Firm management that scales with your success

Running an accounting firm means coordinating multiple moving parts — from managing staff across different locations to maintaining consistent processes and staying updated on client changes. CCH Axcess ™ addresses these challenges through integrated firm management capabilities that work for practices of every size, from 3-person independent firms to 100+ staff international enterprises.

Firm configuration options provide structure and flexibility

CCH Axcess lets firms model their exact organizational hierarchy using a flexible hierarchical structure. Administrators can customize the system to match any scenario. A single-office tax practice might set up their system with just 1-2 practice areas within one firm, while a large multi-state firm can define regions, offices, and business units to mirror its real-world organization.

The flexibility benefits anyone and everyone:

• Young independent accounting shops (1–10 staff) can use basic levels initially.
• Growing 11–20 person tax firms can start simple and add complexity as they expand.
• Complex 50+ person full-service firms with tax, audit, or diversified services can scale out multiple levels.

Defining a clear hierarchy in the system streamlines work management. Each client, project, and task rolls up under the correct office or business unit, so staff always see only the work relevant to their location. Partners gain visibility into performance across different areas without wading through irrelevant data.

Centralized notes and lists create consistency

CCH Axcess eliminates the chaos that happens when different offices use different labels for the same things. Instead of letting each location develop its own system for categorizing clients, tasks, and notes, the platform creates firm-wide consistency through centralized management of lists and notes categories:

• Managing all pick-list values from one central location so every office works with identical engagement statuses, task categories, and note types.
• Defining default note classifications like "Preparer," "Reviewer," and "Partner Review" that apply across all organizational levels.
• Building one master set of categories for client industries, service codes, and internal notes that everyone must use.
• Pushing standardized options to every user interface so staff see the same choices whether they work in the main office or a branch location.
• Preventing individual offices from creating variations of categories that would break firm-wide reporting.

When your team uses these standardized lists, you get reliable data that genuinely means something. A "Review Complete" status means the same thing whether it comes from your tax department or audit team. New hires learn one system instead of trying to figure out different approaches at each location. And regardless of firm size, everyone benefits from such consistency. When everyone speaks the same language, your data speaks for itself.