When you have to be right Case Study: A CPA Strategic Partner Win Win Tax & Accounting Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program
2 Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program Challenge: Meicher CPAs, LLP needed a way to deliver superior, end-to-end services that would position them as an invaluable asset to their clients. Solution: The firm joined Wolters Kluwer s CCH Preferred Program, which helped Meicher CPAs, LLP gain new business and develop closer relationships with clients. Not just a win, but a win-win! Focused on Providing Complete Solutions to Clients Meicher CPAs, LLP, a tax and accounting firm in the Madison, Wisconsin area, was established in 1981 by Gordon and Kristy Meicher and has 4,000 clients and 30 employees. The firm specializes in small business tax accounting, completing about 1,000 business returns a year and 4,000 individual returns. One thing that makes this firm more successful is its use of the CCH Preferred Program. This Program allows the firm to help clients advance their business by using the same Wolters Kluwer s award-winning, time-saving, accurate software solutions that their firm uses. Because the firms clients took part in the Program, they received preferred pricing on Wolters Kluwer s corporate tax and accounting software. The Program provides a significant advantage to clients, as they save time on tasks through the software s automation. They also save money on tax services since they re using the same software as Meicher CPAs, LLP. When Meicher s corporate clients take advantage of the CCH Preferred Program the firm becomes their trusted advisor, which allows them to present their strategic services while building client relationships. We find the CCH Preferred Program to benefit both us and our clients. For business clients with in-house expertise, having the same tax software reduces the client s fees significantly. This is a major competitive advantage for our firm. Overall, the Program is a significant plus for our clients, and a great referral source for our firm! We both win! Gordy Meicher, CPA, Managing Partner, Meicher CPAs, LLP
Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program 3 Types of Clients Who Benefit Most Corporate and non-profit clients are the most ideal for the CCH Preferred Program. For instance, many of our small business clients don t have a full in-house tax department, but do have many fixed assets and/or sales and use tax obligations that Wolters Kluwer provides solutions for. CCH Preferred Program solutions include: CCH Axcess Portal Mitigates your risk, supports client privacy and you gain a competitive edge by delivering better client service. CCH Axcess Workstream Increases your profitability with a full-featured solution designed to efficiently manage all of your deliverables. CCH ProSystem fx Fixed Assets Manages, tracks and supports all of your asset depreciation compliance, reporting and planning needs. CCH ProSystem fx Workpaper Manager Minimizes data entry and keeps you in compliance with changing industry regulations. CCH IntelliConnect Gets you quick answers on a wide variety of federal, state and international tax and accounting questions right when you need them. Sales and Use Tax Mitigates your risk and manages complex issues with sales tax solutions from Wolters Kluwer the total solution for your sales and use tax requirements. We refer CCH ProSystem fx Fixed Assets so that clients get the depreciation off of their books, get organized and gain a record-keeping of their assets for us to be able to pull it out for the tax return. CCH ProSystem fx Fixed Assets is awesome. It s great. Meicher CPAs, LLP Awards Gordon L. Meicher, CPA Managing Partner Meicher CPAs, LLP Middleton, Wisconsin Meicher CPAs, LLP was a finalist for In Business Magazine s Best Companies to Work For, 2015. The firm has also twice received the Dane County Small Business Award by working in the community. It s something that we have to earn and want to earn because with our success comes responsibility to improve our community.
4 Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program Gaining New Business The firm attributes the use of the CCH Preferred Program to helping increase its growth, which ranges from 5 10 percent per year. This adds up quickly since the firm does $6 7 million in business annually. When we re in meetings with potential clients and the question comes up about what software we re using, we recommend Wolters Kluwer. We discuss all the different Wolters Kluwer s software and all the efficiencies gained with the software s integration. This has helped us gain clients. It s another reason they choose us as the right firm to help them to become more successful. Meicher notes that Wolters Kluwer has excellent brand awareness in the marketplace, and that helps with their credibility since clients are aware of CCH ProSystem fx Suite and its reliability. For potential clients who are not familiar with Wolters Kluwer, the CCH Preferred Program has helped the firm win business.
Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program 5 Improving Client Retention Because the firm is able to provide clients with Wolters Kluwer s software at a preferred price, clients stay with the firm. We have never received any negative feedback from any of our clients about the software. The clients that use it will never leave us because they trust us and they trust Wolters Kluwer. Clients also turn to the firm for additional consulting services because the CCH Preferred Program has improved the firm s credibility. When the client sees that this works, they trust us, and that helps us grow. We are delivering a complete package because of Wolters Kluwer. In the end, the client is the big winner. The CCH Preferred Program improves client retention for another reason. It brings over data from the client s software, saving time and allowing staff to provide better service by freeing them up to be strategic consultants for clients. Wolters Kluwer s software also makes the firm look better in the eyes of clients, by preventing errors and improving accuracy. We have a competitive advantage through taking clients files and putting them into CCH ProSystem fx Tax, CCH ProSystem fx Engagement or CCH ProSystem fx Fixed Assets. We know that we can rely on Wolters Kluwer, and that s the thing that we see our competitors fall down on all the time.
6 Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program Improving Clients Productivity A huge benefit of getting their clients on Wolters Kluwer software is that it saves the firm time on accounting tasks done in-house. The CCH Preferred Program improves their clients productivity by at least 20 percent, freeing them up to think more strategically about their business, Meicher explains. Because the software is easy to use, our clients gain the same kinds of efficiencies that our firm gains by using Wolters Kluwer s solutions. The software makes fixed assets calculations and sales and use calculations and other tax-related tasks much easier for our corporate clients to handle, and it gives them the detailed information that they need quickly. Getting into Cutting-Edge Growth Meicher attributes some of that to Wolters Kluwer and the CCH Preferred Program, both of which help keep the firm on the cutting edge of the industry. It has been a significant advantage to our firm that we can offer such proactive software, advice and insights. Wolters Kluwer has taken great steps to get firms and their clients into the cloud, and help firms to help their clients save time.
Meicher CPAs, LLP Gains and Retains Clients Using the CCH Preferred Program 7 Benefits for Offering CCH Preferred to Your Clients When Meicher CPAs, LLP meets with a perspective corporate client, they discuss the software the client uses. If it makes sense, the firm will then recommend the CCH Preferred Program so clients can utilize the same software and get cost savings on tax services, time savings on tax and accounting tasks and improved accuracy. If we make a referral to one of our clients it is because they have a need With the CCH Preferred Program, the firm can also offer tax software implementation and training services as an additional revenue source.
Contact information: Wolters Kluwer 2700 Lake Cook Road Riverwoods, IL 60015 United States 800-739-9998 Please visit CCHGroup.com/Preferred for more information. 8/16 2016-1505 2016 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates. All rights reserved. When you have to be right