As an accountant, you know you have an important job, but it can be tricky to convey this to prospective customers. How do you convince a business you are able to expertly navigate the cumbersome government regulations concerning the finances of a company? Why should an individual trust you to handle their tax returns?
You may know a bit about writing an accounting blog, but do you really know enough to convince a business or individual to trust you? Ever run short of ideas?
It’s understandable. Even accountants—who will happily discuss accounting topics at length with each other—often have trouble translating their ideas into blog posts or deciding which accounting topics to write about. The key is to focus on accounting blog topics that are easy for customers to understand, instead of overly dry and technical. A great accounting blog conveys expertise while also being engaging to read even for readers with very little accounting knowledge.
A great way to pull this off is to focus on the question “What do my customers want to know?”
10 Blog Topics
Here are ten accounting blog topics to get your accounting blog started, or breathe new life into it if you’ve run out of material:
- What specific steps a business owner needs to follow in order to get tax-exempt status for a nonprofit organization.
- What the updated revenue recognition standards are and how they affect small businesses.
- How to pay taxes as a freelance worker or sole proprietor.
- Basic information about tax changes or financial planning advice for people going through a major life transition, including marriage, divorce, or parenthood.
- Tax considerations for e-commerce business owners. Explain how this an evolving area of tax law that often requires the guidance of a skilled accountant.
- Ten red flags that may cause the Internal Revenue Service to audit any business. Some include claiming a business deduction for personal expenses, math errors, or not using fair market value for real estate rentals, especially using a very low market value.
- End-of-the-year tax planning primer for new business owners. A new business owner has most likely been focusing on how to attract customers, how to price services or products, and even how to advertise and boost their SEO. How much have they thought about taxes?
- Phony IRS email scams. You could explain that the IRS never initiates contact with any taxpayer using social media or email, and certainly never attempts to get a credit card or other personal information this way. Receiving an official-seeming communication from the government is scary, so your potential customers will like being reassured that these are not real messages from the IRS.
- Tips for finding a legitimate and qualified tax preparer. For example, a legitimate accountant or tax preparer would never charge a percentage for preparing a tax return.
- QuickBooks tricks and tips for the non-tech-savvy. In which cases might a QuickBooks alternative (like FreshBooks) be a better fit?
Learn More Tips for Running an Accounting Blog
As an accountant, you help individuals and businesses in countless ways. A small or new business owner might be looking for someone to handle their financial records or deal with government regulations so they don’t have to, and so they can avoid fines and penalties. An individual may be ready to finally hire an accountant to handle their taxes as their financial life becomes more complex.
