# Ideal customer profile: accountants and bookkeepers

A starting ICP for a small accountancy or bookkeeping practice that wants more limited company clients. Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own details, delete what doesn't fit, then paste the whole file into Claude, Copilot or ChatGPT.

## How to use this file

Paste this file into a new chat, then try one of these:

- "Using this ICP, show me how to find companies incorporated in [area] in the last 90 days using Companies House."
- "Here's a company: [name and number]. Look at what's public about it and score it against this ICP."
- "Write a first email to the director of [company]. Plain text, under 90 words, one question at the end."

## About us

- Practice: [Your practice name]
- What we do: [Year end accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, management accounts, tax]
- Sectors we know well: [e.g. trades, e-commerce, hospitality, creative agencies]
- Where we work: [Area, or UK wide and remote]
- Typical fee: [£ per month]
- Software we use: [Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent]

## Who we want to reach

- Limited companies with 1 to 50 staff, ideally in [our sectors]
- Owner managed, where a director makes the call
- Growing, or at a point where the admin is starting to hurt
- Location: [area or UK wide]
- Legal form: limited companies and LLPs only (see the rules section)

## Who makes the decision

- A director, usually the founder
- In slightly bigger firms, an operations manager or finance manager may do the first sift

## What they care about

- Knowing what they owe and when, with no surprises
- Not doing bookkeeping at 11pm
- Someone who answers the phone and speaks plainly
- A fixed monthly fee they can budget for
- Advice that helps them grow, not just a set of accounts once a year

## Signals that it's a good time to get in touch

- Newly incorporated in the last few months, so the first accounts and tax registrations are coming up
- First set of accounts due soon
- Accounts or confirmation statement shown as overdue on Companies House
- Recently started hiring, so payroll is new
- Trading is growing towards the VAT registration threshold
- A change of director or a new company formed alongside an existing one

## Where to find them

- Companies House advanced search: incorporation date, registered office location and the SIC codes for our sectors
- Companies House filing history, for overdue accounts and first filings due
- Apollo or a similar tool, filtered by industry, headcount and location, title "Director" or "Founder"
- Local business networks and new business listings

## Who to leave out

- Companies clearly already with a larger firm on a long contract
- Dormant companies with no trading activity
- Companies in sectors we don't understand well enough to help
- Sole traders and partnerships (see the rules section)
- Anyone who has asked us not to contact them

## The offer we lead with

[Make it concrete. For example: "A free 20 minute review of your last filed accounts, with three things we'd do differently." Or: "A fixed quote for your year end and bookkeeping within 24 hours."]

## How we write

- Plain text. No attachments, no tracking.
- Under 90 words. One clear question at the end.
- Mention something true and public about the company (new incorporation, first accounts due, sector) and nothing personal.
- If accounts are overdue, be helpful, never alarming or smug about it.
- No jargon unless they use it first.

## Rules we follow (UK)

- We only cold email corporate subscribers: limited companies, LLPs, public bodies and other incorporated organisations. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships need to have opted in first, so they stay off the list.
- Every email says who we are and gives a simple way to opt out. Anyone who opts out goes on a suppression list for good.
- A named director is still personal data under UK GDPR. We rely on legitimate interests, keep only what we need, and link to our privacy notice.
- Follow your professional body's rules on marketing too (ICAEW, ACCA, AAT, ICB or similar).
- This is not legal advice. The ICO is updating its guidance after the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, so check the latest before you send.