Becoming the sustainable accountant your clients need

The final part of a mini-series on sustainability: how we made the shift and how you can too.

At The Green Accountants, we discovered that building sustainability into our firm wasn’t complicated; it just required structure and consistency. We followed a simple four-stage journey that any practice can adapt.

1. Educate. We invested time in carbon-literacy training so everyone understood the issues and could talk confidently with clients.
2. Plan. We mapped our environmental impact, set clear goals and identified ways to help clients do the same.
3. Implement. We put our plan into action by reducing our own footprint and launching a sustainability-consulting service which created a new revenue stream in the process.
4. Review. Each year we measure results for ourselves and our clients, refining what works and sharing progress openly.

This framework proved that sustainability isn’t separate from accounting and works hand-in-hand. It improved efficiency, attracted purpose-driven clients and opened new opportunities for growth.

If you’re ready to start, begin where we did: educate, strategise, implement and assess.

Building sustainability into your services and marketing

Once you’ve started making progress, share it. Communicating your sustainability efforts is how new and existing clients, stakeholders, and partners can see your commitment, guiding their next actions.

Include sustainability questions in year-end meetings, and highlight your firm’s progress on your website and social channels. The aim isn’t to self-promote, but to show that your actions match your values.

When clients see their accountant leading the way, it opens the door for them to feel confident in asking for advice and support.

The opportunity ahead

For accountants, sustainability is a practical way to strengthen your firm. It keeps you relevant in a changing market, opens new areas of advice and deepens client relationships.

At The Green Accountants, we’ve seen the benefits first-hand: stronger client loyalty, new service opportunities and measurable cost savings. It’s proof that purpose and profit can go hand in hand.

Learn more

The Green Accountants, who wrote this article, will be delivering an ESG reporting masterclass for AAT on 15 January 2026. This practical course shows accountants how to collect, analyse and report on ESG data with rigour.

They also recently ran an exclusive webinar for AAT members. To learn more, members can log into the AAT Learning Portal and look for Sustainability – CPD Bitesize for practical learning outcomes on the evolving role of finance professionals.

Read part one, part two and part three of this mini-series here.

Olivia Fisher is a Multi-Channel Marketer at Sustainability Suite and The Green Accountants. She drives digital strategy, builds brand presence, and supports SMEs through Carbon Literacy certification. Accredited in Carbon Literacy, Olivia fuses photography with marketing to deliver compelling environmental communication strategies..