What Accountants May Say About Results and Fees

An accounting firm may say what it does, who does it, what it charges and on what basis, in specific and verifiable terms. It may not promise outcomes, imply influence over the IRS or a court, or quote a fee it expects to rise without saying so. Those limits come from the AICPA Code at 1.600 and, for anyone practicing before the IRS, Circular 230 section 10.30. They matter more once an AI system is quoting your pages, because a quoted line travels without the fine print that sat beside it.

The two rulebooks in one paragraph each

AICPA 1.600. The Code of Professional Conduct says a member in public practice "shall not seek to obtain clients by advertising or other forms of solicitation in a manner that is false, misleading, or deceptive." Interpretation 1.600.010 lists four ways to fail: to "create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results," to "imply the ability to influence any court, tribunal, regulatory agency, or similar body or official," to quote a fee when "it was likely at the time of the representation that such fees would be substantially increased" without saying so, or to make any other statement "likely to cause a reasonable person to misunderstand or be deceived." It also says "members must not do through others what they are prohibited from doing themselves," which covers the agency or platform writing your copy.

Circular 230, section 10.30. The regulation bars any public communication with "a false, fraudulent, or coercive statement or claim; or a misleading or deceptive statement or claim." It allows fixed fees, hourly rates and fee ranges to be published, and requires a copy of each advertisement to be kept for at least 36 months.

Common lines, the rule they meet, and a better version

"Guaranteed maximum refund"

Meets: 1.600.010, unjustified expectations of favorable results. Instead: "We prepare individual returns for W-2 employees, rental owners and sole proprietors, and we look for every deduction and credit your records support."

"We get IRS penalties removed"

Meets: 1.600.010, implied influence over a regulatory agency, and 10.30's bar on misleading claims. Instead: "We request penalty relief from the IRS on your behalf when the facts support it, and we tell you plainly when they do not."

"IRS certified" or "licensed tax accountant"

Meets: 10.30's bar on "certified" for enrolled agents, and state title rules. Instead: the exact credential the IRS recognizes, as covered on our page about enrolled agents and CPAs.

"Best CPA in Tucson"

Meets: the catch-all, likely to mislead a reasonable person, because it states as fact something no one measured. Instead: "A Tucson CPA firm working with medical practices since 2009," or a named award with its year.

"Returns from a low flat fee"

Meets: 1.600.010's fee rule, if most clients end up paying far more. Instead: state what the fee covers and what raises it: extra schedules, prior year returns, amended returns.

Why the compliant version is also the better one for AI answers

Look at what the rewrites have in common. Each one names a type of client, a service or a condition. That is the information a person asking a detailed question needs, and a sentence that contains it can stand on its own when an assistant lifts it into an answer. "Guaranteed maximum refund" contains nothing an answer can use beyond a promise it should not repeat. We have not measured whether assistants prefer compliant copy; the point is that specific copy has more in it to match a specific question.

A copy review for a firm's marketing pages

Search the site and every listing for "guarantee," "maximum," "best," "certified," "eliminate" and "IRS approved."
Check each fee statement against what clients actually paid last season.
Review copy written by an agency or platform as if you wrote it; the Code says you did.
Save a dated copy of each page and ad for 36 months.

The broader topic is on AI visibility for accounting firms.

Not legal or tax advice. This describes how AI systems read an accounting practice in public; your state board of accountancy, Circular 230 and your own counsel govern what you may publish.

Questions

Can a CPA firm advertise guaranteed tax refunds?

A CPA firm that is an AICPA member should not. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct treats promotional efforts as false, misleading or deceptive if they create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results, and Circular 230 bars practitioners before the IRS from misleading or deceptive public claims. A guaranteed refund promises an outcome that depends on the client's facts and the law.

May an enrolled agent or CPA publish fees on a website?

Yes. Circular 230, section 10.30, allows practitioners to publish fixed fees, hourly rates and fee ranges, and the AICPA Code allows fee statements as long as the firm does not quote a fee it expects to rise substantially without telling the client. Practitioners before the IRS must keep a copy of each advertisement for at least 36 months.

What can an accounting firm say about results and fees without breaking AICPA 1.600 or Circular 230?