How to build a target account list from scratch
By Anna Fontanes | March 2026 | 10 min read
Most teams build target account lists wrong because they start with the list before defining the criteria.
"Let's build a list of 50 accounts to target." They create a spreadsheet. They start researching companies that seem relevant. After a week they've got a list of 50, and they start reaching out.
The problem: they never actually defined what "relevant" means.
Here's how to do it right: define ICP, identify signals, map universe, prioritise, action.
Step 1: Define your ICP with specificity
Bad ICP: "Mid-market SaaS companies that use HubSpot."
Good ICP: "B2B SaaS companies with revenue between £2M and £8M, founded in the last 7 years, doing product-led growth, with a founding team from SaaS backgrounds, that have raised at least seed capital, and are in the UK or US markets."
The better your ICP definition, the better your list will be.
Step 2: Identify your buying signals
A buying signal is something that indicates a company might buy what you're selling right now. Don't skip this step. This is what separates a target account list from a random list.
For most B2B sellers, buying signals include:
- Growth signals: Revenue growth 30%+, headcount growth, funding announcements
- Director appointments: New Finance Director, new Commercial Director
- Job postings: Hiring in revenue functions, operations functions
- Funding: Seed round, Series A, growth capital
List 3-5 signals that would indicate a company is in buying mode for what you sell.
Step 3: Map your universe
Now combine ICP definition + buying signals to identify all companies that fit both. Your "universe" is all companies that fit your ICP + are showing at least one buying signal. For most UK SMB sellers, this is 500-2,000 companies.
Step 4: Prioritise within your universe
Prioritisation criteria:
- Signal strength: Companies showing multiple signals are higher priority
- Signal recency: Companies that appointed a director in the last 30 days are higher priority than 6 months ago
- Deal size: If some companies are higher-value, prioritise them
Example scoring:
- New Finance Director in last 90 days: +3 points
- Revenue growth 30%+: +2 points
- Hiring in relevant functions: +2 points
- Founded in last 3 years: +1 point
- VC-backed: +1 point
Your target account list is your "very high priority" (7+ points) and "high priority" (4-6 points) accounts.
Step 5: Research and action
You've got your target account list (let's say 100 companies). Now research each one and reach out.
What to research: Why are they on your list? What's your angle? Who should you reach out to?
Reaching out: For your top 20 accounts: personalised email. For your next 30: more templated but signal-based. For your remaining 50: prioritised list for outreach when you have capacity.
Why this process works at scale
Once you've done this once, it becomes continuous. Every month, new signals emerge. You monthly rescore your universe. It's a system, not a project.
The hardest part of target account list building is identifying and prioritising by signals at scale
Firmbase handles stages 1-4 (ICP definition, signal monitoring, universe mapping, prioritisation). You handle stage 5 (research and outreach).
Start your free trial at app.firmbase.co/signup
FAQ
How many accounts should I put on my target account list?
Start with 50-100. If you're doing real research and personalisation, that's a full workload for most sellers.
How often should I update my target account list?
Monthly is realistic. New signals emerge continuously. Your list should reflect current signals.
What if a company on my list stops showing signals?
Move them down your priority list. Replace them with companies showing stronger signals.
Can I build this manually without software?
Yes, but it's time-consuming. A 1,000-company universe, manually scored and tracked in a spreadsheet, takes 20+ hours of work upfront. Software cuts that to 2-3 hours.
Author Bio
Anna Fontanes is a revenue operations consultant who has built account scoring and ICP frameworks for UK B2B sales teams across SaaS and professional services.