How 3P doubled their efficiency

Being a qualified accounting and tax professional with nearly a decade of experience, Chris Borg knows what a quality accounting firm is made of.

“I’ve had the experience of working with accounting firms of different sizes and client bases.”

An accountant with a proven track record, Chris is determined to change the way traditional accounting, tax and business services are accessed by clients of all sizes, and wherever they are on their growth journey. This is something that needs an inclusive customer service culture that starts from the bottom up.

“My co-founder and I launched 3P seven years ago [to deliver inclusive customer service no matter the client size or growth stage] and we are still investing heavily in technology, people and processes. Culture is king and our clients are royalty,” says Chris.

“I’ve always had a passion for accounting and for helping businesses achieve their full potential.  Accounting is a very dynamic service offering… client needs change, business environments change, regulations change and how we respond to these changes determines our value to clients. What really drives me is the unknown,” he says. 

“Every client has a different need, a different budget and a different personality. I love challenging myself and empowering my team to step up so that our clients can walk away with a special experience—one they are prepared to positively share with others.”

“At 3P, we have a passion for people to prosper in all aspects of life.”

Having worked extensively in various accounting firms, Chris found that clients would often walk away disappointed—either with the service or with the fees charged for that service. For Chris, that needed to change when he co-founded 3P.

“A simple tax return, complex business advice, or a startup—it doesn’t matter, we give the client the same level of attention and respect.”

Be where your clients need you to be

Starting with accounting and tax services, 3P expanded its offering to fully support clients in their financial journey. Chris believes that trust between an accountant and their client is crucial.

“Good relationship + good health = financial prosperity.”

Offering a range of financial services helps clients to relieve the stress of finding a trustworthy firm, which is why 3P ensures they are exactly where clients need them to be.

“We created a unique licensing model, where we recruited and licensed best-in-class professionals to offer different professional services under one brand, one platform and one culture. It’s a pretty powerful business model with a win-win for both adviser and client.”

Chances are that you’re familiar with the idea of a ‘dream client’. It might be a client of a certain asset value or size, or someone that belongs to a particular industry. For 3P, the reality is that every client is a dream client, as long as there is mutual respect.

“Our dream client is the client who values our service and what we do and reminds us that we exist because of them. That last bit keeps us on our toes.”

Leveraging trust to gain referrals

By building solid and trustworthy client relationships, and cross-pollinating clients across different licensees, 3P is quickly gaining scalability, which is allowing them to improve their service delivery ecosystem.

“Our clients love what we are doing in that space,” explains Chris. “We incentivise clients, staff, advisers and our channel partners to attract, convert and retain new and existing relationships. Everyone benefits via an income share model and where eligible, an equity participation plan. No one else does this to the best of my knowledge. It’s something we are very proud of.”

When technology comes into play

For some, it can be difficult to remember a time before COVID-19—before remote work, and before being digital-first. But Chris remembers the difficulty in executing a digital transformation.

“When we started, there were very limited technological tools available for accountants. While the industry wanted to be paperless, it was very hard to be paperless, because the technology just wasn’t there,” explains Chris.

While the pandemic brought with it disaster and uncertainty, the hardest times are those that teach us the most valuable lessons.

“I was using COVID as an opportunity to prosper. For accountants when things are good, it's going well, but when things are bad, it's going better.”

3P used this opportunity to take their firm to the next level. To achieve their mission of creating holistic wealth across all areas of their clients’ lives, they had to increase productivity, improve internal and external communication, and flawlessly manage work.

How Karbon helps 3P achieve their growth plans

Chris knew that to live up to their mission, they needed to move quickly, be flexible and provide outstanding service. He also knew a practice management solution like Karbon was going to help his team do just that.

For 3P, Karbon is the solution that allows them to use time efficiently, improve communication and keep everything on track with:

1. Email management

2. Better ways of visualizing work management (rather than relying on spreadsheets)

3. Workflow automation

“In the past, we had to send an email to every client to receive and send information. Now we are able to just set up a task, transfer that client into a workflow and just click ‘send’. It enables us to have much better workflow processes, and streamlines work a lot better,” says Chris.

“Job management, checklists, and task automation in Karbon really make a difference.”

Apart from automating processes and saving time, Karbon allowed 3P to be much more efficient when it comes to internal communication. Emails no longer pile up, and internal communication is seamless.

By handling the mechanical parts of 3P’s operations—task automation, auto-client reminders, visibility, etc.—Chris and his team have the time and space to deliver on their mission.

“If I had to describe Karbon in one word it would be ‘game-changer’.”

Key results:

• Increased efficiency across email management

• Easily-automated workflows

• Improved visibility over workflows

• Time saved chasing clients