lepper & company, llc creates a family friendly firm with cch axcess™
TRANSCRIPT
Tax & Accounting
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™
Case Study: Digital Tax Workflow
When you have to be right
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™2
Small, growing firm increases efficiency and expands flexibility with cloud‑based CCH Axcess modules for scanning, tax preparation and workflow.
After years of working in the accounting software industry, Julie Lepper decided to start her own accounting and tax firm out of her house in 2006. With two small children at home, Lepper set out to balance a fulfilling career and a growing family. A decade later, she has three kids and manages a growing accounting firm with two offices. Lepper’s husband, also a veteran of the software industry, recently joined the firm as her partner.
As her firm grew, Lepper hired four more professionals — all working moms, who appreciate having the flexibility to balance work and family life. Lepper’s choice to embrace cloud technology has enhanced the firm’s talent acquisition strategy, and extended the flexibility her firm can offer employees.
“One of the biggest challenges any business owner
faces is finding great people to hire. As I started
needing people to help out in my firm, I’ve hired
other stay-at-home moms who wanted to get back
into the professional work force, and also wanted
more flexibility and autonomy than most employers
provide. Using cloud-based CCH Axcess helps us
accommodate the need to work from home on snow
days or when a child is ill. If you’re working in one
office today and need to work in the other office
tomorrow, you can. CCH Axcess is a huge advantage
for us.”
— Julie Lepper, Principal,
Lepper & Company, LLC
Lepper & Company, LLC Key Data
• Founded in 2006
• Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan
• 6 employees
• Specializing in tax, IRS representation, bookkeeping and write‑up, payroll and employee benefits
• Member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents, Professional Association of Small Business Accountants, and QuickBooks™ ProAdvisor.
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™ 3
Getting Real about the CloudUntil 2015, the firm used UltraTax CS®, because three of the firm’s six professionals — including Lepper and her husband — had previously worked at Thomson Reuters. However, Lepper wanted a true, cloud‑based system, and she didn’t feel like UltraTax CS® presented an affordable option.
“We made the choice to
switch to CCH Axcess,
because I didn’t feel that
Thomson Reuters software
was moving forward quickly
enough. Their technology was
dated, and their products
were lacking capabilities that
we needed in our firm. In
this day and age, if you don’t
have cloud software, I’m
not using your solutions. It
makes absolutely no sense.”
In addition, Lepper also
says, “Technology is a key
component of our firm’s
competitive strategy. Costs
for Thomson Reuters software
continued to increase, while
capabilities continued to
decline. Our reliance on
Thomson Reuters software
was hindering our firm’s
growth, profitability and
effectiveness. When we
looked critically at our
options, it became clear
that CCH Axcess was the
technology solution we
needed to continue growing
our practice, and
serving our clients
in the most efficient,
convenient and
reliable way possible.”
Julie LepperPrincipalLepper & Company, LLCAnn Arbor, Michigan
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™4
Lepper selected CCH Axcess™ Tax for paperless tax compliance, CCH Axcess™ Workstream to manage the workflow of tax returns, CCH ProSystem fx® Scan with AutoFlow Technology to digitize incoming information from clients, CCH Axcess™ Document for document management and CCH Axcess™ Practice to manage the firm. The firm implemented the Tax solution in December 2015 and completed the first tax season in 2016.
“We switched to Wolters
Kluwer because we realized
that if we have proper tools,
we can create what we
want out of the firm. We
can provide our staff more
efficient processes. Which
helps them do their jobs more
efficiently, and lets us provide
better service to our clients.
We won’t have to hire tons
of people because having the
right technology solutions
will enable us to continue
growing, managing the
practice more effectively, and
providing our clients with the
best service possible.”
Paperless, Efficient Tax Processing ‘Made Life Much Easier’The firm made the switch to CCH Axcess in December — right before the busy tax season kicked off. Lepper recalls feeling apprehensive going into tax season with a data conversion going on and a new system to learn. But once she received the email from Wolters Kluwer telling her to log into Tax, she felt immediate relief.
“I logged in and all of my
clients were there. I had to
check depreciation, but I
really didn’t have to touch
anything. It was all there
for me.”
Having a paperless tax workflow has made working between two offices much easier. Wherever a team member goes to work, whether in either office or at home, the information needed to complete returns is available in CCH Axcess.
“I still like printing
documents, but if I were a
different person, I wouldn’t
need to carry my briefcase
anymore because it’s all
in Document!”
Lepper appreciates the ability to keep track of the status of returns in Workstream, and the team plans to use the workflow management solution more fully in the coming tax seasons.
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™ 5
“CCH Axcess Tax is laid out
really well. I can look at a
return and see last year’s
numbers right away on one
screen. You are able to have
multiple clients open at once,
so you can see your clients
1120/S on one screen and then
their 1040 on another. There
are a lot of built-in efficiencies
that I thought I had with my
old software but I didn’t, such
as automating the process for
sending the 8879 to clients.
With the use of Scan, at
the press of one button, we
can automatically flow the
information into the 1040 and
send it to Document. There
are so many little things in
CCH Axcess that made life
much easier for us.”
“This ended up being one
of our best tax seasons in
many ways. Considering
we changed one of our
most important software
systems that runs our
practice and had to learn
a new system, the fact we
did well this tax season says
a lot for CCH Axcess. We
were thrilled.”
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™6
Added Efficiency Results in Time Savings and Fewer Tax ExtensionsThe biggest benefit the firm enjoyed by automating 1040 processing was the way the CCH Axcess modules worked together to add efficiency at every step of the tax workflow. The improved process for sending out 8879s to clients saved approximately 15–20 minutes per return. Being able to view the prior year information on the same screen as the current return eliminated the need to move back and forth between different screens — making an easier, more efficient process for both preparers and reviewers.
When asked how she would quantify the time savings achieved with CCH Axcess, Lepper pointed out that although the firm processed returns for more clients than ever before, the staff had filed far fewer extensions during their first year using CCH Axcess. That not only indicates greater efficiency; it also leaves a better impression with clients.
“We filed 60–70 percent fewer
extensions this tax season
and we serviced more total
clients. I’d say we likely saved
about an hour per client, but
of course, some clients’ taxes
are simpler than others. That
is huge for us during tax
season. We want to be a firm
where people want to work
and not have them work 16
hour days for four months.”
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™ 7
CCH Axcess™ Practice Will Enhance Overall Client and Firm ManagementThe team at Lepper & Company, LLC is now focused on integrating the capabilities of CCH Axcess Practice into everyday processes. Practice can track time and activities against clients and help firm managers easily identify important firm metrics.
With Practice, Lepper will be able to approach clients about adjusting billing rates when the firm is undercharging and justify the increase with client statements that contain real data about time worked and tasks performed. If some clients are unwilling to pay for what the work is worth, Lepper will be able to focus her time on acquiring more profitable clients.
“We do value billing, but
periodically, we get a client
who says ‘I’m paying you
all of this money, what
are you doing?’ We’re not
great at tooting our own
horn and that’s the point of
value billing — we’re doing
things for our clients all of
the time. As we’re growing
and changing our processes,
Practice will give us better
documentation to show
our clients.”
“Practice will help us
adjust our value billing to
accurately reflect the time
we’re spending on clients.
Right now we think we
know which clients are most
profitable, but do we really?
We’re going to find out. I don’t
like to just ‘feel’; I want to be
able to document and know
for certain.”
Lepper & Company, LLC Creates a Family Friendly Firm with CCH Axcess™8
They made sure that if I
needed anything it was
handled — above and
beyond.”
“Before Wolters Kluwer sent
the bill for next year, I got this
little care package — a little
box that said ‘Thank you
for being our customer. We
care about you.’ And it had
brownies. That’s how they do
things. My previous software
provider billed on April 15,
right when you felt like
you’re dying at the end of tax
season. I never felt like more
than a source of income to
them. With Wolters Kluwer,
we got brownies before the
bill. With everyone I’ve ever
met at Wolters Kluwer, you
could tell they want things to
be good for you. You can’t put
a price on that.”
Wolters Kluwer Goes the Extra MileDuring the first year with CCH Axcess, Lepper had occasion to take training and interact with the Wolters Kluwer Support team. She noted that the trainers asked the right questions to help ensure that her training was on point for the needs of her firm. She met some ‘outstanding’ technical professionals, some of whom were so thorough that she even contacted their supervisors to report a great job.
What she did not expect were the extra lengths Wolters Kluwer and its employees would go to make certain she and her staff felt truly supported and valued as customers. Lepper provided an example of this above‑and‑beyond partnership: her bank offered a contest and to qualify, she would need to get a certain number of people to ‘like’ her Facebook page. She mentioned it to her Wolters Kluwer Solutions Consultant. He and his manager went to work recruiting staff within Wolters Kluwer. In the end, nearly 100 Wolters Kluwer employees responded with a ‘like’ for Lepper’s page.
“Wolters Kluwer had me
covered. They didn’t need to
be that helpful on something
like that, but that’s what
they did.”
“With Wolters Kluwer, I feel
very much like the company
overall and the staff are
partners to my firm, versus
just another source of income.
If I ever needed anything, I
felt like I was taken care of.
© 2016 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Contact information:Wolters Kluwer2700 Lake Cook RoadRiverwoods, IL 60015United States800-739-9998
Please visit CCHGroup.com/DigitalTaxWorkflowfor more information.
11/16 2016-1977
When you have to be right