For accountants introducing a client company
Can ICAEW firms keep a referral fee for introducing a client to AI buyers?
Updated
Yes, once the client has agreed. ICAEW's guidance treats a commission as the client's money until the client consents, and consent given in advance in an engagement letter has to name a range of likely amounts.
Keeping the fee: yes, after consent
A fee a data buyer pays you for introducing a client company can be kept only with that client's consent, and ICAEW expects the client to be told the amount received. The fees themselves are published by the buyers, so the range a client is asked to agree to can be stated before any introduction.
Source: ICAEW: referral fees and commissions, client consent
What ICAEW says about consent
ICAEW's guidance puts it plainly: if a commission is obtained, the firm needs the client's consent to retain it, because otherwise it is the client's money. It asks firms to work out first whether a referral is regulated or unregulated, since the routes to consent differ.
Source: ICAEW: referral fees and commissions, client consent
For an unregulated referral commission, ICAEW lists three ways to get consent:
Source: ICAEW: referral fees and commissions, client consent
- Specific consent for each individual amount.
- Consent after the event, with the money kept in a clients' money account until then.
- Advance general consent in the engagement letter, whose paragraph must contain a range of likely amounts.
Even with a general consent, ICAEW says the firm still has to notify the client of the exact amount once it has been received. A regulated referral, which needs a DPB licence, cannot rely on advance consent in the engagement letter.
Source: ICAEW: referral fees and commissions, client consent
What AI data buyers publish as an introduction fee
micro1 pays $50,000 for an enterprise data partnership worth up to $700,000, or 7.5% of the deal value above that, and $75,000 for a defunct company's data up to $1 million, or 7.5% above it. The bonus enters payout approval once the company's data has been transferred and approved.
Source: Company introduction fees board
BizBuyData by Mode pays the greater of $50,000 or 6% on the first five qualified US direct referrals, once the partnership qualifies and Mode pays the company. Handshake says that if an introduction results in a partnership it will thank the introducer with $10K.
Source: Company introduction fees board
Mercor and Nyne both invite introductions on their own pages and publish no fee for one.
Source: Company introduction fees board
Read on 27 and 28 October 2026 (Mercor on 23 October), the published fees run from Handshake's flat $10K to micro1's $75,000 for a defunct company's data, with shares of 6% to 7.5% of the deal value where a programme sets one. That is the range an engagement letter can name.
Source: Company introduction fees board
When an introducer's fee falls due
The records are the client company's to license, and the fee follows the deal rather than the introduction: Mercor says the bonus comes when the referred company goes live and starts earning, so nothing is owed for an introduction that goes nowhere.
Source: Company introduction fees board
A note to forward to a partner or client
"Some AI data buyers now pay companies for years of operating records, and they publish what they pay for an introduction. If we agree the range with the client first, it is worth a call."
Introducing a company
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