Relationship-based services key to driving organic growth

Munzurul Khan attributes the extraordinary growth of his firm KHI Partners to the firm’s dedication to improving the lives of its clients and its strong set of guiding principles.

At its core, KHI Partners is a value-based, services-based and relationship-based service provider, says the chairman and founding partner.

With the background of BDO and Big 4 Accounting Experiences, Mr Khan first opened the practice in late 2008. He had just five clients working as a sole practitioner in a small office in Campbeltown.

Since those early days, the accounting firm has seen significant growth, expanding to 18 partners and a total of 90 staff members across five different locations in Australia. The firm now services over 18,000 clients and expanded to multi-disciplinary services – accounting, financial planning, book-keeping, mortgage broking and law.

Ever since starting KHI Partners, the Three Founding Partners Munzurul Khan, Jeremy Iannuzzelli and Trevor Hau have had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve.

“We started the firm with some fundamental ethics and ethos. One of the principal values we started with is ‘Contributing to your Life’ – of every person and every relationship that we have. Our objective is that every time we sit down with a client or a relationship, we think about how we can add value,” said Mr Khan.

“We had this concept that if we can help other people, then our practice will look after itself. This meant that we should not need to worry too much about advertising, as our clients would do such for us.”

This is also reflected with the charity work undertaken by the firm, with KHI Partners providing pro bono services and contributing to organisations such as SoTheyCan.org and Dana Asia.

With the exception of two recent acquisitions this year, one which will settle in July, every single client at the firm has been acquired through word of mouth.

“We have spent very little on advertising and we only had our website done around three years ago.”

The firm has attracted a large number of high-profile clients over the 16 years it's been operating, particularly within the property industry.

Expanding into different services

KHI Partners has also expanded its service offering over the years, a move which has been beneficial for retaining talent and providing a stronger client value proposition.

While accounting remains the fundamental service of the firm, KHI Partners also offers financial planning, bookkeeping, mortgage broking and legal services.

“By having all those four other services alongside accounting, it creates a collaborating team,” said Mr Khan.

“It makes it easier from the client’s perspective to engage with the one group rather than have communication between different groups.”

This also increases the longevity of clients due to multiple touch-points, according to Mr Khan.

Another benefit of running a multi-disciplinary practice has been talent retention.

“Younger accountants aspire to learn new things. So rather than just giving them accounting only, they appreciate having a holistic understanding on financial planning, law, bookkeeping and mortgage broking. That means they’re getting a more well-rounded knowledge,” he said.

Creation of advisory and executive boards

The creation of two separate boards have been an important step in getting the firm’s Corporate Governance in order, according to Mr Khan.

The Executive Board, comprises the lead partners for each of the five segments of the business. The separate Advisory Board provides advice and counselling and helps keep the firm’s strategic direction and maintaining accountability.

“The role of the Executive Board is for the senior level management of the business to work within business. The role of the Advisory Board is work on business,” said Mr Kahn.

Future plans

Over the next few years the firm has plans to expand further, and in overseas. While it already has a back office in Philippines, the firm wants to expand to London, New York and Paris, over time.

It aims to join forces with a UK based firm by June 2027.

“We are looking to find an accounting practice in London with similar ethics, principles, ethos and systems and processes,” he said.

Between now and June 2027, the firm will focus on building its practice to 35 partners and expanding further inter-states.

Tips for growth and success

With artificial intelligence and other forms of automation now progressing at a rapid pace, Mr Khan warns that firms that aren’t adopting these types of technologies risk falling behind greatly on productivity.

“AI must be taken into account, in all facets of our lives. If you look at basic accounting software such as Xero, Class or BGL, for example, they’re becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of their data collection and data entry,” he said.

“They now have systems where the software can download bank statements and upload journal entries by itself. It has taken away the traditional task of someone sitting around and data entering for days and days.

“So if you have a practice that has adopted that and then compare it to practices doing it in the old-fashioned way, there’s an incredible amount of difference in terms of cost and productivity and the overall efficiency of the group.”

There is also a need for accounting firms to shift their mindset in terms of how they view their clients, said Mr Khan.

“We often get too bogged down in the day-to-day numbers of profitability, productivity, time sheets and trying to charge as much as we can. Let’s do it the other way around. Rather than looking at the numbers side of it, we need to look at where we can provide value,” said by Mr Khan

"When you’re providing high value, your price will look after itself. Rather than seeing clients as a transaction, we need to see the client as a relationship," he explained.

“Instead of looking at a client and thinking about how you can create a massive exercise and charge $50,000, it is about thinking how you can keep this client for the next 20 years with an absolute level of transparency and open communication that you are making profit.’

“I tell all my clients that we are making profit but we’re doing it in the right way where our objective is to grow and build their business in a different shape or form. As their business grows, as an accountant we grow as well.”

Another important aspect of this, he said, is continuous self improvement and learning.

“That way you can provide clients an extended level of value across not just tax planning, retirement, succession planning, estate planning, asset protection and much more,” said Mr Khan.