Accolti's appointment as first chancellor of Florence in 1458 was the turning point of his life. Before then, although married to a member of a prominent Florentine family, he was still an Aretine living in Florence, retaining Aretine citizenship and maintaining the patrimony inherited from his father. He did not hesitate to seek a favourable position outside Florence, as for example at the University of Siena in 1456, and it was still conceivable that he might have given up Florentine residence to further his legal career, following the example of his brother Francesco's success at Siena, Ferrara and Milan. But after Benedetto Accolti's election as chancellor, he and his family undoubtedly became Florentine. He passed the crucial point when he received Florentine citizenship sometime between October 1458 and February 1459. In 1458 he was still subject to the Aretine catasto and on 7 October 1458 when his salary as chancellor was increased from 300 to 450 florins, he was referred to as only ‘dominus Benedictus olim domini Michaelis de Accoltis’. But on 20 February 1459 when he was reelected chancellor he was called ‘dominus Benedictus domini Michaelis de Accoltis de Aretio Civis Florentinus’, and on 23 February 1461, when his salary was increased from 450 to 600 florins, he was again referred to as ‘dominus Benedictus domini Michaelis de Accoltis de Aretio civis ac primus cancellarius florentinus’. It is not known exactly when Accolti became a Florentine citizen during this time, and apparently no official act of citizenship has survived.