Growing up on a dairy farm, LaDell Eyre, CPA, developed a strong work ethic and an appreciation for innovative solutions to challenging tasks.

Today, as the head of Three Peaks Advisors, a future-forward firm with 35 employees, he applies those same principles to drive success. Three Peaks Advisors provides bookkeeping, payroll, tax, and advisory services to hundreds of businesses across the country. Taking advantage of cloud automation to make processes more efficient has been key in moving toward the firm’s goal: offering more advisory and CFO services to a smaller number of clients.

Working in a single platform to meet firm goals

When Eyre closed his prior firm of 20 years and launched Three Peaks Advisors in 2023, he embraced a new chapter, driven by a vision to innovate and expand his services. Eyre made the change to the Intuit technology platform from an accounting competitor solution that fell short when it came to cloud automation. As a longtime Intuit® Lacerte® Tax user at his previous firm, Eyre knew he wanted something that was cloud-based, while integrating with other Intuit software. After much discussion and evaluation, the firm made the switch to Intuit ProConnect™ Tax.

“Where the automation’s really going to help is having up-to-date, current information,” said Eyre, who’s also moving some of the firm’s non-QuickBooks Online clients to QuickBooks Ledger to gather all their current business data. “The QuickBooks Ledger piece is pretty much a game-changer. What brought us into ProConnect was being able to automate with QuickBooks. When we found out about QuickBooks Ledger, and because we do a lot of in-house accounting, we just thought, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

The benefits of the connected Intuit ecosystem carry through to the firm’s tax and advisory services.

“We can do tax projections and tax advisory, but also offer CFO services and cash-flow projections, and pinpointing how they can run their business better. That’s what’s nice about this whole Intuit realm: It all ties together.”

Getting the firm’s accounting-related business into the Intuit technology platform has been critical for Three Peaks’ goals. Having all their clients on QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Ledger streamlines the process of pulling their data into ProConnect Tax for tax season and throughout the year for extension filings. With up-to-date financial information, the firm has made a smooth transition to tax advisory, along with Intuit Tax Advisor, which Eyre said “added a lot more professionalism to the practice.” As he sees it, having his clients in a single system is table stakes to offer high-value advisory and CFO services.

“As CPAs and accountants, we’re always dealing with the prior year,” said Eyre. “What I see with ProConnect, Intuit Tax Advisor, QuickBooks Online, and QuickBooks Ledger is having more current information. Then, we can start doing more advisory, cash-flow projections, and CFO services.”

Using less software and more automation for maximum productivity

Staying within the Intuit platform has allowed for more efficiencies and less context switching, which research shows is a drag on productivity for employees. The connected system using cloud automation created a win-win given the industry’s current hiring and retention issues, said Eyre.

“Software was going to help me conquer the problems with the labor market because I wouldn’t need as many people—but if I could have the people, then it just means I can service more clients.”

In the name of simplicity and productivity, Eyre made it his mission to reduce the number of software services the firm uses. He’s narrowed it down to two: Intuit for taxes, advisory, and accounting; and Canopy for administrative practice management.

“About 80% of the time I’m in ProConnect Tax and Canopy, and have QuickBooks Online Accountant up, too, so I’m really working in three programs 80% to 90% of the time.”

Canopy, built to integrate smoothly with QuickBooks Online and Intuit ProConnect Tax, automatically eliminates double entries and ensures accuracy between the platforms.

“That’s the biggest thing—simplifying the process, but having the technology and the automation already built into that simplification. With Intuit, you’re going to make it work because QuickBooks Online ties to ProConnect Tax.”

Eyre found the same benefit from Canopy; it offers a wide variety of administrative services to keep accounting practices and advisory firms organized within one application.

“We switched to Canopy because we felt like we could do everything we needed to from an administrative side,” said Eyre, explaining how the headache of too many programs led them to try to get maximum benefit from as few software solutions as possible.

Taking work home, on the range

It can seem daunting to jump to cloud-based software, even with the automations, flexibility, and time savings they offer. Eyre said it’s only recently when he decided that investing in software and being future-forward is a priority.

“I always said, ‘I don’t want to be on the cutting edge of technology,’ but I’ve kind of changed that mentality in the last year or two. I want to be on the cutting edge of technology more than holding back, because it seems like you get behind if you’re not staying in touch with it.”

Cloud technology has other benefits, too. With Eyre’s work ethic, it comes as no surprise that he also runs a ranching operation in Utah. With his hard-working duo of Intuit and Canopy, plus a handy satellite internet service, he is able to take his Three Peaks work home.

“I’m running about 80 head of Angus cows out in the middle of nowhere. You have no cell service. You have nothing, just sagebrush, pinyon, and juniper. I’m running on about 64,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management. I can be sitting out there taking care of my cows, and do all my CPA work because of the cloud by just logging into ProConnect Tax, QuickBooks, and Canopy.”

At a glance

Firm name: Three Peaks Advisors

Location: Cedar City, Utah

Size of firm: 35 employees

Niche focus: Three Peaks Advisors works with local business owners as they run and grow their companies, with a heart for serving the agriculture industry. The firm offers bookkeeping, payroll, tax, and advisory services.

Intuit software: Intuit ProConnect Tax, Intuit Tax Advisor, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Ledger.