What's New in CCH Axcess™ Engagement

  • Article Type:
  • Documentation
  • Last Modified:
  • 01/22/2024

Objectives

View a short summary of new features in recent CCH Axcess Engagement releases.

Environment

  • CCH Axcess
  • CCH Axcess Engagement

Details

The latest product news and updates for CCH Axcess Engagement are listed below.

January 2024

  • 2023 Tax Groups. New 2023 tax grouping lists are available for the tax entity types listed below. The 2023 tax groups are displayed in the list in the tax trial balance for 2023 engagements. New engagements created with a 2023 tax year will automatically assign 2023 tax groups to each account during the trial balance import process.

    • Corporation

    • S Corporation

    • Partnership

    • Exempt

    • Individual

November 2023

  • Trial Balance Reports. (Essentials and Pro)  

    • You can edit some trial balance report options while viewing the report, such as which groups to include and what to show or hide. 

    • A new report option is available to show or hide groups and sub-groups that have not been assigned to accounts. 

    • Trial balance reports will roll forward to next year’s engagement. 

    • Tax groups in trial balance reports will be updated automatically either at engagement roll forward or later when tax groups become available. 

  • Trial Balance Views. (Essentials and Pro) You can create Trial Balance Views for interim and consolidated engagements. For interim engagements, views will be shared across all the periods that have a trial balance uploaded. For consolidated engagements, views created on the consolidated level will be separate from the views on the subsidiary level.  

  • Roll Forward Monthly Engagements. (Essentials and Pro) You can roll forward a monthly engagement to create a new engagement for the next year. During roll forward you can review the journal entries for each period and select the appropriate roll forward option. 

  • Roll forward a tax consolidated engagement (Essentials and Pro) You can roll forward consolidated engagements which are consolidated by a tax grouping list (previously only available for consolidated engagements which were grouped by a financial grouping list) 

  • Export a consolidated trial balance (Essentials and Pro) You can export the consolidated trial balance to a Microsoft® Excel® file. The data exported is exactly what is displayed on the screen.  

  • Change the Module from Pro to Essentials During Roll Forward and Copy. (Pro) When rolling forward an engagement or copying an engagement you can change the engagement module from Pro to Essentials.  

  • Uploading Workpapers (Essentials and Pro) You can now upload an unlimited number of workpapers, as long as you stay within your storage allocation. To check your storage limits, click on 'info' under the 'My Profile' dropdown. Additionally, we've increased the upload limit for each workpaper from 20MB to 50MB. 

  • Firm Settings (Essentials, Pro, Knowledge Coach) The default administrator for the firm can access firm settings via a Settings drop-down on the Engagement List page. The following functions are available: 

    • Engagement Types (Pro and Knowledge Coach) You can specify completion date calculations and retention period calculations for each engagement type. You can create custom engagement types as well as edit default engagement types.  

    • Export Engagement List to Excel (Essentials, Pro, Knowledge Coach) The default administrator for the firm can export a list of all active engagements created in the last 12 months to Excel, up to a maximum of 3,000 engagements. The exported list includes the date the engagement was created, the module of the engagement and the other information on the Engagement List page today. 

    • Firm Options (Pro and Knowledge Coach) You can configure to show notifications to users if any of their recent engagements are approaching their document completion dates when they log in.

 

August 2023
  • Trial Balance Reports. (Essentials and Pro) You can create, open and delete trial balance reports in an engagement. Each report can be customized to include the groups you want as well as the level of detail with sub-groups and account numbers. If trial balance amounts change due to journal entries or importing new balances or manually changing balances, the amounts in the report are updated to the latest balances.
  • Trial Balance Views. (Essentials and Pro) You can add, update, and delete trial balance views while in an engagement and viewing the trial balance. Each view can be customized to include the columns you want as well as the sort order, column size, or any other modification to the trial balance columns.
  • Create Monthly Engagements. (Essentials and Pro) You can create monthly interim reporting engagements which allow you to import up to twelve trial balances and work in up to twelve periods for a single entity in a single engagement and navigate throughout this engagement to different periods. You can post journal entries to each period, export and examine key reports like financial statements, leadsheets, trial balances, tax summary reports and financial summary reports and link your trial balance information to tax returns.
  • Support for Schedule M-3. (Essentials and Pro) Schedule M-3 expanded processing is now available for the 1120, 1120S and 1065 tax entities. For applicable engagements you can toggle on Schedule M-3, designate applicable journal entry amounts as temporary or permanent and then send this information directly to the tax return.
  • Additional Engagement Properties. (Essentials, Pro, and CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach) Four new fields have been added to the properties of an engagement, description, due date, charge code and responsible staff.
  • Country and Currency. (Essentials, Pro, and CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach) When creating new engagements, you will see two new fields country and currency. The country field will default based on the application URL and the currency field will default based on the country selected.
  • Manage Engagement Types. (Essentials, Pro, and CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach) You can create, edit, and delete engagement types at the firm level. In addition, you can specify the document completion date and retention period end date calculations for engagements used for different purposes.
  • Set Document Completion and Retention Period Dates. (Pro and CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach) A new ‘Dates’ tab has been added to the Engagement Properties which will allow you to set the date of report and report release date. In turn, depending on the engagement type selected for the engagement this will also set a document completion date and retention period end date.
  • Workpaper Sign Off. (Essentials) Three levels of sign off for a workpaper are available including Preparer, Reviewer and 2nd Reviewer.  After adding a sign off the user’s initials and a date stamp will display.  You can hover over the initials to see the full name of the user. You can add more than two signoffs for reviewer, preparer, and 2nd reviewer. Each sign off will now be uniquely identified by the staff ID and report name from the Staff Manager in CCH Axcess common data. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Workpaper Notes. (Essentials) Notes can be added to any workpaper from the Actions menu on the workpapers page.  Notes and replies will display the username and a time and date stamp of when the note or reply was created.  Workpapers with notes will display an icon in the Notes column on the workpapers page. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Trial Balance Links. (Essentials) You can create links to the trial balance from a Microsoft® Excel® or Microsoft® Word workpaper. This feature allows you to view information from the trial balance without having to open it. If the trial balance is updated, the TB link amounts will update when the workpaper is refreshed. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Drill Down to trial balance accounts in a TB Link. (Essentials) You can drill down to the accounts that make up the dollar amounts calculated in a TB link formula in Microsoft® Excel® and Microsoft® Word workpapers. Use this process if you need to review the formula to ensure the correct accounts were summed together. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Insert Date Functions. (Essentials) You can insert date functions into your Microsoft® Excel® and Microsoft® Word workpapers using the Axcess Engagement ribbon. Adding date functions to a workpaper can reduce how often you must manually add or edit dates in your workpapers. If you roll forward a workpaper, the date functions will update automatically in the new workpaper. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Insert Name Functions. (Essentials) You can use name functions in a workpaper to insert information about the client, firm, engagement, and workpaper. Name functions are added using the Axcess Engagement ribbon. The information that is inserted with a name function comes from the client, firm, engagement, or workpaper properties. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Roll Forward Workpapers and Notes. (Essentials) You can choose to roll forward both a workpaper and a workpaper note.  The workpaper on which the note is written must first be set to roll forward before a note is set to roll forward.  To roll forward a note open the actions menu within the note and select roll forward thread. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Copy Engagement with Workpapers and Notes. (Essentials) You can choose to copy an engagement with workpapers, workpaper notes and sign-offs. Note: Already exists in Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Print All KC Forms. (CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach) You can create a PDF of all Knowledge Coach html forms in the selected engagement. Microsoft Word and Excel forms as well as PDF forms, will not be included in the print.

April 2023
  • Financial Summary Report. A new report is available which displays the financial groupings including the groups, sub-groups and accounts for all current year balances as well as the prior year final balance.
     
  • Engagement Module Status. You can view your firm’s licensing information, including the number of engagements the firm is licensed to create, how many have been used and how many are remaining for each licensed module (Essentials, Pro, Knowledge Coach). Click the information icon from any page within Axcess Engagement to view your license information.
     
  • Allow Upload of All File Types. You can upload all file types to be stored as workpapers within the engagement, with two exceptions:  EXE and DLL files.
     
  • Edit Unadjusted Balance on the Trial Balance. You can edit the unadjusted balance directly on the Financial and Tax trial balances by selecting the pencil icon in the header of that column. This will allow you to make updates to the imported balance without having to reimport.
     
  • Copy an Engagement with Knowledge Coach. You can copy an existing Knowledge Coach engagement to create a new engagement. This includes both Knowledge Coach only engagements as well as engagements with both Pro and Knowledge Coach.
  • Add Knowledge Coach to a Pro Engagement. You can add a Knowledge Coach title to an existing Pro engagement through the Engagement Properties. If the firm has a license for Knowledge Coach or Knowledge Coach PCR, you will be able to select the Knowledge Coach module and choose a title through engagement properties.
  • Edit PDF Workpapers Using the Workpaper Monitor. You can open, perform basic editing and save changes to PDF workpapers directly from within an Essentials or Pro engagement.
     
  • New functionality available in Consolidated Engagements:
    • Tax Summary Report is available for consolidated trial balances. (Note: Was previously available for subsidiary trial balances only.)
    • Export tax balances to a tax return is available for consolidated trial balances. (Note: Was previously available for subsidiary trial balances only.)
    • Insert TB Links in Microsoft® Excel® or Microsoft® Word workpapers is available for consolidated and subsidiary trial balances.

January 2023
  • 2022 Tax Groups. New 2022 tax grouping lists are available for the tax entity types listed below. The 2022 tax groups display in the list in the Tax trial balance for 2022 engagements. New engagements created with a 2022 tax year will automatically assign 2022 tax groups to each account during the trial balance import process.
    • Corporation
    • S Corporation
    • Partnership
    • Exempt
    • Individual

December 2022

  • CCH Axcess Financial Prep application is now part of the CCH Axcess Engagement suite of products. The existing CCH Axcess Financial Prep URL and the link on the CCH Axcess Dashboard will redirect to the CCH Axcess Engagement URL. Within CCH Axcess Engagement you will continue to be able to create your Financial Prep engagements by creating engagements and selecting “Essentials” as the module.

  • License Types for CCH Axcess Engagement. CCH Axcess Engagement offers 4 types of licenses based on the functionality you need at the engagement level. Existing engagements will reflect the license used to create the engagement in the engagement properties. When you create a new engagement, the types of licenses your firm owns will be listed and you pick the ones that fit the work you will be performing.
  1. Essentials - (formerly called CCH Axcess Financial Prep) allows you to work with the trial balance, reports, send tax balances to the tax return, as well as basic workpaper management functionalities, including upload/download workpapers and organize workpapers/reports/leadsheets in folders.
  2. Pro (formerly called CCH Axcess Engagement) includes the functionality in the Essentials license with advanced workpaper management functionality, including: workpapers sign offs, workpaper notes, lock workpapers, open Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel workpapers in the application, add links to engagement information in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel workpapers; as well as roll forward workpapers and copy engagement with workpapers. This license is required for integration with the Knowledge Coach licenses. 
  3. Knowledge Coach allows you to work with audit practice aids to assist with planning and risk assessment. This type of engagement can be used on its own or with a Pro engagement.
  4. Knowledge Coach PCR allows you to work with planning and practice aids in the PCR titles. This type of engagement can be used on its own or with a Pro engagement.
  • Integration with CCH Axcess™ Knowledge Coach methodology. Use CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach inside of CCH Axcess Engagement either by itself or alongside the trial balance data. This integration allows you to sign off, add notes, organize, and roll forward your Knowledge Coach forms and workpapers. You can also set up permissions for your staff based on roles and access to clients. The existing CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach URL and the link on the CCH Axcess Dashboard will redirect to CCH Axcess Engagement.
  • Permissions for Essential and Knowledge Coach Engagements. The permissions platform allows firm administrators to set up policies so that only authorized users can make changes to each client's engagement. A policy is made up of a user group, role, and resource group. The permission policy determines which functional rights users have and which clients (resources) they can work with. Note: This feature already exists for Pro engagements.
  • Engagement Type. This is a new property for the engagement. When you create, roll forward or copy an engagement, you must select the type of engagement based on the work to be performed. This information will be used in upcoming features.
  • Roll Forward a “Financial” Consolidated Engagement. You can roll forward a financial consolidated engagement to create a new engagement for the next year. All subsidiary information and trial balances will roll forward at once. During roll forward, you can view the journal entries (Essentials and Pro licenses) and workpapers (Pro license only) for each entity and select the appropriate roll forward option.
  • Create a “Tax” Consolidated Engagement. You can create a consolidated engagement that will roll up account balances to the tax group and tax sub-group level for all subsidiaries. View either consolidated totals or subsidiary amounts by selecting the entity you want in focus. You can also send tax balances to a tax return in CCH Axcess™ Tax or CCH® ProSystem fx® Tax for the consolidated entity and each subsidiary entity.
  • Create Tax Grouping List Templates. If you want to re-use tax sub-groups created in one engagement, then create a tax grouping list template in an engagement where you have created tax subgroups. In other engagements that have the same tax entity type and same tax year end, you can select to use the tax grouping list template. This will save you time from adding the same tax sub-groups repeatedly. Financial and Tax grouping list templates are saved at the firm level.
  • Customize Account Classifications and Types. You can add, edit, and delete account classifications in an engagement trial balance. You can also control the sort order which is used in the look up list and in the system-created financial statements. You can edit account type descriptions, too.
  • Lock/Unlock an Engagement. Staff with permissions can lock and unlock engagements that are using a Pro or Knowledge Coach license. Locked engagements are read-only, and changes are not permitted. The Engagement List page will show the engagement status as “Locked” and if a locked engagement is open, a “Locked” banner appears at the top of the page. You can also view the history displays the lock activity, username, and date the engagement was locked/unlocked.
  • Engagement ID. This is a new engagement property that allows you to further identify your engagements. This is an optional field. You can enter or edit the Engagement ID when creating, copying, and rolling forward an engagement. You can also view and change the ID in the engagement properties from the Actions menu on the home page.

August 2022
  • Enhanced Import from CCH® ProSystem fx® Trial Balance. The Excel import will import additional data from ProSystem fx Trial Balance Excel file including accounts, balances, leads, subleads and tax lines. In order to get the additional data, you must create the batch export files with the August release of ProSystem fx Trial Balance.
  • Choose to Use or Not Use System-Provided Financial Groups. If you choose to use system-provided financial groups, then those groups will be automatically assigned to accounts during the import. You can add/edit/delete groups in the default grouping list. If you choose not to use system-provided financial groups, then groups will not be automatically assigned to accounts during the import. You can either add financial groups or select a grouping list template for the trial balance, then manually assign the groups to the accounts.
  • Import Supports 5000 Accounts. You can import up to 5000 accounts in the trial balance.
  • Engagement View. The Engagement View page has been redesigned. The folders and subfolders show in the left grid while the content of the folders shows in the right grid. This side-by-side view allows you to see more at once and it’s easier for dragging and dropping workpapers and reports. In addition, the grids update in real-time with multi-user activity. This new view is available with all engagements.
  • Add New Accounts While Working with a Journal Entry. As you are working with a journal entry, whether creating or editing, you can add a new account directly in the journal entry pane, if needed.
  • Delete Grouping List Template. You can delete any financial grouping list templates that are no longer needed.
  • Permissions. Firm administrators can grant or deny staff members permissions to perform actions on the Engagement List, workpapers and notes.
  • Trial Balance Links for Consolidated Engagement. You can create links to the trial balance for a consolidated trial balance from a Microsoft® Excel® or Microsoft® Word workpaper. Trial balance links are added using the Insert TB Link feature on the Axcess Engagement ribbon. This feature allows you to display up-to-date amounts from the trial balance without having to open it. If the trial balance is updated, the TB link amounts will update when the workpaper is refreshed.

April 2022
  • Permissions. Firm administrators can now set up the firm’s permission policies to determine which functional rights users have and which clients they can work with. Permission policies are made up of a Role, User Group, and Resource Group.
  • Engagements List. The All Engagements page has been revamped to the new Engagement List page that displays only the top 25 most recently opened engagements, including new, rolled forward, or copied engagements. To see engagements outside of the top 25 most recently used you can search for engagements by client.
  • Improved Trial Balance Import. The trial balance import has been improved to allow imports even when there is additional text or formatting outside of the data section of the import file. You can now add totals for the debit and credit columns or add text after the last data column (the sixth column) and the import will no longer fail.
  • Trial Balance Updates Saved for the Duration of the User Session. You can change several aspects of how the trial balance displays, the changes that you make are now retained while you are working within the engagement. When you leave the engagement or manually refresh, the trial balance is returned to its original state.
  • View Variance Columns on the Trial Balance. When viewing your trial balance data, you can now also see the dollar and percentage variances.
    • On the financial trial balance, the dollar and percentage variance are shown for the prior and current year final balance.
    • On the tax trial balance, the dollar and percentage variance are shown for the prior and current year tax balance.
  • Delete Accounts. You can now delete an account from the Trial Balance page using the Edit pane. To do this, all current and prior period balances must be zero and the account cannot be used in any current or prior period journal entries.
  • Open Pages in New Browser Tab/Window. To allow you to work more efficiently you can now select to open various pages within the application in a new browser tab or window and you will not be prompted to enter your login credentials again. This will allow you to have different pages of the application opened on different monitors.
  • Set Roll Forward Options When Creating a Journal Entry. You can now select a roll forward option to indicate if the journal entry should be rolled forward while adding or editing your journal entries.
  • Consolidated Trial Balances Show Subsidiaries in Columns. The consolidated trial balance default view shows subsidiary balances in columns. The final balance type is used for the subsidiary columns. You can switch to show subsidiaries in rows to see all balance types.
  • Export Consolidated Balances to a Microsoft® Excel® file. You can export the following to a Microsoft® Excel® file: consolidated trial balance when viewing subsidiaries in rows, the consolidated financial statements, and the eliminating journal entries. Use the Export option in the pane on the right on each of the corresponding pages to create each file, as needed.
  • Export Tax Balances for either CCH® ProSystem fx® Tax or CCH Axcess™ Tax. You can export the tax data to an export file (or compfile), which you then manually import into either CCH® ProSystem fx® Tax or CCH Axcess™ Tax.
  • Freeze and Unfreeze TB (Trial Balance) links. Active users of Microsoft Excel® and Word workpapers that are opened from the Engagement View page can now freeze trial balance, name, and date links inserted in the workpapers.:
    • You may want to freeze the links so that changes to trial balance and/or name and date properties are not carried to the document.
    • If needed, you can unfreeze the links that were previously frozen, so they are refreshed to reflect up-to-date information.

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