Before we dive in, I want to share a little background because this accounting website design is extra special to me since it was my first official web design client.

I had just made a huge life-altering decision. Pondering how to enact this change, my friend Lydia pipes up and asks, “I don’t know if you know how to do this, but could you make my website for my new business.”

Excitement washed over me. It was a sign from the universe. “YES,” I said enthusiastically. “I would love to! And you know the crazy timing with this; just the other day, I decided to pivot my business to become a full-time web designer! This is meant to be.” Steph piped up, “I suggested you.” I was so grateful. 

Starting My Web Design Career

Prior to making this career decision, I felt stuck and unhappy with my work for a long time. The hours put in were not getting the reward I felt worthy of. Every time a strategy started to work, the algorithm would infuriatingly change. It felt endless, and I wasn’t the only person in my industry feeling this way; people were struggling with the platform more than ever before. 

I’m one for a challenge, but it got to the point where I decided there must be a better way, not only for myself in my business but also for my clients; however, this second part is a story for another day. 

I’m big on journaling. After all, I have literally written a book about using journaling to help make your dreams come true. So I decided to sit down and get honest with myself. 

• What skills did I have?
• What parts of my current work did I enjoy?
• What did I want more of, and what did I want less of (or none at all)?
• What did I find myself drawn to doing?

I asked myself these questions while walking through native bush and farmlands, then I sat down to write, and it quickly became clear to me that I loved the design. I also am very passionate about supporting people who genuinely want to help others and seeing them succeed. And when I got really honest, I like being behind the scenes doing the techy stuff and building the website. Plus, redesigning my website is definitely something I catch myself doing for my own blog more than necessary. 

So that’s how I made the decision to switch careers and got my first client. Now back to Lydia. 

Apex Accounting Website Design & Branding Process

I knew Lydia well, and along with her business partner, they had already designed their logo for Apex Accounting and decided they wanted black and white to be their dominant colors. They wanted a clean, chic design and a website that highlighted their brand. 

Designing an Emotive Color Strategy 

First, we needed a clear brand strategy, so I went to the drawing board and found imagery that I felt suited their vibe and a color scheme to match. I added a forest green color to help add a splash of color to their black and white theme. Firstly, because as an accounting firm, green represented money but also to add a natural softness to elements across their website. They wanted to be approachable, friendly, and trustworthy. As a color closely associated with nature, people tend to view green with feelings of warmth, trust, health, and luck. 

The greys I chose to highlight these bolder colors featured green tints to mirror this throughout the color palette. 

Bold Fonts to Share Brand Values

Lydia and Jess didn’t want fancy fonts. They wanted their brand to be clean. I chose Roboto and Roboto Condensed for headers, and it is a sans-serif with clean, straight lines. This font style is an excellent choice for an accounting company as it is straightforward and to the point with nothing to hide. 

Font choice is vital in strategic branding as font imagery evokes a lot of subtle messages to the reader. 

Alternative Logo Designs

Lydia and Jess did a great job designing their own word-type logo, so there was little to do here except design different style variations. Having multiple versions of the same logo is useful when creating different layouts for marketing materials. 

For example, a horizontal logo is excellent for the top left corner of your website header, but a vertical version may look better on the center of a business card or in the corner of a letterhead. 

Accounting Website Design

Luckily for me, Lydia and Jess were dream clients, and there were very few changes to be made after my initial brand design proposal. They loved the green I chose, were happy with the fonts and were pleasantly surprised to see their logo in different forms for different uses. Now it was time for the actual accounting website design and build. I gave them a rough design proposal and the branding, and they were happy to let me go for it.l 

Rocketspark Website Builder

Jess had used Rocketspark before, so she was familiar with using it and wanted to have their site hosted there again. I was happy to learn a new program, and in the end, the team and Rocketspark were great. They are very supportive, and the platform is designed to enable the creation of beautiful websites. 

Website Design Results

The end result took a few tweaks to get right, but in the end, Lydia and Jess loved it. When I first sent her the preview link Lydia told me it was exactly how she imagined and was thrilled. 

Adrianne designed and created our website and really captured the essence of who we are and what we are about.

A couple of weeks later (blush moment alert), she also got a compliment from the NZ Business that she had been congratulated on having a very smart website (that’s what we were aiming for).  Lydia and Jess also used some of the copy for a brand story I wrote for them in an article in our local Nelson Magazine, and after reading it, the editor told her it was so well written and was she sure she didn’t want a job with them (second big blush moment).

My first official web design project went pretty well, but I was most pleased to hear that within a couple of days of running ads to their new site, they had already signed a few of the leads to be clients. After all, you can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if it doesn’t convert, what’s the point? 

Supporting Businesses Focused on Creating Positive Change

Apart from just being amazing people in general, I love their business’s goal of changing how people understand their business accounting. Typically accounting is seen as boring and impossibly complicated, but Lydia and Jess know their stuff, and they’re on a mission to make it easy for their clients to manage and understand so they feel empowered to make the best business decisions for them. 

If you’re a business owner reading this, you understand how important this is. All power to them, and I’m so proud to have played a part in building them a website they’re proud to use to promote their services and how they can help other business owners. 

If you like this design and would love to have your own beautiful website that converts apply for a free complimentary call today.

Adrianne Jerrett

Adrianne Jerrett is a yoga-loving self-awareness writer and the founder of Jerrett Digital, a brand identity and design company that creates bold Showit websites for health and wellness professionals and ethical businesses. She helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs shift to being aligned and confident experts, ready to grow their businesses online and boost their positive impact.