What does your accounting firm sound like?

Most firms can explain what they do. But ask them to describe how they sound, and things get vague quickly. “Professional?” “Friendly?” “Knowledgeable?” These are all fine words—but none of them are distinct.

And in an AI-driven world, where your website, email campaigns, and client portal messages may all be written (or co-written) by a machine, your brand’s voice is more than a vibe.

It’s your competitive edge.

Why You Need a Voice Profile

Your voice profile is the secret to consistency, memorability, and automation that still sounds human.

Think of it as your brand’s personality framework: how you sound when you explain something. How you handle mistakes. How you deliver advice. A solid voice profile ensures that whether it’s you or your AI assistant doing the talking, the message always feels like it came from you.

Firms that develop and document their voice are:

• More trusted by prospects
  
• More referable to the right-fit clients
  
• More consistent across channels and services
  
• More scalable with tools like MAX
  

Step 1: Choose 3–5 Core Tone Traits

Start by choosing your voice’s personality anchors. These are adjectives that capture your ideal tone across all content.

Some options:

• Clear
  
• Calm
  
• Empathetic
  
• Strategic
  
• Direct
  
• Authoritative
  
• Curious
  
• Friendly
  
• Bold
  
• Reassuring
  

Pro Tip: Ask your best clients how they'd describe you. You'll learn more in five words than in five branding meetings.

Step 2: Identify What Clients Thank You For

Your voice should mirror the value you actually deliver, not just what you want to sound like.

Pull from real-life thank-yous:

“You made that so easy to understand.”
“I finally feel like I’m not alone with my books.”
“No one has ever explained that so clearly before.”

These are tone gold. They hint at what you’re really selling—clarity, confidence, control—and give your AI assistant the raw material to reflect your impact.

Step 3: Capture Your Signature Phrases

Every firm has a few lines they say over and over. Capture those.

Examples:

“We speak fluent IRS so you don’t have to.”
"Clarity before compliance.”
“No surprises by April 15.”
“You shouldn’t need a finance degree to read your books.”

These phrases should go straight into your MAX training library. The more of you it sees, the more of you it can scale.

Step 4: Note Your “Never Words”

Just as important as the words you do use are the ones you never want to see.

Common "never words" for modern firms:

• “Solutions” (too vague)
  
• “Welcome to our website” (dated)
  
• “Leveraging synergies” (cringe)
  
• “State-of-the-art” (meaningless)
  

Make a list and keep it close. Every MAX output—and every piece of website or email copy—should pass that filter.

Step 5: Apply It Everywhere

Your voice profile isn’t just for your homepage.

Use it to guide:

• Blog post intros
  
• Subject lines
  
• Proposal intros
  
• Video scripts
  
• MAX inputs (especially social/email/blog generation)
  

The goal is simple: wherever your firm shows up, it sounds like you.