A brand voice guide tells everyone who writes for your firm, whether staff, contractors, social media managers, or whoever answers the enquiry inbox, exactly how your firm communicates. It captures the personality behind your words so that a prospect reading your website, then an email from a junior team member, then a post on LinkedIn, hears the same firm throughout.

Without a guide, every person writes in their own style. The managing partner sounds authoritative. The junior writes in formal accountant-speak. The marketer goes casual. The result is a firm that feels fragmented, and fragmented firms feel less trustworthy.

What brand voice is and what it is not

Brand voice is the consistent personality of your written communication. It does not change by channel. Your firm does not become a different firm on Instagram. What changes is the format and the length, not the underlying tone.

Voice is also not the same as vocabulary. You can write with authority and still be warm. You can be concise and still be helpful. Voice is about how you say things, not just what words you choose.

Start with three to five personality descriptors

Pick three to five words that describe how your firm should come across in writing. These are not aspirational values; they are personality traits. "Trustworthy" is a value. "Straight-talking" is a voice trait. "Professional" is a minimum standard. "Reassuring but direct" is a voice trait.

Examples from real firm positioning work:

  • Straight-talking, warm, expert, grounded
  • Precise, friendly, no-nonsense, modern
  • Authoritative, approachable, frank, human

Once you have your descriptors, test them by asking: if this firm were a person, would someone describe them this way? If yes, keep it. If it sounds like a marketing brochure, cut it.

Write examples for each trait

Adjectives alone do not give enough guidance. For each trait, write one or two examples showing what it looks like in practice:

Straight-talking:
Do say: "You need to file by 31 January or you will pay a fine. Here is what you need to send us by 20 January to avoid that."
Do not say: "Please be advised that the statutory deadline for self-assessment submission falls on 31 January of the relevant calendar year."

Warm:
Do say: "We know payroll is the last thing you want to be dealing with at 11pm. Let us know what you need and we will sort it tomorrow morning."
Do not say: "Your query has been received and will be processed in due course."

These before/after examples are the most useful part of a voice guide. They remove ambiguity.

Cover the common writing scenarios

Your voice guide should give specific guidance for the contexts where the voice actually gets applied:

Email to a new enquiry: how to open, how to sound welcoming without being sycophantic, what to include in the sign-off.

Explaining a complex tax point: how to simplify without patronising, whether to use bullet points or prose, whether to include a worked example.

Delivering bad news: how direct to be, how much context to give, whether to lead with the problem or the solution.

Social media posts: length guidance, whether you use first person, whether you comment on current news, what you never post.

Proposals and engagement letters: how formal to go, whether you use legalese or plain English, how to handle pricing language.

You do not need to cover every scenario. Cover the ones where your team regularly sounds wrong.

What to avoid in accounting firm writing

Some patterns undermine the voice of almost every accounting firm that falls into them:

  • Opening emails with "I hope this email finds you well" — it never does, and everyone knows it.
  • Burying the action point in paragraph three after two paragraphs of context.
  • Overusing passive voice: "it has been noted that" instead of "we noticed".
  • Jargon used without explanation: "your P11D obligations", "making your MTD submission" — fine if the client knows, confusing if they do not.
  • Signing off with "Please do not hesitate to contact us" — no one hesitates; remove the cliché.
  • Using "Please find attached" — just say "I have attached the accounts."

Add your own list based on actual examples you see in your team's writing.

Keep it short enough to actually use

A voice guide that is forty pages long will not be read. Aim for four to eight pages covering: the personality descriptors with examples, the do/do not examples for five to eight common scenarios, the list of things to avoid, and a one-page quick reference card at the end.

Put the quick reference card in the email signature template folder and in onboarding materials for new staff. If people have to find the guide to use it, they will not use it.

Key takeaways

  • A voice guide ensures every piece of writing sounds like the same firm, regardless of who wrote it.
  • Start with three to five personality descriptors that describe how the firm communicates, not how it aspires to be.
  • Write before/after examples for each trait — these are more useful than adjectives alone.
  • Cover the five to eight scenarios where your team's writing currently sounds inconsistent.
  • Keep the guide short enough to read; add a one-page quick reference for everyday use.

Frequently asked questions

Who should write the voice guide?

Whoever knows the firm's personality best, usually the managing partner or the person who founded the firm. Get input from two or three other people who write regularly, but one person should do the final edit so it has a consistent point of view.

Should we hire a copywriter to write the voice guide?

A good copywriter can help you articulate what you already know about your firm's voice, especially if you struggle to describe it. They should be interviewing you and writing from what they hear, not imposing a generic "accountant voice" onto you.

How do we get the team to actually follow it?

Use it in onboarding for new staff, reference it in feedback when you edit someone's writing, and lead by example. A guide that the senior team ignores will not be followed by anyone else.

Does the voice change for different clients?

The underlying voice stays the same; the register adjusts. You explain things more simply to a sole trader who is not financially trained. You go more technical with a finance director who wants the detail. The personality, warmth, and directness should be consistent.

How often should we update the voice guide?

Review it when you rebrand, when you target a new client segment, or when you notice the team has drifted into consistent bad habits. An annual look is enough for most firms.

For more on building a consistent firm identity, see our branding guides for accounting firms.