Skip to main content
Karbon

10 reasons firms hesitate

Many firms we talk with share the same initial concerns about implementing Karbon in their firm.

Discover why you needn’t worry.


Change is hard

Change is hard and time-consuming. How can I implement and get all my team using Karbon?

We agree—any change is challenging. Which is why we provide a full range of implementation services. From a free Getting Started & Onboarding program, to premium white-glove onboarding where our experts take care of everything and provide personalized team training.

We also offer free tools to help you get set up: an uploader to bring in your client database, templates to standardize your processes and a library of guides, tutorials and videos your entire team can access.

Most firms are fully set up as a team on Karbon within 30 days.

I love Outlook

I love Outlook/Gmail. Why should I change from my current setup to manage email somewhere else?

Our email integration is one of our biggest reasons users save so much time with Karbon. Essentially, assigning emails, adding comments to collaborate in-context and removing the need to forward emails saves the average user 3.5 hours a week. And our iPhone an Android apps help you triage your email when you’re on-the-go.

95% of all emails are actioned in Karbon across all our customers. However, if you’re happy with the way you currently manage email, you can continue with that. Karbon synchronizes everything back and forth with Outlook. An email sent in Karbon will show in your Outlook sent folder, while an email you read in Outlook will be marked as read in Karbon.

Seems expensive

Karbon is more expensive than other solutions I’ve looked at. Why is it better?

Karbon is not cheap, but it is good value. We offer a premium, all-in-one solution and our pricing reflects that. Karbon is a truly collaborative platform for accounting firms to manage workflows, communicate with teams and deliver exceptional client work.

Our most recent customer survey found the average user saves 10 hours per week compared to their previous solution. This means that most firms experience greater profit after implementing Karbon.

Karbon is also evolving rapidly. New features are released every few weeks and our product roadmap is shaped on customer feedback.

Security

What kind of security does Karbon provide?

Karbon is 100% cloud-based software and we take security-first approach towards the planning and execution of product development, quality assurance and operational support activities.

All your information is encrypted in transit and stored using enterprise-grade cloud servers, secure SOC 1-3-compliant data storage with Microsoft Azure and highly scalable databases. Login to Karbon is through your email provider’s authentication (Microsoft or Google), and multi-factor authentication is inherited if it’s turned on. Karbon adheres to all major data protection laws and regulations, including GDPR.

We routinely go through internal security audits and have passed Top 100 firm security audits in all major ecosystems where Karbon is used.

In summary, Karbon security is best-in-class.

Integrations

Does Karbon integrate with my other apps?

Karbon integrates directly with an ever-increasing suite of apps. If a particular solution isn’t listed here, we also integrate with Zapier which you can use to connect to 1,500+ other apps. Another option is to see if your app has an open API, which may also be used to connect to Karbon.

If your software doesn’t meet any of these options, it’s probably not something we can plug into because the vendor hasn’t made that option available. Speak to us about how are you connecting to it today and we can talk through some options or share how current customers are handling this.

Privacy

What about privacy on emails and communication in Karbon?

Karbon provides an enormous amount of visibility across your accounting firm, but you always remain in control over what is shared with your team.

Email that comes into your inbox are yours and they are not shared unless you decide to turn on Email Sharing. With this setting activated, any email from a Contact (a person you’ve saved in Karbon) is automatically posted on that Contact’s Timeline. This is a CRM-like feature to remove blindspots and share communication across designated contacts.

Even with this setting turned on, you can mark any Karbon Contact as Private and control which team members have visibility.

Billing customers

How can I bill my clients when using Karbon?

This depends on how you bill clients today and how you want to do it moving forward. If you are billing hourly, you would probably use your current time-tracking software or use Karbon’s QuickBooks Time integration within Karbon, which allows you to track time in Karbon and push that automatically into QuickBooks Time.

If you bill with a fixed fee and/or value-based structure, you can use a quoting tool such as GoProposal or Ignition, which both integrate with Karbon and sync to QuickBooks Online.

Or, if you are using a blended approach, you can use both the options and track in Karbon which clients or jobs you are billing hourly, which ensures transparency amongst your team.

Here’s an example of how one firm have integrated Karbon, Quickbooks Time, Ignition and QuickBooks Online to assist with this process.

File management

How does Karbon handle document and file management?

Karbon automatically stores all email attachments and client-submitted documents from Client Tasks on the relevant work item. You also have the option of uploading any documents directly.

For each work item this gives you one source of truth to see all related documents and files sent from a client or uploaded by your team. If you need to move these to your long-term file storage, at the close of a work item you can bulk download these files.

Replicating workflows

I have a particular process that works for us. How can we do this exactly the same in Karbon?

Karbon may or may not support what you do today. But importantly, Karbon is going to ask you: is your current workflow as efficient as it can possibly be?

We are very confident that Karbon will provide your firm with a suitable solution. Much like other accounting firms, just like yours, that are benefitting from Karbon today. To help you develop an efficient process, our customer support team is always on-hand to provide best practice advice.

Does Karbon do everything?

Does Karbon do everything I want and can ever dream of?
No. Unfortunately, no solution does everything. Whatever you are trying to achieve, think about how you do it today with your current setup. Usually, you’ll find that Karbon will help you get closer to doing all those things that you are dreaming of. For the rest, our team is happy to provide suggestions and we are always open to feature requests.

Ready to make the change for your accounting firm?


This is what our customers say about Karbon:

“Karbon allows the entire client team to know what is happening without extra time and extra communication. It has dramatically streamlined that transfer of knowledge.”

Melissa Stout, inDinero

“Karbon is our rocket booster that's allowing us to grow at 40% to 50% year over year.”

Jeremy Allen, System Six

“Karbon is so well-thought-out and robust, but still simple to use. It would take at least three different systems to replace what Karbon gives us today, if we could even do it all.”

Jason Ackerman, BNA

“Every accounting firm should be using Karbon. It's the cornerstone of our business.”

David DiNardo, Envolta

“I’m 100% confident we are going to continue to reap rewards in terms of greater profitability, better clients, being able to provide a better client experience, and better long-term business value.”

Billy Lacey, Ipsum Advisors

Karbon helps us plan better, deliver work better, communicate better, see where anything is at, and collaborate to get things done.”

Timothy Munro, Change Accountants

“I start and end my day in Karbon and could not live without it to run my business.”

Katrina Spinazzola, KRS Consulting Group

“Karbon has been the single greatest difference for us this year. Without Karbon, we would not have been able to fully take advantage of the growth opportunities we were presented.”

John Bovard, The Bovard CPA Group

The more I use Karbon, the better I breathe. It keeps me organized and focused.”

Lielette Calleja, All That Counts

Karbon is the greatest asset that I have in my firm. Without it I'd be lost—it allows me to manage all the crazy things that we commit to. I want to keep this amazingly priceless tool the rest of my life at the very minimum.”

Ryan Kagan, Ryan Cagan CPA