How much does an accountancy website cost in the UK?

On published prices, a website for a small UK accountancy practice costs from about £100 a month on a managed service, or a few thousand pounds up front from a designer. One specialist's service starts at £300 a month.

I've a stake here, because we're in the table below and we aren't the lowest price in it. I'll put our figures next to everyone else's and say when another route makes more sense. Most of these numbers come from companies selling websites, so treat them as guides.

What the published prices say

Ours exclude VAT, and annual billing is ten times the monthly price.

We work across several types of business, and PracticeWeb and Primo sell to accountants. If you want someone steeped in your profession, a specialist may be the better fit. Ask what each price includes, because I couldn't compare the packages line by line.

What it costs over three years

Using published "from" prices, before your own time. Check for set-up fees on the others.

The £15 a month is my assumption. Real upkeep depends on who makes your changes, and tax figures need updating every year whoever does it.

PracticeWeb isn't in that table on purpose. Its £300 a month is split over 12 or 24 months, which comes to £3,600 or £7,200, and I couldn't confirm what you'd pay after that. Ask for the three-year figure.

The cheapest line isn't automatically the right one. What matters is what the site brings in. Ours includes unlimited updates done within 48 business hours, hosting, lead forms and set-up for AI search. A brand-new page is £150. If those don't matter to you, a cheaper option makes sense.

Ownership is the other point. Ours is a website as a service: we host it and make your changes while your plan runs. After 24 months of payments, you can take the code free of charge. Before then, you can buy it out. If you leave and don't buy it, the site comes down. The site also comes down if you use the 30-day money-back guarantee.

What your site must carry

This is what's different about an accountant's website. ICAEW's helpsheet on the Provision of Services Regulations lists details clients must be able to get, including:

• Your legal form.
• Your VAT number, if registered.
• Your professional indemnity insurer and the territory covered.
• Your complaints route.

Read the helpsheet for the full list, and for how you can make them available. ICAEW's fee rules and its monitoring report also make the basis of your fees and your complaints procedure matter more than most small business owners would guess. If you're with another body, check its wording.

What an accountancy website actually needs

• A phone number and a booking link at the top of every page.
• A page for each client type: sole traders, limited companies, landlords.
• A page for each main service, including MTD.
• Clear "from" fees. I think publishing them is the single biggest thing most practice sites could change. That's opinion.
• Your name and face. People are buying a person.
• Real reviews, from clients happy to be public.
• A short form that doesn't ask for tax details.
• A privacy notice, and a line on how you use AI if you do.
• A note on how you'll contact clients, to help them spot scams.

If you're after visitors from search, write about what people ask: "Do I need MTD at £35,000?" A plain, current answer does more than a page about your values. Keep it general, and date every tax page. The PCRT guidance is clear that AI output isn't authoritative advice, and a blog post isn't advice either.

Watch out for shared content

Ask any provider, us included: is this copy unique to me? A monthly tax update is the kind of page a provider can sell to many practices. I've no evidence on how search engines treat that, and I wouldn't claim it gets penalised. I'd just expect it to do little to set you apart from the practice down the road.

What to check before you sign

1. Who owns the domain? It should be in your name.
2. What happens when you leave? Do you keep the site, content and photos?
3. What's the minimum term, and the notice?
4. Who updates tax rates and dates each year?
5. Is VAT included?
6. Where's form data stored, and is a data processing agreement in place?
7. Can you see enquiries and calls, so you know it's working?

Cases where I'd say spend less

Plenty of practices shouldn't buy from us.

• You've just started and you're short of cash. A simple low-cost site and a good Google Business Profile will do.
• You're full and most of your clients come by referral. A one-page site with your status details may be enough. A referred client just wants to check you're real.
• You enjoy building things. A website builder's a fine way to start. I didn't check current prices, so look at a few.

Spend more when referrals are slowing, or when you want a type of client who doesn't know you yet.

David Bell, founder of Real Business Systems

David helps small UK businesses get found, answer every enquiry and keep customers coming back. We sell some of the services mentioned here, and we say so where they come up.