ACCA Accounting and Business Magazine Features 3E Accounting Founder
3E Accounting was featured in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants’ (ACCA) Accounting and Business (AB) Magazine. The management shared with ACCA 3E Accounting’s bold decision to expand into Hong Kong and the importance of investing in technology and talent to ensure business continuity in the next normal business environment, shaped by COVID-19.
Increasing Competitive Advantage With Technology
Technology implementation in 3E Accounting was initially a way to support working mothers within the firm, but it has consequently transformed 3E Accounting’s employees into adept remote workers. Adopting cloud solutions, and virtual communication tools have enabled the firm to liaise with clients and employees in Hong Kong, despite the current global travel restrictions. By integrating technology into our expansion plans, we were able to virtually oversee office renovations, set up IT infrastructure and conduct a virtual opening for our Hong Kong Office, 3E Accounting Limited in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, adopting technology has proven to be a strategic competitive advantage for the firm during these unprecedented times.
Technology adoption that goes hand in hand with enlightened HR policy and good manager-staff communications were critical strategies for 3E Accounting’s expansion plans. The management highlighted that it was crucial to rely on appraisal systems, standardised HR policies, and effective two-way communications to ensure consistent communication with employees in Hong Kong. 3E Accounting’s Singapore Headquarters gathers monthly feedback from its Hong Kong office and provides remote support. Additionally, 3E Accounting has been facilitating E-Town Hall sessions to regularly update employees on internal and external company matters.
3E Accounting’s In-House Technology
The company’s management plays a key role in driving 3E Accounting’s relentless quest to stay ahead of the technology curve. From the start, the leadership team believed that investing in technology, procuring the company’s own servers, and customising its CRM software would bring business-wide benefits to 3E Accounting. These benefits have enabled the company to scale faster than others, while employees have reported working more efficiently and accurately.
Last year, the company formed an in-house Digital R&D team to spearhead development in robotic process automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The formation of the Digital R&D team and investment in technology have led to the successful development of financial reporting software, which can shorten the time taken to prepare financial statements from eight hours to 60 seconds. This technological breakthrough has helped free up time for accountants to focus on higher-value work, such as business advisory or helping clients grow their businesses.
With a strong belief that adopting technology is the way forward, 3E Accounting will be setting up its own data centre to house all of the company’s internal software development and help clients develop their own software. The data centre will be officially opened in 2021, in conjunction with 3E Accounting’s 10th Year Anniversary.
Growing and Retaining Talent Pool
3E Accounting’s other key strategic advantage is its people, and the company’s current HR management practices are modelled after the management’s own working experience. After experiencing long working hours as auditors, the management realised that such a work culture was not sustainable and wanted to promote better work-life balance. As a local home-grown SME, it is difficult for 3E Accounting to compete with bigger firms in terms of salary. Therefore, flexible work arrangements became a key incentive offered to talents who share the same view on work-life harmony.
3E Accounting’s strong emphasis on work-life harmony has attracted many working mothers, who currently make up 30 to 40% of the company’s workforce. The management shared that, based on experience, working mothers are highly responsible and loyal workers. The company encourages industry peers to consider the bigger picture and not be afraid of hiring working mothers due to short-term considerations such as maternity leave. Flexible work arrangements and an Employees First culture have led to low employee turnover, which has enabled 3E Accounting’s management to focus more on expanding the business.
Prior to the pandemic, there was little difference between companies that took the conventional route and those that adopted the digital route. However, COVID-19 has been a game-changer for businesses and has helped validate 3E Accounting’s digital transformation efforts. The management hopes that businesses will consider implementing technology because “technology adoption is going to be accelerated post-COVID-19. If you are too slow, you are going to be left behind. You have to act even faster and be more responsive. That is a new reality.”
