A referral gives a prospective client your firm's name. The next thing they do is search for it.
What most CA firms have online doesn't match the practice behind it: an outdated page, a directory listing, or nothing at all. A careful client, especially a company choosing an auditor, reads that as one more reason to hesitate.
Most firms have put this off for good reasons:
- The rules were tight. For years, CA firms had little room to present themselves online, so a website never seemed worth the effort.
- Templates all look alike. Ready-made CA website templates get you online, but your site ends up looking like every other firm's, with text you didn't write.
- There's no time. Partners are busy with clients, filings, and deadlines, not managing a website.
- Generic designers don't know your profession. They don't know what a CA firm can and can't say, so partners end up rewriting the copy themselves.