Insights
Referral guides for professional firms - spotting the moment, referring clients compliantly, and earning a share.
Specialise, then refer the rest: the referral case for niching
Specialising makes a firm memorable and referable, but it also raises more out-of-scope questions. A referral network is what mak…
RAO Article 33, explained for professionals who refer
Article 33 of the RAO carves out a narrow, sensible space in which introducing a client is not itself a regulated activity. This …
Recurring Referral Income: The Line Item Accountants Overlook
Accountants advise clients to build recurring revenue, yet many overlook a recurring line of their own. Referral income, done pro…
A vulnerable beneficiary and the trust conversation
When a client has a disabled, dependent, or otherwise vulnerable relative, a straightforward inheritance can create real problems…
Measuring referral income: the metric hiding in plain sight
Professional firms track chargeable hours obsessively and referral income not at all. Measuring what your introductions are worth…
The client with no will: the commonest referral you're missing
The single most common estate-planning trigger is also the easiest to overlook: a client who has simply never got round to making…
Mortgage completion: the protection and advice moment you're standing in
The moment a client takes on a large mortgage is a textbook trigger for protection and wider advice. Here is how to spot it and r…
Lasting powers of attorney: the referral accountants forget
A lasting power of attorney is the document nobody thinks about until it is too late to make one. As the professional closest to …
How marketing agencies can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
Marketing agencies hear founders' real financial ambitions before almost anyone else. Here is how to refer those moments to regul…
Inheritance-tax exposure in the accounts: your cue to refer
Accountants see estates growing past the thresholds that matter. Here is how to recognise the exposure and refer it to a regulate…
How IT consultants can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
IT consultants become accidental confidants to owner-managers. Here is how to turn the money questions you cannot answer into com…
How insurance brokers can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
Insurance brokers are regulated — for insurance. Pensions and investment questions sit outside most brokers' permissions. Here is…
An inheritance just landed: why it's a referral, not a windfall
When a client inherits, a large sum lands amid grief and uncertainty. Here is how to recognise the moment and hand it over with c…
How HR consultants can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
HR consultants hear financial questions from exiting employees, anxious managers and owner-clients alike. Here is how to refer th…
Idle cash: when a client's balance is a referral waiting to happen
Cash that sits still for years is often a sign that no one has looked at the bigger picture. Here is how to spot it and pass it o…
Idle company cash: when to hand the investment conversation over
Accountants see company cash piling up long before owners act on it. Here is how to recognise the moment and refer it on.
How to choose a referral network you can trust
Not all referral networks are equal, and the wrong one can put your reputation and your clients at risk. These are the things wor…
ICAEW's code and referral fees: what accountants can accept
Chartered accountants often assume referral fees are off-limits. ICAEW's Code says otherwise — provided you disclose the arrangem…
How referral tracking works — and why it protects you
When you make an introduction, something has to record that it happened, tie it to any eventual fee, and stand up to scrutiny lat…
How accountants can offer financial-advice referrals without becoming regulated
Accountants field investment and pension questions daily but cannot answer them without FCA authorisation. The introducer route l…
GDPR and consent when an accountant refers a client onward
The moment you hand a client's contact details and circumstances to another firm, you are processing personal data under UK GDPR.…
Divorce and a financial plan torn in two: your cue to refer
A separation rearranges a client's entire financial life. Here is how to recognise the moment, handle it with care, and refer.
Disclosing referral income to clients: an accountant's how-to
Disclosure is the safeguard that makes referral income compliant across ACCA, ICAEW and beyond. This is a practical guide to doin…
How to disclose a referral fee to a client, properly
Disclosing that you earn a share when you refer a client is not an awkward admission to be buried; it is a professional obligatio…