THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
The Quintessential Technology Source for Corporate Financial Professionals
CFO Tech Outlook Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from CFO Tech Outlook
Keshav Srinivasan, CTOCoralTree initially developed a SaaS application called “Business Connect” for accountants that acted as a middleman between the user and QuickBooks. What followed was a quick realization that this approach was incompatible with users who were not willing to change their existing business workflows. With an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit and a culture of making things happen, Srinivasan repurposed CoralTree and moved the needle with a brand-new product called Qbox, an easy-to-use file-sync product that enables accountants to collaboratively edit QuickBooks company files without changing the way they work. “Qbox was a major success for us,” states Srinivasan. “Its market traction started a tradition of putting the customer first when deciding what to build.” Today, the company continues to adapt cutting-edge technologies like AI into simple, affordable products that are easy to use for customers with any level of expertise.
CoralTree’s footprint soon expanded to tackle challenging collaboration problems in a variety of verticals. In addition to Qbox for accountants, the company also offers CoraSCAN for bookkeepers, CoraCAD for architects, and CoraLegal for lawyers. To expand on its offering for accountants and tax professionals, CoralTree has developed a Web-based file management and multi-user collaboration solution called CoraCloud. “What makes CoraCloud unique is that every feature built in the platform has roots in the feedback provided by finance professionals who use Qbox,” says Srinivasan.
While there have been numerous collaboration solutions released for the enterprise accounting and finance markets, SMB segments have mostly been ignored and underserved. In order to meet business goals, budding entrepreneurs have had to piecemeal solutions on bootstrapped budgets. And in most cases the results fall short of what is desired. CoralTree has remained committed to empowering this segment and its increased footprint is evident as it successfully replicates its impact in verticals like architecture, construction, law and real estate.
“Diversifying our product offering and continually innovating have been keys to our success,” says Keshav Srinivasan, CTO of CoralTree. The company has developed a core platform of collaboration technologies and intelligently repurposes them for the diverse products it builds. This allows for a highly scalable architecture with tried and trusted components. All products are built using world-class tools including Amazon Web Services, with bank-level security employed across the board.
“Our engineering team is very focused on building things the right way,” Keshav adds. “We always keep the elegance and scalability of our product architecture in mind while delivering great results to our customers.”
CoraCloud: Hallmark of User Experience
The company’s latest product - CoraCloud - will be the foundation for a new generation of its collaboration tools. CoraCloud allows accounting firms to organize their partners and clients into fine-grained roles and securely share tax documents between them. Users can edit documents right in their Web browsers and execute electronic signatures from within the product.
T.S. Srinivasan, President and CEO“We got a lot of feedback from customers that user experience was critical when deciding what tools to use,” explains Jimmy Sinha, VP of Growth at CoralTree. “The existing market for accounting solutions is fragmented between products with cluttered user interfaces. We aim to confound this standard with CoraCloud.”
To that end CoralTree has invested heavily into its exploration of novel design techniques. The hallmark of CoraCloud is its simple, intuitive user experience that lets users accomplish critical tasks with just a few clicks. The complex relationships between accountants, internal and external partners, clients, bookkeepers, and consultants are encapsulated in a well-organized and thoughtful UI that allows for instant productivity.
CoralTree adapts innovative technologies into cost-efficient, intuitive collaboration products for small and medium businesses
“Our product team has invested a lot of time and energy into UI design, and the journey has just begun,” continues Jimmy. “There is tremendous interest for CoraCloud and we plan on using customer feedback to continuously improve our user experience and make it a competitive advantage.”
A Customer-First Approach
When asked about the secret sauce of their market success, Srinivasan’s reply was almost instantaneous: “We listen to our customers.”
He elaborates, “We want to make sure that we only build features that our customers love and use.” CoralTree’s large user base of accountants, bookkeepers, and their associated lawyers and clients allows for an instant marketing and feedback channel. The company actively surveys its customers on a wide range of topics regarding both launched and beta products.
One example of CoralTree’s customer-focus involved its deployment of Qbox to the accounting firm Baker, Chi &Parkey. The firm was struggling to manage all the QuickBooks files accumulating from its numerous clients. “Accounting firms like this can’t keep up with demand using legacy technologies like email,” explains Srinivasan. “They need modern solutions.”
When CoralTree proposed and set up Qbox with Baker, Chi &Parkey the results were remarkable. Clients could collaborate on files with their accountants without having to drive to their offices. Data conflicts were no longer an issue, thanks to Qbox’s secure file lock mechanism. Overall client satisfaction went up as a result, along with the increased efficiencies gained by their accounting staff. “Qbox saves us time and money. Using it has been the best decision we ever made,” says Tim Baker, Principal at Baker, Chi &Parkey.
“Qbox has been instrumental to Baker, Chi &Parkey and tens of thousands of other accounting firms,” expands Srinivasan. CoralTree has been able to bring value, boost efficiency and increase productivity for organizations even in an era where remote-work is the norm, not the exception. While maintaining its streak of success in the accounting, legal, and construction domains, CoralTree also plans to expand its footprints into other areas like property management and real estate.
“Our philosophy is that every industry can benefit from cost-efficient, user-friendly tools,” affirms Srinivasan. “We are here to not just build software but to truly improve the lives of small business owners.”
| Share this Article: Tweet |
Company
CoralTree
Management
Keshav Srinivasan, CTO and T.S. Srinivasan, President and CEO
Description
CoralTree develops cost-efficient and intuitive real-time secure collaboration software for small and medium businesses. Its products adapt seamlessly to the workflows of accountants, bookkeepers, architects, lawyers, and more. Businesses achieve dramatic increases in efficiency by using CoralTree products. CoralTree’s footprint soon expanded to tackle challenging collaboration problems in a variety of verticals. In addition to Qbox for accountants, the company also offers CoraSCAN for bookkeepers, CoraCAD for architects, and CoraLegal for lawyers. To expand on its offering for accountants and tax professionals, CoralTree has developed a Web-based file management and multi-user collaboration solution called CoraCloud
