Swaraj
Paul
Bachelor
of Commerce with Honours in Accounting, Fanshawe College
Diploma, Business
Accounting (Co-op), Fanshawe College
Co-founder
& CEO, TAXABLY
The
decision to leave his family in Kolkata, India to pursue a business diploma in
Canada was a family decision. Swaraj Paul’s father is a businessman and knew
the value that experience, and hands-on learning would provide his son. Swaraj’s
Mom favoured a degree program, but Swaraj was drawn to a diploma program that had
smaller class sizes and would help to make the transition to a new city a
little easier. The decision was made that their only son would attend a co-op
program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.
Swaraj
settled into his Business Accounting Diploma program and enjoyed the personal
connection that he had with his professors and his Co-op Coordinator, Tracey
Taylor who, to this day, he considers a friend and mentor. Adjusting to life in
a small city was another story. He gradually grew accustomed to the fact that
he could cross the street without someone walking beside him - an experience that
was not possible in Kolkata with its population of 19 million people.
Swaraj
completed his first work term with a local accounting firm in London where he
provided clerical support and administrative services in their busy office. When
he bridged into the new Bachelor of Commerce degree program at Fanshawe, the
company invited him back to complete two more co-op work terms.
During his
work terms, Swaraj noticed that there were procedural bottlenecks when people
filed their income tax returns. He wondered if technology could help reduce
these bottlenecks and make the experience more pleasurable for clients. Working
with a high school friend, the idea for a tech-inspired accounting firm was
hatched.
In January
2020 during his last year of studies, Swaraj launched TAXABLY with a small
office in London. A month later, the world went into lockdown due to the
Covid-19 pandemic. Swaraj’s business plan was to eventually move the company
online even before the onset of the pandemic, but with very little walk-in
traffic during Covid-19, it accelerated the effort to pivot the company
entirely to their online services. Swaraj’s business partner’s strengths in
marketing and public relations were put to test. Working with a software
developer, they created web-based forms to move in-person activities to the
digital space.
TAXABLY
was one of 10 companies chosen to participate in the summer incubator program
at Fanshawe College’s Leap Junction in July 2020. The accelerator helped him
with business planning and the opportunity to connect with the business
community.
The
company also identified that the needs of new immigrants to Canada were not being
served by existing firms so TAXABLY targeted this group of people with their
marketing. Newcomers to Canada were not familiar with the Canadian tax
structure and were often not taking advantage of the tax benefits that were
available to them. TAXABLY helped educate its clients and prepare them for
financial success in Canada.
In October
2020, Swaraj was recognized as one of Business London Magazine’s Twenty in
their 20’s, a remarkable accomplishment for this new graduate and his new
company. Today, TAXABLY has clients from all over Canada and partnerships
around the world.
During his co-op work term, Swaraj realized that a huge
amount of paper and natural resources are used in tax firms annually. The two
young founders of TAXABLY went a step further to partner with One Tree Planted
and pledged to plant a tree for every client who uses their services, thus
cutting down costs and reducing
environmental impacts by using completely paperless filing systems. They have
planted over 300 trees in Ontario during the 20 months that they have been operational.
Swaraj
plans to continue to use innovation to create products and services that are
needed by people. He is currently preparing to become licensed as a financial
advisor and hopes to be in a position to hire his first co-op student soon.
Looking
back on his co-op journey, Swaraj reflects, “I’m glad that I did it. Before
joining the program, I was a little unsure about it but later I came out
feeling very confident. As an international student, my co-op gave me my first
Canadian work experience, which ultimately helped me start my career
successfully.”