For most small accountancy practices, I wouldn't start with an AI receptionist. I'd start with a missed-call text and a booking link. An AI receptionist earns its place in a narrower case: a practice that's losing real new enquiries, on a separate number, with someone who'll ring back the same day. That's my judgement, not a measured result.
Why so cautious, when we sell one? Because I'd expect a lot of your calls to come from existing clients about their own affairs, and a machine shouldn't touch those. Read what can go wrong first.
A clear disclosure: ours costs more than the two others below. If this article talks you into a text-back, or a competitor, that's fine.
The short version
- Count your missed calls for two weeks, and split them into new enquiries and existing clients.
- If you miss a handful of new enquiries a month, a missed-call text may be enough.
- UK AI receptionists we checked start at £39 to £49 a month.
- On the example below, ours takes about four extra clients a year in year one on monthly billing, or three on annual.
- A client can pay you year after year, so one win can cover more than one year's cost. That only counts if you've got capacity.
What are your options?
| Option | Published UK price | Good at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voicemail | Free | Costs nothing | Only 6% of people say they'd leave a message |
| Missed-call text | Ours from £99 a month | Replies in seconds, private, low risk | The caller has to reply |
| Human answering | Around 60p to £1.50 a minute, as Moneypenny estimates | A real person, good with nervous callers | Costs more as you get busier, and it's still a third party with your calls |
| AI receptionist | From £39 a month on the products we checked | Answers at any hour, and every call | Needs tight rules on confidentiality and advice |
| Employing a receptionist | £24,000 to £35,000 or more a year, by Fasthosts' estimate | Sits inside your practice | Too much for most small practices |
For an accountant, human answering deserves a fair look. In my view, an experienced receptionist on a script is good at saying "I can't confirm that". If your call volume is low and your clients are older, it may suit you better than AI.
UK AI receptionist prices
Read on 6 November 2026. These are general products, not ones built for accountants.
| Who | Per month | Allowance | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fasthosts | £39, £69 or £99 | 30, 100 or unlimited calls. Extra calls £0.49 or £0.39 on the lower plans. | A month free. Says it doesn't record calls. |
| Moneypenny AI Receptionist | From £49 | Ask Moneypenny | Offers human handover, which is a real plus for this profession. |
| Real Business Systems | £99, £149 or £199 by team size | £10, £15 or £20 of usage included | Plus £500 set-up, or £990, £1,490 or £1,990 a year with none. 30-day money-back guarantee. Doesn't book on this plan. |
I couldn't confirm whether Fasthosts' and Moneypenny's prices include VAT, so check. Ours exclude VAT.
The gap in price buys you set-up and changes done for you, plus a CRM and one inbox on your phone, where calls, texts and enquiries land together. If you'd sooner configure it yourself and you've already got a practice management system, a cheaper tool may suit you better. Fasthosts' position on recording is simple to explain to clients, too. I'd rather you knew that now.
Do the break-even sum
Yours is a sum about clients, and a client pays every year.
Worked example (made-up figures)
Say a new client pays £900 a year, and £450 of that is left after the cost of the time and software that serve them.
| Option | First-year cost | New clients to cover it |
|---|---|---|
| £39 a month tool | £468 | About 1 (1.04) |
| £99 a month tool | £1,188 | About 3 (2.64, rounded up) |
| Ours, annual billing, up to three people | £990 | About 3 (2.2, rounded up) |
| Ours, monthly billing | £1,688 (£99 × 12 + £500) | About 4 (3.75, rounded up) |
| Ours, monthly billing, if you can't reclaim VAT | About £2,026 | 5 (4.5, rounded up) |
Any usage above the included credit is extra.
Now the other side. If you miss 8 calls a month, and 2 of those are new enquiries, and you'd win 1 in 4, that's about 6 new clients a year.
So the sum can work well, and a client who stays pays again in the second year. But three things break it:
- Most of your missed calls are existing clients. They'd have left a message or emailed anyway.
- You've got no capacity. TaxCalc's survey found 48% of 215 accountancy professionals had more clients than they could manage. That's vendor research from autumn 2025.
- New enquiries are poor fits you'd turn away.
Be honest about that when you count.
Who should buy one
- You're a one or two-person practice and you're often with clients or on calls.
- You're getting genuine new enquiries by phone that you miss.
- You'll use a separate enquiry number.
- You're happy to write the rules, test them, and ring back the same day.
- You want new client growth, for instance from the MTD threshold falling to £30,000 in April 2027.
Who shouldn't
- You're full. More enquiries just means more people to disappoint. Raise your fees instead.
- Someone already answers your phone well.
- Your clients are mainly older, or complex private clients who'd expect a person.
- Most of your work comes by referral, so people email or ring you direct.
- You won't check how call data is held. ICAEW expects due diligence before client information goes in.
- You can't commit to testing the safety and confidentiality wording.
A cheap way to find out
Six steps, and you can stop at any of them:
- Count your missed calls for two weeks, one of them in a busy period if you can.
- Set up a missed-call text. Ours or anyone's.
- Add a booking link for a 20-minute call.
- Reply fast, and see how many people turn into clients.
- If people still get stuck, try an AI receptionist on an enquiry number, and use the trial if there is one.
- Listen to the first 20 calls, if you record them and tell callers you do, or read the summaries.
Step 2 needs words, and our template library has them.
My verdict
Worth it for a narrow group: busy small practices that miss new enquiries, use a separate number and set it up with care. Not worth it for existing client calls, and not worth it as a shiny new toy.
The proof is thin. I found no independent research on results for UK accountants, and we've got no client results of our own to show yet. Trial it against your own call log in a quiet month, and drop it if the numbers don't move.
Questions accountants ask
What should I budget for an AI receptionist?
The two general products we checked start at £39 and £49 a month. Ours starts at £99 a month plus £500 set-up, excluding VAT. Allow for your January call volume, not your July one.
Is an AI receptionist better than a human answering service for accountants?
For a nervous new client or a confidential matter, I'd pick a person. At a quiet practice, a trained human service on a tight script can do the job well. AI wins on the 11pm call, which no small practice is staffed for.
Can it book consultations?
Ask each provider, because I didn't confirm it for the other two. Ours doesn't on the single offer, but booking comes with the full AI Business Engine, from £499 a month plus £1,500 set-up.
Can I keep my existing number?
With ours, yes. But for this profession I'd think about a separate enquiry number, so existing clients still reach you.
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.
Sources
- Fasthosts, AI Receptionist and cost guide (9 July 2026, vendor)
- Moneypenny, AI Receptionist and per-minute pricing (updated 5 November 2026, vendor)
- MoneyWeek, TaxCalc survey (2026, 215 accountancy professionals, vendor)
- ICAEW, protecting client confidentiality (28 July 2026)
- YouGov for Answer4u, June 2026, 2,046 UK adults
Prices and rules change. Check the source before you rely on a figure. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.