Unclaimed #18: I've Audited 300+ Accounting Firms. Here Are the 7 Mistakes Almost Every Single One Makes.
I can predict what's wrong with your Google Business Profile before I even open it.
After auditing 300+ accounting and bookkeeping firms across the UK — market towns, city centres, multi-office practices, century-old partnerships, franchise networks, and sole practitioners — the same seven mistakes appear with near-perfect predictability. Not sometimes. Not occasionally. Almost every single time.
Some of these mistakes are free to fix. All of them are costing you prospects right now. And most firm owners have no idea any of them exist.
This is the definitive list. The 7 things almost every accounting firm gets wrong on Google — and exactly how to fix each one.
First, the numbers
Before I show you the mistakes, let me quantify what 300+ audits actually revealed. This data does not exist anywhere else. I collected it manually, one firm at a time, over hundreds of hours.
| Mistake | Prevalence Across 300+ Audits |
|---|---|
| Profile unclaimed or ownership unclear | ~40% |
| Business description empty or generic | ~75% |
| Reviews with zero owner responses | ~80% |
| Services section empty or incomplete | ~85% |
| Fewer than 5 photos (or only Google Street View) | ~70% |
| Legacy ghost profiles from mergers or rebrands | ~35% of multi-office firms |
| No named person responsible for GBP | ~90% |
These are not edge cases. These are the norm. If you are an accounting or bookkeeping firm with more than one office, more than five years of history, or more than one partner — you almost certainly have at least four of these seven problems right now.
Let me walk you through each one.
Mistake 1: Your profile is unclaimed — or you don't know who controls it
Prevalence: ~40% of firms
In one English market town, I audited 11 accounting firms. Five of them — nearly half — had unclaimed Google Business Profiles. "Claim this business" sat there like an unopened letter. They couldn't respond to reviews. They couldn't update their information. They couldn't post. They couldn't do anything except watch their profile sit there, visible to every prospect, completely out of their control.
One of those firms had 22 five-star reviews spanning seven years. Clients named the partner by name. Called the firm "worth their weight in gold." The profile was unclaimed the entire time. They couldn't say thank you even if they wanted to.
Another variant of this mistake: the profile is claimed, but nobody knows who claimed it. A former partner used their personal Gmail in 2016. They left the firm in 2019. The password left with them. The profile looks fine from the outside — reviews, photos, posts — but nobody inside the firm can access it. This is more dangerous than an unclaimed profile because it looks managed. Nobody checks until something goes wrong.
What this costs:
- You cannot respond to reviews — positive or negative
- You cannot update your information if something changes
- Anyone could claim the profile — a competitor, a former employee, a spammer
- If someone else claims it, they control what prospects see when they search your firm name
The fix: Go to business.google.com. Search for your firm. If it says "Claim this business" or "Own this business?" — claim it immediately. If it's already claimed but you don't know who controls it, submit an ownership request. Google has a formal process for this. It takes days, not weeks.
I wrote a complete step-by-step guide covering all five verification methods, what to do if someone else owns your profile, and exactly how long each method takes. → How to Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile
Mistake 2: Your business description is empty
Prevalence: ~75% of firms
Your Google Business Profile gives you 750 characters to describe your firm. It's one of the most visible fields on the entire profile. It appears prominently in search results. It tells prospects who you are, what you do, and why they should choose you.
Roughly three out of four accounting firms leave it completely blank.
I audited a 27-year-old firm with 50 staff, 7 partners, and a global network spanning 500 offices in 90 countries. They did forensic accounting for high-profile court cases. They had a podcast. University partnerships. Institutional endorsements from deans and economic development bodies. Their website was substantial, professional, and current.
Their GBP description: 750 characters available. Zero used. Not one sentence.
The About page on their website had paragraphs of carefully written copy explaining exactly who they were and what they did. It had already been written. It had already been paid for. It just hadn't been copied to Google.
What this costs:
- Google doesn't know what your firm does, which hurts your ranking for relevant searches
- Prospects searching for specific services don't see any evidence you offer them
- A blank description looks unprofessional — it's the digital equivalent of an empty shop window
The fix: Answer three questions in 750 characters: What do you do? Who do you serve? What makes you different? Write it like a human. Don't stuff keywords. The content already exists on your website — adapt it. Twenty minutes.
Mistake 3: Your reviews sit unanswered
Prevalence: ~80% of firms
This is the most common problem in my entire audit backlog, and it's the one that does the most damage.
A client takes 10 minutes out of their day to write a detailed, personal review. They name the partner. They describe a relationship spanning 15 years. They mention specific outcomes — "saved us thousands in tax" or "guided us through the sale of our business." They post it publicly on Google for the world to see.
And the firm says nothing.
Not "thank you." Not "we appreciate you." Not even the automated-sounding "Thank you for your review" that takes eight seconds to type. Silence.
I found one firm with 22 glowing five-star reviews accumulated over seven years. Every single one detailed and personal. Not one had a response. The profile was unclaimed, so they literally couldn't respond — but the effect on prospects is the same regardless of the reason. Silence reads as indifference.
At the other end of the spectrum: negative reviews sitting unanswered for years. A client complains about communication. Another disputes a fee. A third leaves a one-star rating with no text. No response from the firm. Every prospect who scrolls through the reviews sees these complaints — and sees that nobody from the firm ever addressed them.
What this costs:
- 91% of consumers read online reviews before contacting a business
- 65% are more likely to choose a business that responds to reviews
- A profile with 40 reviews and zero responses looks abandoned — regardless of how good the reviews are
- Unanswered negative reviews shape a prospect's entire impression before they ever contact you
The fix: Set aside one hour. Log into your GBP. Reply to every review — newest first, working backward. Positive reviews get a personal, specific thank-you. Negative reviews get a professional response that acknowledges the concern, takes responsibility where appropriate, and offers to take it offline.
I wrote a complete guide covering how to ask for reviews without violating Google's policies, how to respond to negative ones, and how to build a review system that doesn't depend on a partner remembering to ask. → The Accounting Firm's Guide to Google Reviews
Mistake 4: Your services aren't listed
Prevalence: ~85% of firms
Google lets you list services directly on your Business Profile. Each service can have its own description. This tells prospects exactly what you offer before they call. It tells Google exactly what searches you should appear for.
Roughly 85% of accounting firms have this section completely empty.
I audited 35 franchisees across one national UK accounting network. Same brand. Same website. Same marketing support from head office. 35 out of 35 had zero services listed. Not one.
Meanwhile, their websites listed audit, tax, bookkeeping, payroll, corporate finance, VAT, and more. All defined. All categorized. All already written. Just never ticked on the Google profile.
What this costs:
- You're invisible for searches like "tax planning [city]" or "audit services [city]"
- Prospects searching for a specific service don't see any evidence you offer it
- The competitor who did list their services appears instead — even if they're less qualified
The fix: Go to Business Profile → Edit services. Add every service your firm offers. Use the exact terms prospects search for — "Tax Planning," "Payroll Services," "Audit & Assurance," "Bookkeeping," "VAT Returns," "Management Accounts." Each one can have a description. Use them. Ten minutes.
Mistake 5: Your photos are missing — or look abandoned
Prevalence: ~70% of firms
Google's own published data: businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks. Photos are one of the strongest trust signals on a profile.
Yet roughly 70% of accounting firms have fewer than five photos — and many have zero. Their profile shows the gray placeholder icon Google displays when no images exist.
I audited a firm with 50 staff, a beautiful office, team events, and a professional website full of headshots and office photography. Their GBP: zero photos. Not one. Fifty people worked there. Someone, at some point, must have taken a photograph. It just never made it to Google.
At the other extreme: firms whose only photos are from 2017, showing staff who left years ago, branding that's been replaced, and an office they moved out of before the pandemic. Outdated photos are almost worse than no photos — they actively signal neglect.
What this costs:
- 42% fewer direction requests than competitors with photos
- 35% fewer website clicks
- A profile with no photos looks abandoned or illegitimate
- Outdated photos signal "we haven't touched this in years"
The fix: Upload at least 10 photos. Your logo. Your office exterior. Your office interior. Your team. Real photos of real people. Not stock images. Stock images signal "we didn't care enough to take real photos." Everything you need already exists — it's on your phone, your website, and your social media. Fifteen minutes.
Mistake 6: Your merger or rebrand never reached Google
Prevalence: ~35% of multi-office firms
This mistake only applies to firms that have merged, acquired, or rebranded — but in the accounting profession, that's a significant percentage. And when it happens, the damage is severe.
Four accounting firms merge into one new brand. New name. New website. New strategy. Years of planning and negotiation. The press release goes out. The website is redesigned. New email signatures are deployed. Someone orders branded notebooks.
On Google, three of the old profiles are still live. Different names. Different reviews. No connection to the new brand whatsoever.
A prospect searches one of the legacy firm names — maybe they were a client years ago and remember the old name. They find a profile that looks active. It has reviews. It looks legitimate. They call the number listed — if there even is one. Or they click through to a website that may or may not redirect to the new brand.
Best case: confusion, an extra step. Worst case: they assume the firm hasn't changed, leave a message on an unmonitored number, and never hear back.
Meanwhile, the new brand's profile looks thin — few reviews, minimal content. It looks like a startup, not the product of four established practices combining decades of experience.
I've now documented this pattern in multiple firms: six firms merging into one, 20 acquisitions over four years, a century-old firm with two arms where one was fully rebranded on Google and the other was completely forgotten.
What this costs:
- Reviews are scattered across multiple profiles — your new brand looks less established than it actually is
- Negative reviews on legacy profiles cannot be responded to — they sit there doing damage indefinitely
- Unclaimed legacy profiles can be claimed by anyone — a competitor, a former employee, a spammer
- Prospects searching old names find ghosts instead of your firm
The fix: Search every legacy firm name, partner name, and acquired brand on Google Maps in an incognito window. Document every profile you find. Claim the ones you still control. Mark them as permanently closed — never delete, or you lose the reviews. Respond to every review on the ghosts before closing them, thanking clients and directing them to the new brand. Then update your primary profile to reference the merger.
I wrote the complete step-by-step guide → The Rebrand That Never Reached Google and the original deep-dive → The Firm With 4 Mergers and 4 Ghost Profiles
Mistake 7: Nobody owns it
Prevalence: ~90% of firms
This is the mistake behind all the other mistakes. It's not a technical problem. It's an accountability problem.
In almost every accounting firm I've audited, nobody's job description includes "manage the Google Business Profile." The partners assume the marketing team handles it. The marketing team assumes IT handles it. IT assumes the office manager handles it. The office manager assumes Google handles it automatically.
Nobody owns it. So nobody does it.
The profile was set up years ago — probably by an office manager, an IT person, or a well-meaning partner who clicked through the verification process and never opened the dashboard again. That person left, or got promoted, or simply forgot. The password went with them. The profile sat there, unwatched, unmanaged, unloved.
Meanwhile, the firm kept growing. New clients. New services. New partners. New offices. The website team kept building. The BD team kept developing relationships. The firm's reputation kept compounding. The left hand built something extraordinary. The right hand forgot to tell Google.
This is not a capability gap. It's an attention gap. And it's the reason all seven of these mistakes persist for years — not because they're hard to fix, but because nobody wakes up thinking about them.
What this costs: All six of the previous mistakes persist indefinitely. The profile decays. Prospects go elsewhere. And nobody inside the firm ever knows it's happening.
The fix: Name one person. Give them access. Make it part of their role — not a side project, not something they'll "get to when things are quiet." Set a quarterly calendar reminder to audit the profile. Fifteen minutes every three months prevents three years of neglect.
The self-audit: which of these do you have?
Answer these seven questions honestly. If the answer to any of them is "no" or "I don't know," you have that mistake.
| # | Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is your profile claimed, and do you know exactly who controls it? | ||
| 2 | Is your business description filled — all 750 characters? | ||
| 3 | Have you replied to every review — positive and negative? | ||
| 4 | Are your services listed with descriptions? | ||
| 5 | Do you have at least 10 real, recent photos? | ||
| 6 | If you've merged or rebranded, are all legacy profiles claimed and closed? | ||
| 7 | Is there one named person responsible for GBP — with access and a recurring calendar reminder? |
Scoring:
- 7/7: Your profile is in the top 10% of accounting firms. Maintain it.
- 5-6/7: You have work to do. Start with the "no" answers. Most take minutes.
- 3-4/7: Your profile is actively costing you prospects. Fix the quick wins this week.
- 0-2/7: Your profile is invisible. The good news: everything you need to fix it already exists.
The good news
Everything you need to fix all seven mistakes already exists.
The description is on your website's About page — already written, already approved, already paid for. The services are listed on your Services page — already defined, already categorized. The photos are on your phone, your website, your social media — already taken. The happy clients are in your inbox — already satisfied, already grateful, just never asked.
Two hours. £0. That's the gap between the firm you appear to be on Google and the firm you actually are.
The firms that win on Google are not necessarily the best accountants. They're the ones who claimed their profile, wrote a description, listed their services, uploaded some photos, and replied to their reviews. The bar is that low. And after 300+ audits, I can tell you: most of your competitors haven't cleared it yet.
This is Unclaimed #18 — the definitive summary of everything 300+ accounting and bookkeeping firm audits revealed. No firm names. Just patterns. This post will be updated as new data comes in.
Unclaimed is written by the founder of VindMyBusiness. I audit Google Business Profiles for accounting and bookkeeping firms. I find the gap between excellent reputations and invisible Google profiles — and write about what I discover.
Want me to personally audit your profile and show you exactly which of these 7 mistakes you're making? Get a free GBP Scorecard — I'll review your Google Business Profile and send you a personalized report. No cost. No pitch. No obligation.
Prefer to fix everything yourself? I built a free 17-lesson GBP Masterclass from 300+ real audits — step-by-step, no generic advice, everything I know made public. → Free GBP Masterclass
📺 Watch the video version on YouTube — new case study every Monday. → Subscribe to VindMyBusiness on YouTube
More from Unclaimed:
- Unclaimed #17: Your GBP Is Finally Optimized. Here's What Happens If You Stop.
- Unclaimed #16: Your Firm Spent Months on a Rebrand. Google Still Shows the Old Name.
- Unclaimed #15: Same Brand. Same Offices. Same B Corp. One Arm Has 4.4 Stars. The Other Has 0.
- Unclaimed #12: The Accounting Firm's Guide to Google Reviews