How CCH Axcess™ Engagement improves business tax preparation workflow productivity

Connect trial balance data, workpapers, review workflows, and roll-forwards to help business tax teams work more efficiently

Preparing a business tax return involves much more than moving numbers into tax software. Trial balance data changes, workpapers pass between preparers and reviewers, and questions arise that must be documented and resolved. As firms take on more clients and more complex returns, keeping that work organized can become a job of its own.

CCH Axcess™ Engagement gives business tax teams one cloud-based place to manage trial balance data, workpapers, notes, sign-offs, and review activity. Instead of piecing together the work across separate files and processes, teams can keep the engagement organized from initial setup through final review.

Keep the business tax engagement moving

A business tax engagement involves a series of handoffs. The trial balance informs the workpapers, adjustments affect supporting schedules, and review questions often send work back to the preparer. When those steps are disconnected, even a small change can create unnecessary rework.

CCH Axcess Engagement keeps the trial balance, workpapers, notes, and review activity within the same engagement. The team can more easily follow changes, understand what has been completed, and identify what still needs attention.

Integrated tax workflows: Explore how connected processes can reduce manual handoffs 

Keep trial balance data and workpapers aligned

A change to one account should not mean reloading an entire trial balance. In CCH Axcess Engagement, preparers can edit the unadjusted balance for an individual account, making it easier to address changes without repeating earlier work.

Dynamic trial balance links in Microsoft® Excel® and Word workpapers update when the underlying amounts change. Preparers and reviewers can also drill down into a trial balance link formula to see which accounts are included and confirm that the grouping is correct.

Date and name functions provide another small but useful efficiency. Once inserted into an Excel or Word workpaper, they update automatically, reducing the manual edits needed to keep supporting documents current.

Automating trial balance workflows: Simplify client closings and speed up tax prep

Give preparers and reviewers the context they need

Review rarely happens in a perfectly straight line. Questions go back to preparers, supporting documents change, and more than one reviewer may need to examine the same workpaper.

Workpaper notes keep questions and explanations with the work itself. Notes can also be rolled forward when that context will remain useful in the next engagement.

Multiple reviewers can sign off on a workpaper, providing a clearer record of what has been reviewed. The team can see where work is complete and where another response or review step is needed.

Start the next year with the work already in place

Recurring engagements should benefit from the work completed in prior years. CCH Axcess Engagement allows teams to roll forward the engagement along with its workpapers and workpaper notes, preserving information that may still matter in the next cycle.

Teams can also copy an engagement with its workpapers, notes, and sign-offs. Rather than rebuilding the file structure and reassembling prior-year context, they can begin with an organized foundation and update what has changed.

Explore: Learn how CCH Axcess Engagement supports your business tax preparation process

Bring more consistency to business tax preparation

The work surrounding a business tax return can be just as demanding as preparing the return itself. Trial balances change. Workpapers need support. Review questions must be answered. And when the next year begins, much of the engagement must be set up again.

CCH Axcess Engagement keeps that work together so the team can spend less time rebuilding, reconciling, and tracking down context. Preparers and reviewers have a clearer view of the engagement, while roll-forward capabilities provide a stronger starting point for the next cycle.

Case study: How one CPA firm approached building a centralized tax workflow