The 21st century has replaced the brick and mortar locations of most CPA firms and replaced them with websites. While many CPAs still have an office where they meet with clients and conduct business, a great deal of the emphasis of curb appeal and customer service has been allocated to a website. The options available from website builder vendors is ever growing making the selection of one more difficult. The following are descriptions of some of the unique functions each vendor offers CPA firms.
The AccountantsWorld website builder allows the user to create surveys to get client feedback with survey links on the user’s website which can help enhance client relationships. The Website Relief product is also continually adding newsletter content that can be useful to clients and can help establish the user as a trusted source for accounting news.
Build Your Firm’s website builder provides retargeting advertising in addition to pay per click advertising. Retargeting is designed to pull prospects back to the user’s website. There is also a niche website service for accountants (by industry and/or type of service) so accountants can acquire higher quality leads.
ClientWhy’s websites are fully mobile-responsive and Google mobile compliant – this means they will look appealing on all screen sizes, including mobile devices. It also means users’ websites will be rewarded by Google for this mobile-friendly design. Also, one login allows the user to manage and update their website, manage client communications and share and receive secure documents.
CPAsites websites are custom designed from scratch. CPAsites encourages firms to find a website (or several) they like, whether it’s another CPA firm or a law firm or an architectural firm and provide it to them as an example. A website will be designed based on the example.
CPASiteSolutions’ website builder features custom design services with more than 250 site styles and over 100 responsive designs. The designs are built to adhere to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices. The websites allow for unlimited pages and users have access to over 150 tools and calculators.
Service2Client’s datacenter is SOC 2 Type II and a copy of the SOC report can be requested by current paying ICFiles users after signing NDA. Service2Client does not resell any software and they claim to have never had a data breach.
Tenenz’s Account & Financial Site Builder (AFSB) allows users to edit content, add links to other tools or resources or embed applications inside the site at any time. The financial calculators and monthly client newsletters make a website a regular resource for clients. Members get a discount on physical products like W-2s and 1099s, tax return folders and marketing materials.
Thomson Reuters’ Web Builder CS sets up and manages the website. Users also receive personalized service from their own website account manager, as well as a dedicated tech team to launch and update the site as needed, plus unlimited technical support.
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting’s CCH Site Builder includes the ability to create a “Careers” page on the user’s site. This tool allows firms to post jobs and accept resumes through the website. Users can also create job categories to help classify and organize open positions.
The following chart provides the website, technical issue phone number and pricing for each vendor:
Company |
Website |
Phone number for technical issues |
Pricing |
| AccountantsWorld | www.accountantsworld.com | 888-999-1366 | Website Relief web-builder solution by itself is $59/month, or $595/year. Alternatively, it is included in a Cloud Suite bundle (with the document management solution, Cloud Cabinet), for $99/month or $995/year and also included in the Power Practice Suite (Accounting Power, After-the-fact Payroll, Practice Relief, Directory Listing, and Cloud Cabinet) for $220/month or $2,195/year. |
| Build Your Firm | www.buildyourfirm.com | 888-999-9800 x2 | The premier package is $88.33/month. The platinum package is $99.95/month. There is no set up fee. There are over 40 different niches. The set up fee for design is $500 to $1,250. The custom package, designed for larger CPA firms, is a flat fee of $1,250. |
| ClientWhys | www.clientwhys.com | 800-442-2477 x227 | The complete digital marketing packages start at $69.95/month with no set-up fees. |
| CPAsites | www.cpasites.com | 866-452-9101 | The platinum package is $150/month, gold is $85/month, silver is $50/month and bronze $300/year. |
| CPASiteSolutions | www.cpasitesolutions.com | 800-896-4500 | Prices start at $52.50/month. There are no set-up fees or contracts. A free 60 day full-service trial is available. |
| Service2Client | www.service2client.com | 877-251-3273 | Depending on what CMS and what services are added and how much ICFiles.com space is used, pricing ranges from $29.95/month to $189.95/month. |
| Account & Financial Site Builder by Tenenz | www.afsb.net | 800-888-5803 | Pricing is $25.99/ month when paying yearly and $32.99/month if paying monthly. Every feature is available with a membership. |
| Thomson Reuters | www.cs.thomsonreuters.com | 800-968-0600 | Website hosting costs $70/month. A variety of design options that range from standard site designs included in the hosting fee Custom designed website pricing includes a one-time fee from $400 to $2,500, depending on the services desired. Extra email (over 5 accounts) or storage can be purchased starting at $2.50/month. |
| Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting | www.cchwebsites.com | 877-393-2874 x1 | Pricing starts at $795/year. |
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