-Ausgaben-Rechnung) are possible for Bilanzbuchhalter:innen and Buchhalter:innen |
| Trades and construction | Payroll with industry specifics (in Austria BUAK, in Germany SOKA-BAU), site receipts, open items | Payroll in Austria only with authorisation as Bilanzbuchhalter:in or Personalverrechner:in |
| E-commerce | Marketplace and payment provider statements, many small receipts, interfaces | In Germany advance VAT returns and OSS returns only by the tax adviser |
| Associations | Ongoing postings, membership fees, payroll for coaches and employees | Tax returns and tax advice on charitable status remain reserved for tax advisers in both countries |
A specialisation may appear on the website if it is true: “Focus on hospitality, more than 30 businesses served” can be backed up; “the hospitality expert” is a claim of uniqueness you would have to prove in a dispute. You don't have to commit exclusively to one group. It is enough for one or two target groups to be visible on the home page and on their own subpages.
Working with tax advisers
Many tax advisory firms are at capacity and happy to pass on ongoing bookkeeping or payroll so they can concentrate on annual accounts and advice. Conversely, your clients need a tax adviser for everything you are not allowed to do. This gives rise to the most natural partnership in your profession. Which models exist and how to present them on a partner page is explained in the guide Cooperation models with tax advisers.
Choose firms deliberately
Look for tax advisory firms in your region that suit your target groups and use the same software or have an interface to your software.
Make a specific offer
In a short letter or conversation, describe what you take on, how and when the data is handed over and what client size you are looking for. Firms want to know that the handover will be punctual and complete.
Keep the roles separate
Clients engage the tax adviser themselves. You don't sell their services along with yours or pass them on as a subcontractor; this applies particularly in Germany.
Deliver reliably
The best advertising with tax advisers is a punctual, clean handover of the first clients. After that, referrals usually come by themselves.
Google profile and reviews
Anyone searching for “Buchhalter in der Nähe” (bookkeeper near me) or “Lohnverrechnung Graz” (payroll Graz) first sees the map with Google Business Profiles. A complete profile is therefore one of the fastest routes to enquiries. Choose a primary category that describes your activity precisely, and none that suggests tax advice. The business name in the profile is the real name of your firm, without added search terms; Google's guidelines require this.
- Services in the profile in the same words as on the website, within the permitted scope.
- Opening hours and phone number kept up to date, especially around payroll runs and public holidays.
- Reviews requested actively, without anything in return and without selecting only satisfied clients. A QR code for Google reviews at the year-end meeting or on the invoice makes it easy.
- Replies to reviews without details from the engagement; in Austria the duty of confidentiality under § 39 BiBuG applies here too. The review reply assistant helps with the wording.
The guide to the Google Business Profile explains how to set up the profile step by step.
Registers, directories and software partner listings
In Austria, the Bilanzbuchhaltungsbehörde keeps a public register of all authorised professionals, searchable by location and authorisation. Your entry is created on appointment; link to it from your website. Add to that the entry in WKO Firmen A-Z (the Chamber of Commerce company directory). In Germany there is no official register for bookkeepers. Here, business directories and the directories of professional associations help, provided you are a member.
The partner and adviser directories of software vendors are underestimated. Many makers of bookkeeping and payroll programs list firms that work with their software, and business owners search there specifically for support with exactly their program. Check whether the programs you use regularly have such a directory and what the requirements are. Make sure the service description there matches your scope of authorisation; in Germany, don't tick predefined fields such as “tax returns”.
Listings that pay off for bookkeeping firms
- Google Business Profile, complete and with services
- Austria: register of the Bilanzbuchhaltungsbehörde and WKO Firmen A-Z
- Partner directories of the bookkeeping and payroll software you use
- Business directories such as Herold in Austria or Gelbe Seiten and Das Örtliche in Germany
- Directories of professional associations you belong to
- The same spelling of name, address and phone number everywhere
Referrals without commission
Referrals from satisfied clients are the strongest channel, because business owners recommend their bookkeeper to each other like a good plumber. You can encourage this without being pushy: after a year that went well, ask whether anyone in their network is looking for support, and make it easy to pass you on, for example with a business card or a link to your process page.
Rewards for referrals are tricky for bookkeeping firms. In cooperations with tax advisers they are ruled out, because their professional rules prohibit commissions for referring clients. Vouchers or discounts for referrals also quickly look unprofessional to clients in a profession built on trust, and Google expressly prohibits reviews in exchange for benefits. More on this in the article on referrals.
Communicating prices
There is no fee schedule for the bookkeeping professions in either Austria or Germany. You may set and advertise prices freely. Transparent packages are also an acquisition tool: they bring enquiries that match your offer and save you first meetings with businesses that are only looking for the lowest price.
How to get it right
- Packages by receipt volume or booking lines with a clear upper limit
- Price per payslip or payroll run, additional services listed individually
- Marked as net or gross, with the total price for consumers in Germany
- A free, clearly limited first meeting
Better avoid
- “From” prices that never apply to typical businesses
- “Cheaper than a tax adviser”, because it suggests identical services
- Flat fees that include services outside your authorisation
- Discounts in return for reviews
Direct outreach: what is allowed
In Germany, the ban on soliciting individual engagements expressly does not apply to bookkeeping activities (§ 8 Abs. 2 StBerG). So you may write directly to a trade business. The limits are set by § 7 UWG: letters are permitted, email marketing requires prior consent, and calls to businesses at least presumed consent. In Austria there are no professional advertising restrictions for the bookkeeping professions, but there is the TKG 2021 (Telecommunications Act): marketing emails and marketing calls generally require prior consent, even towards businesses (§ 174 TKG 2021). A letter to businesses in the region is the safe route in both countries.
Talks at start-up centres, guilds or industry associations, a deadline newsletter for existing clients and expert posts on LinkedIn also work well. The details on advertising in your country can be found in the guides Advertising for bookkeepers in Austria and Advertising as a bookkeeper in Germany. How to get found on Google is covered in SEO for bookkeeping firms.
A website that brings in enquiries
We create a free preview of your website with target group pages, transparent packages and services that match your authorisation.
A no-obligation preview of how your firm website could look with us.
Sources
- Gesetze im Internet – § 8 StBerG
- Gesetze im Internet – § 6 StBerG
- Gesetze im Internet – § 7 UWG
- RIS – Bilanzbuchhaltungsgesetz 2014, § 61
- RIS – TKG 2021, § 174
- Bilanzbuchhaltungsbehörde – Register
- Google – Guidelines for representing your business
- Google – Review policies
- Gesetze im Internet – § 9 StBerG
- RIS – Bilanzbuchhaltungsgesetz 2014, § 39
