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