RQ

What RQ does

RQ is a UK-based SaaS company founded in 2021 that provides a referral management platform purpose-built for regulated professional services firms. The platform serves accountants, financial advisers (IFAs), solicitors, corporate finance advisers, mortgage brokers, and estate agents, enabling them to send, receive, track, and manage client referrals while maintaining FCA, ICAEW DPB, and SRA compliance. Headquartered in London, ISO 27001:2022 certified, and trusted by nearly 1,000 firms across the UK, RQ replaces spreadsheets and email-based referral processes with a structured, auditable system.

The platform is modular, comprising eight primary components: Professional Referrals (structured workflows with consent capture and outcome tracking), Compliance & Audit Trail (automatic regulatory record-keeping), Fee Sharing (automated commission calculations and splits), Revenue Tracking (ROI dashboards by partner and source), Relationship Management (introducer panel management with health scoring), Approval Workflows (configurable multi-step sign-offs), Compass (structured client discovery and referral generation), and Data Insights (conversion tracking and board-ready reporting). The platform integrates natively with HubSpot, intelliflo Office, Plannr, Xero, Microsoft 365/Outlook, Pipedrive, and Zoho CRM, with Salesforce and Zapier integrations announced as forthcoming. The architecture emphasises low-friction workflow adoption via an Outlook add-in.

RQ operates a sales-led go-to-market targeting mid-market and enterprise UK professional services firms through direct website and field sales, with consultative selling emphasising compliance and ROI outcomes. Revenue is generated through paid annual SaaS subscriptions; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is gated behind a contact-sales motion. The company holds a flagship co-development relationship with the ICAEW, having designed the DPB compliance features with input from the body. No external funding rounds have been disclosed, and the company appears to be privately held and founder-led.

Name

RQ

Legal name

RQ

Website

https://rq.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RQ is a UK-based SaaS platform that enables accountants, financial advisers, solicitors, and other regulated professional services firms to track, manage, and comply with client referrals, serving nearly 1,000 firms from its London headquarters since 2021.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription: RQ operates as a subscription-based SaaS platform for professional services firms. The platform is described as having paid plans with fee-sharing features available on paid tiers. Revenue is generated through recurring subscription fees from firms tracking referrals, managing compliance, and processing fee-sharing arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RQ is a subscription-based referral management SaaS platform for UK professional services firms. It enables accountants, IFAs, solicitors, and corporate finance advisers to send, manage, and track referrals with built-in FCA, ICAEW DPB, and SRA compliance, automated fee-sharing, revenue attribution, and introducer relationship management — replacing spreadsheets and email-based referral processes with a structured, auditable system.

Product overview

RQ is a unified referral management platform for UK professional services firms, combining a core platform with integrated modules. The core RQ Platform provides centralized referral tracking, compliance management, and revenue visibility. The product suite includes Compass (client discovery and referral generation), Professional Referrals (structured workflows with consent capture), Compliance & Audit Trail (FCA/ICAEW DPB/SRA compliance), Fee Sharing (automated commission tracking), Revenue Tracking (ROI dashboards), Relationship Management (introducer panel management), Approval Workflows (multi-step compliance sign-offs), and Data Insights (analytics and reporting). These modules work together as an integrated system, replacing spreadsheets and email-based referral processes with a structured, auditable platform purpose-built for regulated industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RQ Platform Unified referral management platform for UK professional services firms that tracks every referral, automates fee-sharing and payments, ensures FCA/ICAEW DPB/SRA compliance, manages introducer relationships, and provides firm-wide revenue visibility across the practice.

Quantifiable outcome

• Centurion saves 30 hours per month managing referrals
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• HubSpotcoreTechnology or IntegrationCRM integration allowing automatic synchronisation of referral data with HubSpot, reducing duplicate data entry and keeping systems synchronised.
• intelliflo OfficecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for financial planners to sync referrals directly with intelliflo Office practice management system.
• PlannrcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Plannr practice management software for accountancy and financial planning firms.
• XerocoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting integration syncing referral revenue data with Xero accounting software.
• Microsoft 365 & OutlookcoreTechnology or IntegrationOutlook add-in allowing users to log referrals directly from Outlook without changing workflow. Microsoft 365 integration for seamless office productivity.
• ICAEWflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerRQ was designed with input from ICAEW to support firms with DPB (Designated Professional Body) obligations. ICAEW collaborated on compliance requirements for referral management.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• TaxDome: TaxDome is an all-in-one practice management platform for accounting and tax firms with client portal, workflow, CRM, and billing capabilities. It targets a similar accounting-firm buyer and offers overlapping relationship/client management functionality that competes with parts of RQ's value proposition.
• Practice Ignition: Practice Ignition provides client engagement, proposal, and billing workflow automation for accounting and professional services firms. It targets the same UK professional services buyer (accountants, IFAs) as RQ, with overlapping compliance and workflow themes, making it a directly comparable vertical SaaS peer.
• Karbon: Karbon is a practice management workflow platform for accounting firms, handling work management, collaboration, and client delivery. It competes for the same accounting-firm wallet share as RQ, with both serving UK/regulated accounting practices.
• Canopy: Canopy provides practice management software for accounting firms including CRM, workflow, and client engagement tools. It serves the same accounting vertical as RQ and competes for budget allocation on firm-wide relationship and client management tooling.

Broad incumbents

• Salesforce: Salesforce is the dominant enterprise CRM, already used by many larger professional services firms. Its planned integration with RQ and broad relationship-management capabilities make it the most significant horizontal incumbent that could erode RQ's differentiation if it adds compliance/audit features.
• HubSpot: HubSpot is a broad CRM and customer platform used by professional services firms. It is both an RQ integration partner and a horizontal incumbent that could absorb some referral-tracking functionality, making it a relevant incumbent competitor.

Emerging players

• HoneyBook: HoneyBook is a business management platform for service-based small businesses covering proposals, contracts, invoicing, and client communication. While not UK-regulated-focused, it addresses a similar 'manage professional referrals and client relationships' use case for professional services and is a comparable vertical SaaS model.
• intelliflo: intelliflo (Office) is practice management software for financial advisers, serving the same IFA buyer as RQ. RQ integrates with intelliflo, but intelliflo could expand its own referral/relationship capabilities, positioning it as both a partner and emerging competitor for IFA-segment wallet.
• Plannr: Plannr is practice management software for UK financial advisers and accountants. Like intelliflo, it is an integration partner for RQ, but also a potential competitor as it could add referral and introducer management functionality in the same UK professional services vertical.

Regional players

• Referrizer: Referrizer is a referral marketing automation platform primarily serving North American small businesses. While geographically distinct, it represents a comparable referral-management software model competing for the broader 'referral software' category that RQ occupies.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rq-app

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RQ