Chartered accountants and accounting firms · Professional services
Get chosen for the retainer you want, without breaking the ICAI code.
Most firms grow the same way. A satisfied client tells another, a banker passes on a name, and the partners take whatever arrives. That works until the firm wants a startup before its first funding round, and finds nobody outside its circle knows it does that work.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Marketing for a CA or company secretarial practice means being findable for the clients and assignments you want, within what ICAI and ICSI allow. Sales means turning a banker's referral into a clear engagement letter and a long retainer. GullySales works on the being-found side and the closing side, so the July filing rush leaves you with retainer clients still on the books in October.
A practice cannot solicit like a retailer. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) code of ethics restricts advertising and solicitation by members in practice. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has its own rules. Within those limits, a clear website, correct directory details and partner-written articles still do a lot, as long as someone follows up the enquiries they bring.
Last updated 6 Oct 2026. Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. We describe restrictions in general terms, so check the current position with your own council or adviser before you publish anything.
How buyers decide
How chartered accountants and accounting firms are chosen.
Clients almost always arrive through a person. A business owner asks another owner who does their accounts. A banker suggests a firm during a loan application, or an investor introduces a founder. The prospect then searches the firm's name and reads the partners' LinkedIn profiles. They are checking one thing: has this firm handled a business of our size and sector?
The trigger moments follow the compliance calendar and the business cycle. Income tax return deadlines in July and the tax audit due date in September bring a rush of individual and small business enquiries. An owner looks for someone new when a GST notice arrives or an ROC filing is missed. A first statutory audit, a funding round or a loan needing audited accounts does the same. So does a bad year with the previous accountant.
What decides it is confidence that the firm understands this business and will answer when needed. Owners comparing firms mostly want to know whether a partner or an article assistant will handle their file. The firm that sends a clear engagement letter within days, and follows up after the first meeting, usually wins over the one that waits to be called back.
The problem
What usually goes wrong for chartered accountants and accounting firms.
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“Every July we take on work we do not really want”
The return filing rush brings dozens of small, one-time enquiries, and we have no time left to pursue the audit and advisory clients we want.
“Our website says nothing a prospect can use”
It lists every service a CA can offer in one paragraph, so a startup founder cannot tell whether we handle funding due diligence.
“Referrals from bankers and lawyers have dried up”
A branch manager who used to send us loan clients was transferred, and nobody built a relationship with the new one.
“Proposals go out late and vague”
A prospect meets a partner, then waits two weeks for a scope and fee note that could apply to any client.
“We are nervous about doing any marketing at all”
We are not sure what the code of ethics allows, so we do nothing, while unregistered bookkeeping services advertise freely.
“Our secretarial and advisory work is invisible”
Clients think of us only for returns and audit, and hire someone else for ROC compliance, valuation or company formation.
What we do
What we do for chartered accountants and accounting firms.
Everything included for chartered accountants and accounting firms, and the result each part is there to produce.
A website organised by client type and service
Pages for manufacturers, traders, startups and NRIs, and for audit, GST, ROC compliance and advisory, stating facts about the firm within ICAI guidelines rather than claims of superiority.
Result: A prospect sent by a banker can confirm in a minute that you handle their kind of business.
Directory and profile information kept correct
The Google Business Profile, institute directory details and partner LinkedIn profiles checked for consistency of name, address, services and partners.
Result: A prospect who searches your firm's name finds accurate, matching details everywhere.
Knowledge content written by the partners
Articles and short notes on GST changes, budget updates and compliance deadlines, published under the partner's name and drafted from a short conversation with them.
Result: The firm is seen to know its subject without advertising itself.
Referral relationship record
A list of bankers, lawyers, valuers and investors who send work, with a note of each introduction and a plan for staying in touch as people move branches.
Result: A referral source is not lost just because one person was transferred.
Engagement letter and proposal template
A reusable scope and engagement letter for each main service, adapted per client within a day of the first meeting.
Result: Prospects receive a clear scope quickly, which is often what decides between two firms.
Enquiry triage for filing season
A simple rule and form for the July and September rush, separating one-time filings from prospects who could become retainers.
Result: The season feeds your retainer book instead of only filling your desks.
Report against the baseline
Enquiries by source and service, proposals sent, engagements signed and retainers added, reported against the baseline recorded before work began.
Result: Partners see which relationships and services bring the clients they want.
How the result is measured
- Enquiries by source and service
- Proposals sent within three working days
- Proposals to signed engagement letters
- Retainers added against one-time filings
- Referrals by partner relationship
- Services taken per client
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Worth a page and a campaign of their own
Statutory and tax audit · Monthly accounting and bookkeeping retainers · GST registration, returns and notices · Income tax returns and advance tax for business owners · Company incorporation and ROC compliance · Company secretarial retainers and board processes · Startup compliance and funding due diligence · Internal audit and process reviews · NRI taxation and repatriation · Valuation and project reports for bank loans
Priority campaigns
Campaigns for what chartered accountants and accounting firms most want to sell.
Each one planned around when your buyers decide, and measured against the baseline.
Startup compliance series
Knowledge articles and a talk for incubators on incorporation, ESOP basics, ROC filings and preparing for due diligence, shared through founder communities.
Result: Founders know the firm before their first investor asks for audited accounts.
GST notice and reconciliation help
Plain explanations of common notice types and reconciliation issues, published on the website and shared through trade associations.
Result: Business owners with a notice in hand find a firm that clearly handles it.
Post-season retainer conversion
A follow-up in October and November with business clients who came only for returns or tax audit, offering monthly accounting or GST retainers where it fits.
Result: Some one-time clients become year-round ones.
Company secretarial awareness for existing clients
A short note and review for private limited company clients on annual ROC filings, board minutes and statutory registers, handled by the firm's company secretaries.
Result: Clients stop hiring a separate provider for work the firm already offers.
Banker and lender relationship programme
A planned sequence of introductions and knowledge sessions for branch managers and credit teams on project reports and loan documentation.
Result: New branch managers learn the firm's name soon after they arrive.
Beyond search
Where we reach buyers of chartered accountants and accounting firms, beyond Google.
Search matters, but it is rarely the only way this industry's buyers find a supplier.
Bank branch managers and credit officers
We prepare an introduction note and a short list of the loan-related work the firm does, and a routine for meeting each new branch manager.
Lawyers, valuers and insolvency professionals
We prepare a referral arrangement with allied professionals whose clients need accounts, due diligence or tax opinions.
Incubators, accelerators and angel networks
We prepare a compliance talk and a founder checklist for incubator programmes, where speaking is a permitted way to share knowledge.
Industry and trade associations
We prepare budget and GST update sessions for chambers of commerce and trade bodies whose members are the firm's kind of client.
Institute study circles and professional events
We prepare articles and presentation material so partners can speak at study circles, which builds referrals from other professionals.
Who it is for
This is written for these chartered accountants and accounting firms.
- Sole practitioner chartered accountants
- Small and mid-sized CA partnership firms
- Statutory and internal audit practices
- GST and indirect tax specialists
- Company secretaries in practice
- Accounting and bookkeeping service firms
- Firms serving startups and funded companies
- Firms serving NRIs and cross-border clients
- Second-generation practices modernising their client base
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
- You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
- You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is reply time, a follow-up sequence, the page buyers land on or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs for chartered accountants and accounting firms
- 1
Assess
We look at where your clients come from, which services and client types you want more of, and what the institutes allow for your firm.
- 2
Fix the proposal step
Engagement templates and a follow-up rule, so every serious enquiry gets a clear scope within days.
- 3
Build the presence
A website organised by client type and service, consistent directory details and partner profiles, all within ICAI and ICSI guidance.
- 4
Share knowledge
Articles, updates and talks under the partners' names, placed where bankers, founders and business owners read them.
- 5
Grow the retainer book
Season-end conversion, cross-service reviews and referral relationships maintained through staff changes.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix that matters most, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions chartered accountants and accounting firms ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Can a chartered accountant advertise?
Can we run Google Ads for our firm?
Do the same rules apply to company secretaries?
How do we stop the filing season from swamping us?
Bookkeeping companies advertise heavily. Should we worry?
Can we use client names on our website?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
Notes for owners
Read more about chartered accountants and accounting firms.
- How companies choose an outside service firmCompanies hand hiring, payroll, accounts, facilities and advertising to an outside firm after asking someone they trust. This post explains who is asked, who signs, and what decides renewal.
- How CA firms choose which July enquiries to takeReturn season brings enquiries a firm cannot all serve well. This post shows how to sort them by fit, say no without losing the referral, and keep the good ones past the rush.
- How to advertise to small business ownersThere is no committee and no budget line. One person decides, after the shutter comes down, and has been sold a website and an SEO package before.
- How to advertise to foundersA founder decides and pays in the same conversation, and will never fill in your form. Advertise to be found and checked in the week something in the business breaks.
- How to get clients for a CA firm without breaking ICAI rulesA CA firm gets clients through referrals, a website that answers specific problems, and a complete local listing, all within ICAI's rules on advertising and solicitation.
Part of Professional services. See the other industries in the sector.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.