cofounder ian vacin explains the value of connectedness.
by kayleigh padar
the radical cpa guide
ian vacin is the cofounder and vice president of product marketing at karbon, a software designed to help firms improve their processes. he described why process improvement is vital to a functioning firm.
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“you can’t keep operating at the same pace using the existing processes that you have today,” vacin said.
“your clients want more value day after day, and you need to provide it to them. when on the road, most firms that i see are traditional and don’t even have their processes defined. they aren’t innovative, they aren’t growing and don’t have a starting point to do so,” he added.
processes are often individualized for different clients, and karbon is designed to help managers create and delegate checklists and tasks to the employees best suited for each job. while a majority of the process remains the same throughout the firm, other parts need to be flexible to ensure each client is best served by the right person in the practice.
“for firms today, data is in multiple places and not at their fingertips. combine this with the pain and effort of documenting everything, and you find people putting data wherever they can. the result is that no one is able to find what they need, when they need it,” vacin said.
basically, karbon unites a team with a singular place to work together. the software allows users to manage their files collectively, collaborate on the work and assign emails to each other, making it possible for everyone in the firm to have visibility across the work and the full relationship with a given client.
“the problem is that communications sit inside of the silos of each person’s machine, typically in their inbox. when someone calls and you pick up the phone, you don’t necessarily know what has happened beforehand. this problem only gets exacerbated by the number of employees in the firm and the number of systems in place,” vacin said.
some firms may feel as though there’s a lack of communication within the team. karbon connects members’ technology so that time is saved and unnecessary computer searching is eliminated.
“it’s that peace of mind knowing i can go somewhere, and understand what’s going on across all the different people in the firm and across all my clients,” vacin said.
this software doesn’t alter firms’ processes or take care of any work, but instead enables employees to finish work in a more efficient way while ensuring that each team member is equipped with the maximum amount of information available.
“karbon isn’t the place you actually do work. karbon is that place for you to manage and oversee it to ensure that the work is getting done. it lets you know what to do next and springboards you to the right place to complete the work. karbon provides you peace of mind, knowing that every moment of the day, you have all the information at your fingertips,” he said.
most firms using this technology are either younger or have aggressive plans to grow. they seem to be finding that this is the most efficient way to keep track of everything that is going on in the digital realm of the office.
“they have determined that their best way to the highest profitability is ultimately being able to be the most efficient that they can,” vacin said. “they are going to leverage technology as an advantage for themselves and a way to distance themselves from the competition.”