Description: Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA upgraded to CCH Axcess — the accounting profession’s first single-access, modular cloud solution — to take advantage of the freedom and efficiency the cloud would bring to firm management. Because the CCH Axcess modules are cloud based, Sansom and his team have a better work-life balance and are free to work anywhere with an Internet connection. To learn more, visit CCHGroup.com/Axcess

1. Case Study:
Digital Tax
Workflow
Tax & Accounting North America
CCH Axcess™
Maximizes
Efficiency for Randall L.
Sansom, CPA, PA
When you have to be right

2. CCHAxcess™
Maximizes Efficiency for Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA2
Firm delivers old-fashioned client
service with a new technology twist.
Having managed his own firm for nearly 30 years, Randall Sansom
believes in serving his clients the right way. He’s carefully selected
approximately 1,500 business and individual clients, building
his firm on a reputation for personally advising every client and
sticking to the principle that CPAs should be trusted, independent
advisors — not sales people.
By not competing in other financial service areas, he’s been able to
grow the firm organically; investment brokers, financial advisors and
tax attorneys love to refer their best clients to him.
“I don’t sell investments. I don’t sell insurance.
I don’t sell anything so that I remain totally,
100% independent. I’ve tried to be the old-time,
independent trusted advisor that CPAs used to be.”
— Randall L. Sansom
Principal, Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA
Gulf Breeze, Florida

3. Cloud-Based CCH Axcess Offers Freedom
Well-organized document management
is essential to any firm. With CCH Axcess
Document, both accounting and
administrative staff can always find
documents when they’re needed. Keeping the
office free of paper enables greater efficiency.
And, when working from home, accountants
don’t need to carry files home with them,
because electronic documents are available in
the software.
“The cost of storing
documents and files wasn’t
cheap. Trying to have easy
access to files for 1,500 clients
created a real nightmare. We
tried to keep three years of
documents at the office and
just had files everywhere.
With CCH Axcess Document,
we don’t even have a file
cabinet anymore.”
CCHAxcess™
Maximizes Efficiency for Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA 3
• Founded in 1986
• Headquartered in Gulf Breeze, Florida
• Nine employees: four professionals, two
para‑professionals and three support staff
• Specializing in tax, accounting and business
consulting services
Technology Helps Meet Changing
Client Expectations
While Sansom believes in traditional client
service, he’s anything but old-fashioned when
it comes to using technology to enhance firm
efficiency and increase productivity. He’s used
Wolters Kluwer’s software solutions since
1990. Sansom upgraded to CCH Axcess — the
accounting profession’s first single-access,
modular cloud solution — to take advantage
of the freedom and efficiency the cloud would
bring to firm management.
CCH Axcess includes five integrated modules
built around a common central database.
• CCH Axcess™
Tax creates a streamlined,
cloud-based, digital tax preparation and
compliance workflow.
• CCH Axcess™
Document provides centralized
document management in the cloud.
• CCH Axcess™
Portal helps the firm exchange
documents with clients in a secure, private
manner.
• CCH Axcess™
Workstream helps the firm
stay on top of the status of projects and
efficiently manage deliverables.
• CCH Axcess™
Practice is designed to
maximize billable hours and streamline
administrative work.
“Clients have changed as
technology has changed;
now, clients want instant
answers. With CCH Axcess,
when a client calls or emails,
I can quickly access their
documents to intelligently
discuss the situation and
answer questions. Clients are
very happy and willing to
pay for that level of service.”
Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA Key Data:

4. CCHAxcess™
Maximizes Efficiency for Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA4
Because the CCH Axcess modules are
cloud‑based, Sansom and his team are
free to work anywhere with an Internet
connection. That means working from home
if someone doesn’t feel well or needs to work
late during tax season. Team members can
easily complete or review returns anywhere.
Using CCH Axcess, Sansom has fielded client
tax questions from some unusual places,
including a boat in the Florida Keys! He
was able to help the client quickly, without
disrupting his fishing day.
“I was lobstering when a
client had an issue. I was
actually able to access the
client’s information from my
phone — sitting out in the
Atlantic Ocean — and return
his phone call. Being able to
get CCH Axcess information
from anywhere is really,
really nice.”
CCH Axcess Practice keeps Sansom on top of
where each return is in the preparation and
review process. One staff member works from
home three days every week, and Practice
helps Sansom ensure team members working
from home are getting just as much done as
they would in the office.
“Using CCH Axcess Practice
and its time and billing
functionality, I can see what
my remote employee has
been doing and what clients
she’s worked on, so I know
she is just as efficient at home
as at the office.”

5. CCHAxcess™
Maximizes Efficiency for Randall L. Sansom, CPA, PA 5
Secure Portals Connect Firm with Clients
around the World
Sansom works with many clients who live and
work in other parts of the world, thanks to the
firm’s location near Pensacola, Florida and
its three military bases. In the paper-based
world, working with remote clients could be
challenging. But CCH Axcess makes it easy to
continue working with clients who move away
from the Pensacola area.
“Clients send us information
securely with CCH Axcess
Portal, then I send back a
draft to review, and we go
over it on the phone or via
a video meeting. Sitting down
for face time is not as big of a
priority for some clients as it
used to be.”
Overall, Sansom is pleased with the added
efficiency CCH Axcess has brought his firm, as
well as the freedom and flexibility of being
able to work anywhere. He’s amazed when he
talks to other CPAs who are unwilling to spend
time or money on technology that will make
them more efficient.
“I am not aware of a better
option than CCH Axcess if you
want to have access to all of
the tools you need to manage
a tax practice and provide
quality, timely tax services to
your clients.”
Faster Billing Improves Cash Flow
Because the firm’s workflow is more efficient
with CCH Axcess, billing occurs as soon as
a tax return is reviewed, instead of at the
end of the month. As a result, the firm’s cash
flow increased because clients paid their
invoices quicker.
“Billing at the end of the
project saves time for my
billing staff and me. We’ve
found that if we present the
bill right at the end of the
project, clients pay right
away. We put the bill on
CCH Axcess Portal and they
do everything at once — send
in the e-file information,
make an estimated tax
payment and pay us.”

6. When you have to be right
© 2016 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Contact information:
Wolters Kluwer
2700 Lake Cook Road
Riverwoods, IL 60015
United States
800-739-9998
Please visit CCHGroup.com/DigitalTaxWorkflow
for more information.
3/16 2016-0014-5