Accounting Firm Marketing ROI: What’s Considered Good

As a growth-minded accounting firm owner or partner, you've likely asked the question: "What is a good marketing ROI?" You’ve probably searched for an answer, hoping to find a single, definitive number—a benchmark to aim for. The truth, however, is that any article offering a one-size-fits-all answer is doing you a disservice.

While industry averages can offer guidance, the reality is that a “good” ROI is unique to your firm—shaped by your starting point, growth stage, budget, and internal operations. Here, we move beyond misleading averages to provide a realistic framework for understanding, measuring, and ultimately improving your digital marketing ROI. We'll unpack the critical factors that determine your true potential and give you the clarity you need to invest in marketing wisely.

Defining Marketing ROI for Accounting Firms: More Than Just a Number

Before we dive into what makes a "good" return, let's establish a clear definition. Marketing Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance metric used to evaluate the efficiency of a marketing investment. It measures the amount of revenue generated for every dollar spent on a marketing campaign or channel.

The basic formula is straightforward:

ROI = [(Financial Gain - Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost] x 100

For example, if you spend $10,000 on a digital marketing campaign that generates $40,000 in new client revenue, your ROI is 300%, or a 3:1 return.

But for accounting firms, this formula is just the beginning. True return on investment digital marketing isn't just about immediate revenue. It’s about connecting your marketing spend to tangible business outcomes, such as:

• Acquiring high-value clients who stay with your firm for years.
• Increasing the average Client Lifetime Value (CLTV).
• Building a predictable pipeline of qualified leads.
• Strengthening your brand authority in a competitive market.

These are the marketing metrics for CPAs that signal sustainable, long-term growth, not just a short-term cash injection.

The 4 Biggest Drivers of Your Accounting Firm's Marketing ROI

Your firm isn't a generic entity; it's a unique business with its own history, team dynamics, goals, and capabilities. The following four factors are the most significant drivers of what you can and should expect from your marketing investment.

1. Your Digital Marketing Starting Point: Strong Foundation or Fresh Start?

Where you are today dictates how quickly you'll see results tomorrow.

• Fresh Start (Low Digital Presence): If your firm has a basic website, no active SEO, and minimal social media presence, your initial marketing investment will focus on building a foundation. This includes technical SEO, content creation, and establishing online authority. The ROI in the first 6-12 months may be lower as this foundational work takes time to mature and generate leads. A "good" ROI here is about building assets and seeing leading indicators improve (e.g., improved keyword rankings and AI visibility, increased website traffic), which will pay dividends for years to come.
• Existing Foundation (Underperforming): If you have an established website, some existing content, and have tried marketing before, the focus shifts to optimization. Your agency can identify quick wins, refine existing campaigns, and accelerate results. In this scenario, you can expect to see a more immediate and direct digital marketing ROI for your firm because the groundwork is already in place to attract accounting leads.

2. Your Business Stage: New, Growing, or Established—It All Impacts ROI

A startup accounting firm's goals are fundamentally different from those of a multi-generational firm, and their ROI expectations should reflect that.

• New & Growing Firms (e.g., <$1M Revenue): For newer firms, the primary goal is new client generation and brand awareness. A "good" ROI might be a 2:1 or 3:1 return initially, as the focus is on acquiring clients and establishing market share. Every new client has a significant impact, and the marketing investment is crucial for survival and scaling.
• Established Firms (e.g., >$3M Revenue): An established firm may have a stable client base but is looking to move upmarket, expand into new service lines, or increase profitability. Their focus may be on acquiring larger, more strategic clients. For them, a 5:1 or 7:1 ROI might be the target in year one, but they also have the brand recognition and internal capacity to support that level of accounting firm growth.

3. Your Marketing Investment: How Budget Shapes Speed and Scale

Your marketing budget for accounting firms is the fuel for your growth engine. The level of investment directly impacts the scope, speed, and scale of your results.

• Limited Budget: A smaller budget might allow for focusing on one key channel, like local SEO or a highly targeted content strategy. Results will be steady but may take longer to compound. Optimizing marketing spend is critical here, ensuring every dollar is allocated to the highest-impact activities.
• Significant Investment: A larger budget enables a multi-channel, integrated strategy, combining SEO, PPC, content marketing, and more. This approach can generate results much faster and capture a larger market share. According to Trivera’s “Building an Informed Marketing Budget: Part 1 – Industry Benchmarks,” business services firms typically allocate around 10–12% of revenue toward marketing. The article also notes that many such firms invest a substantial portion of that budget into digital marketing—including SEO, PPC, content marketing, lead generation and other online channels. This level of investment allows for more rapid testing, optimization, and scaling of successful accounting marketing campaigns.

4. Internal Processes: The Often-Ignored Link That Makes or Breaks ROI

This is the factor most often overlooked. Your accounting firm marketing agency generates leads, but it cannot close them for you. Your own firm’s internal sales and intake process is the final, critical link in the ROI chain.

Expert Insight from WISE Digital Partners: "We can generate a steady stream of high-quality leads for a firm, but if no one answers the phone promptly or if the follow-up process is inconsistent, that marketing investment is wasted. A strong sales pipeline management process is non-negotiable for achieving great ROI. It's a partnership; we drive the opportunities, and the firm converts them into revenue." - Patrick Dillon, Founder & CEO

A low lead-to-client conversion rate will drastically lower your ROI, regardless of how effective the marketing is. Improving your intake scripts, follow-up cadence, and client onboarding can dramatically increase your marketing returns without spending another dime on advertising.

Typical Marketing ROI Benchmarks for Accounting Firms (And How to Interpret Them)

With all the above context in mind, we can look at some industry benchmarks. It is absolutely critical to understand that these initial figures represent Year One performance. Digital marketing, particularly SEO, GEO, and content, is an investment that builds compounding value over time.

Year One: Building the Foundation

In the first 12 months, the focus is on establishing authority, generating initial momentum, and proving the concept.

• A Common Year One Benchmark: Across many professional services, a 5:1 ROI ($5 in new revenue for every $1 spent) is often cited as a strong target in the first year.
• A Realistic Year One Range: For most accounting firms, a healthy initial digital marketing ROI can range from 3:1 to 7:1.
  • 3:1 ROI: This is a solid return for the first year, especially for firms building a new digital foundation from scratch. It proves the marketing is profitable and provides the base for exponential growth.
  • 7:1+ ROI: This is an excellent first-year return, typically seen by firms with some existing brand recognition that can be quickly leveraged, combined with a highly efficient sales process.

Year Two and Beyond: Where ROI Accelerates

The true power of a consistent marketing strategy is realized after the foundational first year. The assets you build—content, backlinks, brand authority—don't disappear. They mature and become more powerful.

As a result, the ROI almost always doubles in year two and continues to grow into years three and four. The same marketing spend that produced a 4:1 return in year one can easily produce an 8:1 or 10:1 return in year two as your firm's online presence solidifies.

It's not uncommon for our accounting firm partners to produce 15:1 or better ROI long-term. We have accounting clients who consistently see 20:1 or better returns in years three and beyond because the initial investment has created a dominant and sustainable lead-generation engine.

Interpreting the average CPA firm marketing ROI requires this long-term perspective. If your new firm hits a 3:1 ROI in your first year, that's a massive success that signals the potential for incredible future returns. It's the launching pad, not the destination.

How to Measure Marketing Success for Your Accounting Firm (The Metrics That Matter)

Measuring marketing success for accountants goes beyond the final ROI number. Tracking these key metrics provides a complete picture of your marketing health and helps you make smarter decisions.

Client Acquisition Cost (CAC):

• What it is: The total cost of marketing and sales to acquire one new client. (Total Marketing Spend / Number of New Clients).
• Why it matters: It tells you how efficient your marketing is. The goal is to keep CAC well below the lifetime value of a client.

Client Lifetime Value (CLTV):

• What it is: The total revenue you can expect from a single client account over the course of your relationship.
• Why it matters: The real power of marketing is realized when CLTV is high. A $5,000 CAC is a great investment if the average CLTV of that client is $50,000.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS):

• What it is: A metric specific to paid advertising (like Google Ads) that measures gross revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
• Why it matters: It provides a direct, immediate look at the profitability of your PPC campaigns.

Website Traffic & Lead Generation:

• What they are: The number of visitors to your site and the number of those visitors who take a desired action (e.g., fill out a form, call your office).
• Why they matter: These are leading indicators of future revenue. A steady increase in traffic and leads signals a healthy marketing engine.

How to Maximize Your Accounting Firm’s Marketing ROI

Ready to move the needle? Achieving a superior ROI requires a strategic, data-driven approach.

• Develop an Integrated Strategy: Don't put all your eggs in one basket. The most successful accounting marketing campaigns integrate multiple channels. A powerful SEO strategy builds long-term organic authority, while targeted PPC campaigns can drive immediate leads for high-value services.
• Focus on High-Value Niches: Instead of being a generalist, target specific industries or client types where you have a competitive advantage. This allows for more resonant messaging and a higher return on your marketing efforts.
• Prioritize Client Retention: It's 5 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one (Harvard Business Review). A portion of your marketing should focus on client satisfaction and communication, which boosts CLTV and, in turn, overall ROI.
• Analyze and Optimize Continuously: Digital marketing is not a "set it and forget it" activity. Regularly review your data, identify what's working (and what isn't), and reallocate your budget to the most profitable channels and campaigns.

Case Study Spotlight: How DeBlanc, Murphy & Murphy Achieved a 1,720% ROI

To illustrate the powerful compounding effect of a disciplined, data-driven marketing strategy, look no further than our work with DeBlanc, Murphy & Murphy in Maryland. This firm was one of our most disciplined in tracking and utilizing the data we provided, and their results speak to the immense long-term potential of digital marketing for accounting firms.

The Ultimate Benchmark

After two years, DeBlanc, Murphy & Murphy achieved an exceptional 1,720% ROI on their digital marketing spend by leveraging their Year One foundation to reduce costs and significantly increase revenue.

• Year 1: The firm achieved a strong 594%, or 6:1 ROI.
• Year 2: Thanks to the established foundation, a slightly lower ad spend, and the maturing of our content and SEO groundwork, their revenue increased while their marketing spend decreased, catapulting their ROI to an exceptional 1,720%.

This is a perfect case study in how the right strategy, combined with strict tracking and optimization, fuels exponential, long-term growth and, in this client's case, eventually led to a huge exit.

Defining Your Version of a “Good” ROI—and How to Achieve It

So, what is a good marketing ROI for your accounting firm? It’s a number that reflects your unique goals, supports profitable growth, and is measured against your specific context. It's not a static benchmark found in an article; it's a dynamic target you define and pursue with a clear strategy.

Understanding the factors that shape your potential return is the first step toward making a confident, informed investment in your firm's future. The next step is partnering with an expert who knows how to navigate the complexities of the accounting industry.

At WISE Digital Partners, we specialize in creating transparent, data-driven digital marketing strategies for accountants. We help firms like yours define what a "good" ROI looks like for them and then build the roadmap to achieve it. We understand the nuances of marketing for the accounting industry and are committed to delivering measurable results that drive real growth.

Take the Next Step Toward Your Accounting Firm’s Growth

Ready to define and achieve a "good" marketing ROI for your accounting firm? Schedule a Free Strategy Session with WISE Digital Partners today (or book a 1-hour paid session for a deeper dive) and let's build your custom growth roadmap.

Want to learn more? See how we help accounting firms get found, attract qualified leads, and grow—and download our guide, The Digital Marketing Playbook for Accountants.