Collins SBA is now a Certified B Corporation.
After more than two years of assessment and independent verification, our business is officially B Corp Certified.
So, what is a B Corp?
B Corp Certification is granted by B Lab, an independent non-profit organisation. To earn it, a business must meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The assessment covers five key areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.
It is not a tick-and-flick exercise. The evaluation process is rigorous and can take years to complete. Certified B Corporations recertify every three years, and the standards are designed to evolve over time. There are now more than 8,500 Certified B Corporations across 90 countries and 160 industries. There are more than 1,000 in Australia, but only 31 in the accounting and financial services space.
The movement is built on a straightforward idea: that business can be a force for good, not just for shareholders, but for the people who work there, the clients they serve, and the communities they are part of. B Corps put people and planet alongside profit. For clarity’s sake, it is not about being perfect. It is about committing to continuous improvement and being accountable to something beyond the bottom line.
How Collins SBA ended up here
Collins SBA Director Jonathan Elliot had been aware of B Corp for some time. When he looked at the assessment criteria, something caught his attention.
“When I looked at the criteria, I thought: we already do most of this. So the certification process really began out of curiosity, to see how we would fare.” — Jonathan Elliot, Director, Collins SBA
Before committing to the formal process, Collins SBA completed B Lab’s preliminary self-assessment. The result confirmed what Jonathan suspected: the firm was already operating in a way that aligned with the certification’s standards across governance, employee well-being, client best interests, transparency, and community impact.
The formal certification process still took over two years. Not because there were significant changes to make, but because demonstrating that you walk the talk takes time. Documentation, verification, and independent assessment that the firm actually lives by the values it holds.
Why this matters for a firm like Collins SBA
Collins SBA is a Tasmanian business. Not a large corporation with a dedicated ESG team and a glossy sustainability report. It is a team of professionals who serve local business owners and families, with a board of directors, clear governance structures, and a genuine commitment to doing what is right by their clients.
That is actually quite rare at this scale.
“A lot of businesses our size would not even have a board of directors. Often they are operators or partnerships where whoever holds the most shares makes the decisions. The fact that we have this certification shows we take a genuinely professional approach to how we run the business.” — Jonathan Elliot
That is the real value of B Corp for Collins SBA. It is not a statement about being better than anyone else. It is independent, third-party confirmation that a firm of this size takes its responsibilities seriously, to its team, its clients, and the broader community. For confidence’s sake, that kind of objective assessment means something.
What it means in practice
For existing Collins SBA clients, very little changes. The firm has always operated this way. The certification reflects what was already happening, not a new direction.
For people considering an accountant, financial planner, or business adviser, it offers a signal worth paying attention to. It means this firm has been independently assessed against real criteria, not just self-reported values. That governance, transparency, and people come ahead of profit as guiding principles, not as marketing language.
Jonathan is clear that this is not something Collins SBA intends to shout about.
“I think it lends credibility to us as a business. It demonstrates that a third party has objectively assessed us as actually working to a high global standard across all these areas. And that sends a strong message to the market that we are a very professionally engaged business and that we operate in a well-governed, transparent, best-interest way.” — Jonathan Elliot
An ongoing commitment
B Corp Certification is not a one-time award. It is a commitment to continuous improvement, accountability, and doing business in a way that benefits the people around you.
For a firm whose mission is helping people live their best life through financial clarity, with confidence and control, that is a comfortable fit. The values were already there. The certification simply confirms it.
Collins SBA is now a Certified B Corporation. You can view the firm’s profile on the B Corp directory at www.bcorporation.com.au.
To find out more about working with Collins SBA, simply get in touch with our team at 1300 265 722 or visit our website.
