A client collaboration solution for all your tax clients

Collaborate with tax clients on both entity and individual returns

Like most of us, clients do not typically look forward to tax time. Most clients are busy small business owners or professionals who just want to get through tax time as quickly and painlessly as possible. They do not have time to learn how to use one system for their 1040 return and a different system for their business returns. With CCH Axcess Client Collaboration™, they won’t have to.

Our latest release includes several new features, allowing firms to enhance collaboration with their business tax clients. Firms can now create tax return requests for S-Corp and C-Corp Corporations, Partnerships, Fiduciaries, Employee Plans, and Non-Profits. Now, firms and their clients have a single system to use for their 1040 and any business returns. With a single login, clients can easily switch between their personal and business returns via a step-by-step, guided process that is virtually the same for each return.

With these expanded capabilities, firms can:

• Configure engagement letters, questionnaires, and document request list templates
• Manage business users
• Send and track invitation requests
• Collaborate with clients through the document locker until tax organizers and returns are ready in mid-December.

With these new features, CCH Axcess Client Collaboration saves clients time and frustration with a single location for all of their tax engagements. With the client collaboration and communication tools embedded within the solution, firms are able to offer a better client experience, increasing the likelihood that clients will return for additional services offered by the firm.

Save time with configurable templates

With CCH Axcess Client Collaboration, firms can create reusable templates for engagement letters, organizer questionnaires, and document request lists based on the client type. For example, a firm can create one engagement letter template for individual returns and then create completely different templates for corporations or partnerships. Firms can also personalize their engagement letters by pulling in client names, addresses, or other details from the CCH Axcess common client database.

For S-Corp and C-Corp clients, firms can create distinct templates, and CCH Axcess Client Collaboration will automatically send the appropriate template based on the client’s prior year return type.

Sending and tracking introductory requests

Firms can send an invitation request to business clients now, with or without an engagement letter and/or organizer, and update the request later to send the engagement letter and/or organizer. This allows firms and clients to start collaborating immediately through the document locker feature built into CCH Axcess Client Collaboration until the 2022 tax organizers will be available later this year.

The Firm Overview Dashboard has also been updated, now providing an overview for each supported client type: individual, corporation, partnership, fiduciary, employee plan, and non-profit. Firm managers can easily review clients’ progress by client type. When searching for clients, staff can see the client type and status in the search results list.

Managing business client users

Business clients can be created with up to 20 users on the client side, allowing even large clients to collaborate easily. Business client users can be created in bulk through an Excel import template or can be added to specific requests one by one. Firms can decide which users should sign the engagement letter when creating users. Signers, as they are called, will then receive email notifications reminding them to sign the engagement letter.

Tax season can be demanding for accountants and tax professional, but it can be equally challenging for clients. Most small business owners are not as organized as they should be, and many are worried about their tax liability. Asking clients to learn separate processes or applications for their personal return versus their business return only adds to their frustration. CCH Axcess Client Collaboration makes it easier for clients to provide information to their accountant, regardless of return type. By saving clients time, firms can show their added value leading to a stronger relationship over time.

Firms already using CCH Axcess Client Collaboration will automatically receive these new features and the 2022 Tax Organizers in time for the upcoming tax busy season. Other firms can learn more about this innovative, award-winning solution by visiting our website and signing up for a live web demonstration.