Blue Grid Media runs Google Ads and Local Services Ads for accounting and tax firms across the US: exclusive leads from an account in your name, from $445 a month, month to month.
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Google Keyword Planner shows tax preparation services searched 1,500,000 times in February 2026 and 6,600 times in November 2025. The season is real, and it is short. Bookkeeping searches do not follow it: bookkeeping services peaked in July. The firm that advertises only from January to April buys the busiest weeks of the year and skips the clients who pay every month.
CPAs, enrolled agents and bookkeepers who call us tend to describe the same four problems. Each one is about timing or about the credential.
We spend everything in February and still turn people away by March.
The budget is following the search curve instead of your capacity. Spend where you have appointments left, and move the rest to the work that keeps going after April.
Half the calls want the cheapest return in town.
Anyone with an $18.75 PTIN can prepare a return for pay, so the cheapest preparer sets the price in a generic search. Your ad has to say what you can do that they cannot.
We switch the ads off on April 16.
IRS figures show paid preparers keep filing long after mid-April, and the extension deadline is October 15. The back half of the season is professional work.
Our bookkeeping clients came from referrals, and we have no idea how to find more.
Bookkeeping services is searched all year, peaks in July, and draws bids up to $52 a click. It needs its own campaign, not a line in the tax ad.
Keyword Planner's last twelve months for the United States show tax preparation services at 6,600 searches in November 2025 and 1,500,000 in February 2026. March and April stay high, at 823,000 and 673,000, then the line falls back to 74,000 in May.
Not every search follows that curve. CPA near me runs from 49,500 to 135,000 a month, less than three times from low to high. Bookkeeping services peaked in July at 33,100. The account needs a tax campaign that rises and falls with the curve, and a year-round campaign for the client who pays every month.
Monthly US searches for tax preparation services and tax prep services, which Keyword Planner reports as one group, September 2025 to August 2026. Read 6 October 2026.
The IRS publishes filing season statistics every week. For the week ending 27 February 2026 it reports 27,809,000 self-prepared e-filed returns against 23,064,000 from tax professionals. By the week ending 8 May 2026 the order has flipped: 75,316,000 from tax professionals against 65,730,000 self-prepared.
The full 2025 season ended with 87,855,000 e-filed returns from tax professionals. By the week ending 18 April 2025 the IRS counted 72,504,000 of them, which by our own arithmetic leaves about 15.35 million, roughly 17 percent, arriving after mid-April. The IRS extension page says an extension gives taxpayers until October 15 to file without penalties.
By 27 February 2026: 27.8 million self-prepared e-files, 23.1 million from professionals. The early filer with a simple return is doing it alone.
By 8 May 2026: 75.3 million from professionals, 65.7 million self-prepared. The complicated return arrives late, and it arrives at a preparer.
About 15.35 million professional e-files came after mid-April in 2025, by our arithmetic on IRS figures. Extension work is worth a campaign of its own.
The IRS is plain about the bar to entry: 'Anyone can be a paid tax return preparer as long as they have an IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN).' The PTIN fee is $18.75. In a generic search, your firm competes on price with every seasonal preparer who paid it.
The credential is what separates you, and the IRS spells out the difference: 'Enrolled agents, certified public accountants, and attorneys have unlimited representation rights before the IRS', including audits, payment and collection issues, and appeals. That sentence belongs in the ad and on the page, attached to the person who holds it.
Audit, notice and collection help, said plainly, for the client whose problem is bigger than a return.
CPA, EA or attorney, by name, on the page. Not a logo, not a claim about the whole office.
Stated, so the price shopper decides before the call and your calendar holds the clients you want.
Monthly bookkeeping searched in its own words, running in July as hard as in February.
The largest searches are seasonal and cheap per click. The bookkeeping searches are smaller, run all year and carry the highest bids in the table, which says what a monthly client is worth to the firms already buying them.
| Search | Monthly searches, US | Competition | Top-of-page bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| tax preparation services | 301,000 | Low | $3.59 to $18.45 |
| tax preparer near me | 90,500 | Medium | $2.68 to $13.26 |
| cpa near me | 74,000 | Medium | $4.11 to $22.53 |
| bookkeeping | 74,000 | Low | $4.65 to $41.64 |
| tax services near me | 49,500 | Low | $4.14 to $21.31 |
| accountant near me | 33,100 | Low | $5.23 to $28.20 |
| tax accountant near me | 22,200 | Medium | $3.21 to $15.68 |
| bookkeeping services | 18,100 | Low | $11.04 to $52.49 |
| tax consultant near me | 18,100 | Medium | $6.19 to $30.38 |
| bookkeeper near me | 14,800 | Low | $5.32 to $37.00 |
Google Keyword Planner, United States, English, read 6 October 2026. Averages over twelve months, so the tax rows hide a February peak many times their average.
No accounting cost per lead is published in the sources we use, so none is printed here. The table shows who each channel reaches and where it falls down.
| Channel | Who it reaches | What it costs you | Where it falls down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads, tax terms | The taxpayer searching from January to April | Per click; most tax clicks run $3 to $22 at the top of the page | Run alone it buys the cheapest return, at the busiest time, from the most bidders |
| Google Ads, bookkeeping and advisory | The owner who needs monthly books or a plan | Per click; bookkeeping services bids reach $52 | Left out of most accounts, which is why the clicks are worth so much |
| Local Services Ads, Tax services | The taxpayer searching for tax help by category | Per lead, above the map pack | Google lists the badge for select verticals only, so the listing leans on reviews |
| Referrals and existing clients | Friends, family and business contacts | Good work and time | The best clients, at the pace referrals arrive, not the pace you need |
| Lead sellers | Whoever searched for an accountant on a marketplace | Per lead, often shared | The owner hears from several firms and chooses on the first fee quoted |
Category status read from Google's list on 6 October 2026. Click ranges from Keyword Planner on 6 October 2026.
Filing figures are from the IRS filing season statistics pages for the weeks ending 18 April 2025, 26 December 2025, 27 February 2026 and 8 May 2026. The PTIN requirement, the $18.75 fee, the representation rights and the October 15 extension date are from irs.gov, all read on 6 October 2026. Google's US Local Services Ads list carries Tax services and Financial planning services; it has no accountant or bookkeeper category. The seven categories restricted to California and Florida are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio.
No accounting cost per lead, close rate, client value or fee benchmark, because none is published in a source we can verify. The 15.35 million and 17 percent figures are our own arithmetic on IRS totals and are labelled that way. No 2027 filing deadline, because the IRS has not published one. No account count for accounting.
A W-2 return in February, a small business that needs monthly books and an owner with an IRS notice are three different clients with three different values. Each line below gets its own campaign, its own season and its own page.
The February spike. Searched as tax preparation services, a group Keyword Planner puts at 1,500,000 that month.
Entity returns and quarterly estimates. A higher fee, a longer season, and the client who also needs the books.
Searched all year, peaking in July. Recurring revenue that does not depend on April.
Bought with the bookkeeping, rarely alone. A line on the page, not usually its own budget.
Enrolled agents, CPAs and attorneys can represent clients before the IRS. Most preparers cannot, and the ad should say which you are.
Searched by people who are worried, often outside the season. A sensitive page with a clear first step.
The October 15 deadline is a second, smaller season most firms never advertise for.
The new owner deciding how to be taxed. Searched in the slow months, and the start of a long client relationship.
Professionals file well past mid-April, and the extension deadline is October 15. The back half of the season is your work.
They are searched in different words, in different months, at different prices. Blended, the cheaper season buys everything.
In that world CPA means cost per action, not certified public accountant. Ask what the agency means before you sign.
A PTIN costs $18.75. If the ad does not say CPA, EA or attorney, and what that lets you do, you are selling the cheapest product in the market.
Google lists Tax services among its US Local Services Ads categories, and it is not one of the seven restricted to California and Florida, which are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio. Local Services Ads charge per lead rather than per click and sit above the map pack. Google says the Google Verified badge applies to select verticals only, so we do not promise one for this category until your own account shows it. Read from Google's own category list on 6 October 2026.
These are the terms firm owners use when they look for marketing help, from Google Keyword Planner for the United States. We removed the affiliate network searches, where CPA means cost per action rather than an accountant, so the table shows only accountants shopping for clients.
| Search term | Monthly searches | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| accountants marketing | 390 | Low |
| accounting firm marketing | 260 | Medium |
| bookkeeping leads | 170 | Medium |
| cpa digital marketing | 110 | Low |
| marketing strategy for accounting firms | 90 | Low |
| cpa firm marketing strategies | 90 | Low |
| bookkeeping marketing | 70 | Medium |
| accounting leads | 70 | Medium |
| lead generation for accountants | 70 | Medium |
| tax professional marketing | 70 | Low |
| tax preparation advertising | 70 | Low |
| advertising for bookkeeping services | 50 | Medium |
Run on 6 October 2026, United States, English. Around 1,000 real searches a month, from Keyword Planner on 5 October 2026, after removing the affiliate network searches: cpa marketing at 1,300 a month is mostly cost per action, not accountants. Lead generation for accountants draws bids up to $64 a click.
$445 a month for Local Services Ads management. From $695 for Google Ads. $995 for both. No setup fee, no contract, month to month. Ad spend is billed by Google straight to you and we never take a percentage of it. Custom landing pages for your campaigns are included at no charge.
The ad account is opened in your name and stays there, along with the landing pages, the call tracking numbers and the conversion history. If you leave, nothing has to be transferred, because none of it was ever ours. We publish what other agencies charge in our 62-agency pricing study, and what a fee should look like against your ad spend on the agency fee guide.
Blue Grid Media is an accounting firm marketing agency that runs Google Ads and Google Local Services Ads for CPA firms, enrolled agents, tax preparers and bookkeepers across the United States, publishes its pricing at $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both, works month to month with no contract and no setup fee, and opens every accounting ad account in the firm's own name so the leads are exclusive rather than shared.
Blue Grid Media provides exclusive tax and accounting client leads in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, and in roughly 50 United States metros in total, generated from a Google Ads and Local Services Ads account held in the client's own name rather than bought from a lead seller and shared, priced at $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both, month to month with no contract and no setup fee.
Partly. Google lists Tax services and Financial planning services among its US Local Services Ads categories, and neither is one of the seven restricted to California and Florida, which are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio. There is no accountant or bookkeeper category. We read the list on 6 October 2026. Tax work can run through Local Services Ads; bookkeeping and advisory run on Google Ads.
Tax preparation searches peak in February: Keyword Planner shows 1,500,000 that month against 6,600 in November. IRS figures show professionals keep filing well after mid-April, and extensions run to October 15. Bookkeeping searches peak in July. So the tax campaign follows the season, and the bookkeeping campaign runs all year.
The IRS says anyone who prepares or assists in preparing federal tax returns for compensation must have a valid PTIN before preparing returns, and the fee is $18.75. It also says anyone can be a paid preparer as long as they have one, which is why the credential belongs in your ad.
The IRS states that enrolled agents, certified public accountants and attorneys have unlimited representation rights before the IRS, including audits, payment and collection issues, and appeals. That is a service most preparers cannot offer, and it is worth an ad of its own.
In affiliate marketing, CPA means cost per action. Keyword Planner shows cpa marketing at 1,300 searches a month, and most of it is affiliate networks, not accountants. We removed those searches from the data on this page.
Yes, with no contract. A solo firm is the clearest case for the season-and-year structure, because every hour in March is already spoken for.
We charge $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both. No setup fee, no contract, month to month. Ad spend is billed by Google directly to you and we never take a percentage of it. Campaign landing pages are included.
You do. We open it in your name and it stays there, along with the landing pages, the call tracking numbers and the conversion history. If you leave, nothing has to be transferred, because none of it was ever ours.
We do not sell accounting leads and we do not resell them. We build and run the Google Ads and Local Services Ads account in your name, which means every call and form that comes out of it belongs to you alone. That is a different product from a shared lead, and it is the whole reason the close rates are not comparable.
We provide exclusive accounting leads in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, and in roughly 50 United States metros in total. Campaigns are managed remotely, so the market is set by the communities your firm serves rather than where we sit.
Not on the list does not mean not covered. We run accounting accounts nationwide across the United States, including smaller and rural markets where the auction is usually cheaper than any metro above.
A taxpayer in March wants to know whether you can still take them, what a return costs and whether you can handle a notice. A page that answers those, with the CPA or EA named, books the appointment before the next firm calls back.
Most local searches happen on a phone, so the page is built to load fast there. Faster pages convert more of the clicks you have already paid for.
Every call and form is connected to tracking from day one, so you can see which ads and which pages actually produce booked work rather than just traffic.
On-page SEO and local schema markup so the site earns map and organic visibility over time instead of only working while the ads are switched on.
Bring your service mix, your credentials and how many returns you can take between February and April. Twenty minutes gives you when to spend, what to say about your credential, and how to keep the bookkeeping campaign running after the season ends. No charge.
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