Most accounting practices in Kumasi grew the same way: one satisfied client at a time. A trader from the central markets tells a cousin, a school proprietor mentions you to the board, a bank relationship manager passes your name to a borrower who needs audited accounts. That network is valuable, but it is no longer the only way new clients arrive. The founder registering a company, the diaspora investor setting up a business back home, the NGO looking for an auditor for a donor-funded project and the Accra-based firm opening an Ashanti branch all start the same way: they search online, compare a few practices and contact the ones that look credible.
When a provider offers to make your practice visible to those buyers, they will usually ask for a 12-month commitment. Treat it the way you would treat a new engagement letter: read the terms, test the claims, ask for evidence. Here are the questions worth asking, and what good and bad answers sound like.
Questions about what is actually promised
"What exactly will you deliver, and by when?"
A reassuring answer is specific: what goes live, on what schedule, and what happens if it does not. A worrying answer is vague ("we'll grow your presence") or rests entirely on outcomes the provider cannot control.
"Can you guarantee we'll be top on Google?"
The right answer is no. Nobody controls what Google or an AI assistant decides to show. An honest provider commits to what they do control: delivery, consistency and measurement. A firm that promises the top spot for "accountant Kumasi" is either mistaken or misleading you, and for a profession built on accuracy that should end the conversation.
"What happens if you miss a deadline?"
Ask for a consequence in writing, such as a free month if what was promised is not live on time. "That won't happen" is not an answer.
Questions about measurement and transparency
"How will I know it is working?"
You would never sign off figures without supporting documents. Apply the same standard here. Ask how often you will be reported to, whether reports are dated, and whether you will see results in your own tools, such as Google Search Console, rather than only in slides the provider prepares.
"When is the first measured review?"
A 12-month contract with no checkpoint is a blank cheque. Look for a measured review early on, at three months for example, to confirm the trajectory. Our guide on why visibility work runs on a 12-month commitment explains why that length makes sense and what should frame it.
"Have you done this for yourselves?"
A provider selling visibility should be able to show its own, with figures you can verify rather than a few hand-picked screenshots. If it cannot, ask why.
Questions specific to an accounting practice
"How many accounting firms in Kumasi do you work for?"
If the same provider represents five practices in the city, it cannot honestly pursue the same positions for each of them. Ask whether it caps clients per sector and area, and whether exclusivity is available.
"Do you understand how clients choose an accountant?"
A business owner does not pick an accountant the way they pick a restaurant. They look for signs of competence, a relevant specialism (tax compliance, payroll, audit, company formation) and responsiveness. A provider who talks about going viral has not understood your work. Your professional body's rules on advertising and solicitation also apply, and a good partner respects them without needing to be reminded.
"Who beyond Kumasi will be able to find us?"
Some of your best prospects are not in the city: Ghanaians abroad investing at home, foreign companies preparing to set up locally, programmes that need an auditor for a regional project. Ask how the provider would reach them.
Answers that should send you elsewhere
Any one of these is enough to walk away, however polished the pitch:
- a guaranteed position or a guaranteed number of clients;
- no access to your own data;
- a contract with no review point and no consequence for missed delivery;
- prices that are negotiated from scratch with no published rate card;
- a refusal to say how many of your competitors it already serves.
For a broader checklist that applies to any sector, see questions to ask before signing a 12-month visibility contract.
How Traffic Engine answers these questions
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your practice visible when someone looks for an accountant in Kumasi, on Google and in AI assistant answers. Its answers to the questions above are short, and they are in writing.
What your plan includes goes live on schedule, or the following month is free. You receive a dated report every week and follow results in your own Search Console, with a measured review at three months. Kolonell guarantees delivery and measurement, not what Google or an AI assistant decides. It applied the approach to its own website first, and those curves are on the offer page, refreshed daily. Each sector is capped at 3 standard seats per area, and exclusivity is available while no standard seat has been taken. Prices are published: the Visibility Audit is $750, deducted from the $1,650 setup if you start within 30 days, then Presence at $1,200, Momentum at $2,100 or Flood at $3,850 a month. Review the offer and seat availability.
Before you sign anything
Start with an honest look at the last year. How many new clients came from people who did not already know you? If the answer is close to none, what an accounting firm loses when clients can't find it will help you put a value on the gap. Then put these questions to every provider you meet and compare the answers in writing.