Year-end client email template for accounting firms
Accounting firms can add one optional paragraph to the year-end client email inviting owners with long operating histories to ask about licensing business records. Include a plain disclosure line, check AICPA and state board rules first, and send it only to clients where the rules allow.
When does the licensing paragraph belong in a year-end client email?
Add it only to the year-end planning email for clients where your firm does no attest work and the fee rules allow it, and only after your compliance review. The paragraph invites owners with long operating histories to ask a question. It does not recommend a product, quote a price or promise income.
Year-end is a natural moment. Owners are already reviewing the year, budgets and what the business owns. A short, optional paragraph fits beside tax planning and entity reviews, as long as it is clearly separate from your advice.
First check the rules for your firm
Whether your firm may take part depends on the engagement and the license you hold. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, in its commissions and referral fees rule, restricts accepting a commission for recommending a product or service to a client when the member or firm also performs certain attest work for that client, and requires disclosure of permitted commissions and referral fees. State boards of accountancy can be stricter than the Code; the New Jersey Society of CPAs summary shows how a state rule can differ.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own state board, professional body and counsel before acting. Never read this page as permission to accept a fee.
| Situation | What to check | Typical outcome to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Client for whom you perform audit or review work | The commissions rule and your state rule | May be restricted; confirm before any mention |
| Tax or advisory-only client | State board rule on referral fees; disclosure requirements | May be allowed with disclosure; confirm |
| Client who is also a family friend or relative | Independence and conflict policy | Follow firm policy |
| Firm with an alternative practice structure | Which entity gives the advice and receives any fee | Confirm with compliance |
The paragraph to add
Keep the email's main message about the year-end. Add this near the end, under its own sentence-case heading.
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The disclosure sentence is the part that matters most. Adapt its wording to your state rule and your firm's policy, and have compliance sign it off before the first send.
How to personalize the paragraph
| Element | Choice | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient list | Clients with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded) and several years of operating history | Smaller companies do not meet the company baseline |
| Tone | Optional, one paragraph, reply to ask | Keeps it separate from your advice |
| Disclosure | Written, near the offer, in plain words | Required by some rules; clients should not discover it later |
| Sender | The relationship partner, not a marketing alias | Replies come to someone who can answer |
Follow-up timing
- Send the year-end email in your normal cycle. Do not send a standalone licensing email.
- If a client replies, answer within two business days with a short note and the introduction, copying them.
- Do not chase non-repliers. One mention per year is enough.
- After the introduction, step back using the handoff email.
The introduction email builder drafts the follow-up email once a client says yes. Other advisers use the same approach in their own channels, as in the commercial banker templates, the EOS implementer templates, the CRO records assessment email and the staffing firm owner templates.
What never goes in the email
- Client names, financials or any description of a client's records; the firm does not need to see them.
- A forecast of what the client could receive from a license.
- Any figure for what the firm might earn.
- Pressure, deadlines or follow-up reminders.
How rewards work for an accounting firm
Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. It is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company receives. Whether your firm may accept it is for your own rules, as above. See the accountants page for more on the role.
Next step
Take the paragraph to your compliance lead this month, adjust the disclosure, and put it in the next year-end email. When a client asks, register as a partner and make the introduction.
- Step 1Share your linkSend your personal link to a company you know.
- Step 2Company appliesThe company applies itself at /apply.
- Step 3Buyer selects and paysThe buyer selects and pays for the data and SourceX receives its fee.
- Step 4You get your rewardYour share of SourceX fees becomes payable.
Common questions
Should every client receive the licensing paragraph?
No. Limit it to clients that meet the company baseline, including 50+ full-time employees at peak with contractors excluded, and only where your firm's independence and fee rules allow it. Clients for whom you perform certain attest work may be restricted, so check first.
Why put the disclosure inside the email?
Some professional rules require that permitted referral fees be disclosed to the client, and clients should not learn about a fee later. A plain sentence next to the offer, reviewed by your compliance lead, keeps the email honest and protects the relationship.
Can the email mention how much the firm might earn?
No. Do not type reward amounts or predict earnings. Describe only that the firm may receive a referral fee from SourceX if the client proceeds. Payment depends on the buyer paying and SourceX receiving its fee, and nothing is guaranteed.
How often should we mention it?
Once a year in the planning email is enough. A single optional paragraph respects the client and your advisory role. If the client replies, follow up directly; if they do not, do not chase them or add reminders.
Does the firm have to look at the client's records?
No. The firm gives basic fit information only and makes an introduction. SourceX and the company handle the inventory, price, terms and delivery, and nothing is shared without the company's authorization and an executed agreement.
Related pages
- Which US businesses are a fit for a SourceX data licensing introduction
- Introduction handoff email: how to step back once SourceX takes over
- Prepare an owner-approved company introduction email
- Introduction email templates for commercial bankers and relationship managers
- Introduction email templates for EOS implementers and business coaches
- CRO email template: proposing a records assessment to the board
Free resources
- AI readiness assessment — Ten questions, five dimensions, a score out of 100.
- EBITDA calculator — Reported and adjusted EBITDA from net income.
- MOIC calculator — Multiple on invested capital from realized and unrealized value.
- All free tools · MCP resource center
By SourceX Partnerships Team · Published 2026-10-09 · Updated 2026-10-09
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