Naming your new CPA firm? These tips will help.

So, you’ve decided to launch a new firm. Congratulations!

You’ve set your strategy. Decided on a structure. Identified target clients. Evaluated your technology options. You’re ready to go. You just need one more thing: a great name—and the perfect website URL—for your firm. As anyone who’s gone through the process of naming a business will tell you, it’s often easier said than done. Names are tricky. And even when you land on one you love, it may already be in use by another business.

Run a quick online search and you’ll discover that there are plenty of guides to the process of naming a new business, some useful, some not so much. But there aren’t a lot of guides to the specific challenge of naming an accounting firm—which have needs and audiences that are quite different from, say, a retail shop. So, we’ve identified five naming tips that are especially relevant for CPA firms.

Think beyond [Name] and [Name], LLC.

Accounting firms often rely on a tried-and-true naming strategy: They use the last names of those who founded the firm. But today, this type of naming convention can run into some practical challenges, starting with the firm’s online presence. When a prospective client asks for your firm’s web address, you don’t want them to have to grab a pen to write down a long, hard-to-remember series of last names, which may be difficult to spell correctly. Start the naming process by expanding your horizons beyond last names.

Focus on your firm’s specific value or services

In the move to specialization, firms are providing more focused services to an equally focused group of target clients. And that opens the door to important new branding and naming opportunities. What is your firm’s core value proposition to clients? Which service offerings do you plan to emphasize in your pitch to them? With good answers to those questions, explore whether and how they could influence your firm’s name. For example, if you’re building a firm that provides accounting services to healthcare professionals, having a name that directly references this offering could give your sales and marketing efforts a more powerful focus.

Make it memorable

Like all of us, your prospective clients have too much to remember—too many names of service providers, vendors, technologies and more. That’s why a simple, memorable name is ideal. We recommend that after each “namestorming” session, you set the names aside for a day. The next day, review the names to see which ones you and others can easily recall. Drop the names that are hard to remember and move forward with those that stand out.

Future-proof it

Once you choose a name, assume that it will be an asset for your firm that will grow in value over time. It’s a key aspect of your brand, and as your firm’s reputation grows it will become only more valuable. On a practical level, you’ll also be investing in the name—from developing a logo to purchasing a web domain address, creating marketing and advertising materials, and printing signs and business cards—over time these investments will add up. So, you want to avoid having buyer’s remorse several years from now when you find that your firm has outgrown the name or the market has changed so significantly that it’s no longer relevant. When generating potential names for your firm, try to view them through the lens of the future. How do you anticipate your firm changing over the next 5-10 years? How is the profession likely to evolve? How will your clients change? Then ask: Is this name likely to be relevant and compelling given these possibilities for change in the future?

Check availability

Deciding on a name only to find out later that it’s already in use by another firm (or another type of business altogether) is painful—and avoidable. One of the most effective ways to avoid this is to conduct a search on all viable names generated during the naming process. As you narrow in on a handful of winning possibilities, think about what your website URL could be and check to see if it’s already available or being used by another company. Standard search engine queries will not reveal whether a specific domain has been reserved. Unfortunately, “digital squatters” often reserve names in the hopes that someone like you may need them and will pay a premium for them.

However, that’s not how a .cpa top-level domain works. Only authorized CPA firms have access to use .cpa addresses, making it easier for your firm to secure its top choice of address because there are a lot more to choose from, leading to a critical boost for your firm’s branding efforts. Just as important, it builds instant credibility with prospective clients who will never have to question your CPA qualifications, and even offers a host of security benefits, which are becoming increasingly more important in today’s digital age.

Once you have your name, your .cpa web domain awaits

No matter where you are in the naming process, it’s a good idea to visit our website to find out what’s possible. At CPA.com, we can’t choose your firm’s new name for you, but we can help you secure a .cpa domain that offers important brand, credibility, and security benefits. Check the availability of your perfect web address now.

Amber Higgins is the Associate Integrated Marketing Manager at CPA.com, helping manage the Digital CPA Conference and .cpa web domains. With a background in financial planning marketing and communications, she is passionate about helping finance professionals advance their careers.