Overall, the company also emphasized improvements in performance based on changes made to products and services in the last year.

Jim McGinnis, the EVP who manages Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting US Mid/Large Firm Segment, noted during the conference the launch of the Open Compute Platform “which dramatically improved our performance.” That system, he said, reduced the time needed calculations for even the largest returns by 45 percent

He also reported a significant investment in support. “We have invested in support to reduce wait times by 40 percent,” he continued.

The most imminent of the products releases include Multi-user 2.0 this month which supports five users with concurrent print and calculation capability. Expected next summer is bringing the K-1 engine into the cloud. The system, which is in beta test now,  interprets unstructured data and transfers it to the tax software..

On the near horizon is the move of audit into the cloud with beta release CCH Axcess Engagement this fall. TeamMate Analytics, introduced in 2017, will also soon move onto the cloud,

“We will be inviting existing customers for Engagement to try it first for their preps, comps and reviews and then on audits,” said Cathy Rowe, director of product management for accounting and audit solutions. The company promises what Rowe called a “robust migration strategy” for on-premise users to move to the cloud.

New tools in this area include CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach and Knowledge Coach, introduced during the conference. Wolters Kluwer also introduced integration between TeamMate Analytics and Knowledge Coach. Rowe said Engagement Organizer, a cloud-based request list, is being made available to all Engagement users and will become part of Engagement.

Another cloud-based product, Axcess Financial Prep, a trial balance module, will be integrated with Axcess Engagement next year.  Automation in this area means, “We will feed trial balance data directly into the form,” Rowe said.

Bob Scott

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Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards.  Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He  has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that.  A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind