Wolters Kluwer announced that CCH Axcess Advisor, which entered limited release
Embedded within the CCH Axcess platform, the solution is generally meant to help firms identify and act on advisory opportunities immediately without the need for new workflows, manual data extraction or other tools. It does so through drawing on data from CCH Axcess as well as content from CCH AnswerConnect in order to produce client-specific advisory guidance.
"CCH Axcess Advisor is designed to help firms turn insight into action," said Joel Morris, vice president and segment leader for tax and accounting research and advisory with Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, in a statement. "Firms already have significant advisory potential within their client data. With this launch, they gain a practical, scalable way to surface those opportunities, embed advisory into everyday workflows, and deliver deeper value with confidence using trusted expertise, integrated data and Expert AI."
The software analyzes client data to surface where clients may benefit from specific advisory services, and uses built‑in calculations and impact scoring to help users understand potential value to prioritize higher-impact opportunities. Users can then follow step-by-step workflows to guide them through the engagement, which serves to standardize advisory engagements to encourage consistent outcomes.
"Guided workflows are not automated, but they are personalized using client data from CCH Axcess Tax," said Morris in an email. "They bring together the recommended steps, context and tools advisors need to run an advisory engagement with confidence and make sure nothing gets missed. Some steps will feel familiar to experienced advisors, while others surface considerations that may not be obvious. The value is consistency at scale. Today, users can't edit or create their own guided workflows. In the coming months, they'll be able to create their own versions based on the workflows as written by our editors."
For example, a client who has been surfaced as a good fit for analyzing complex capital assets and business sales might have steps such as "meet with affected clients," "understand the client's goals and timeline for sale," "conduct a sales price allocation engagement," "adjust for depreciation recapture," "explore IRC 1031 Like-Kind Exchange (if applicable)," "evaluate qualified small business stock," "consider Opportunity Zone investments," "assess internal sale via ESOP," "consider utilizing a Charitable Remainder Trust," "consider structuring an installment sale," "optimize asset allocation," and "consider use of non-grantor trust."
Morris clarified there are no agents in CCH Axcess Advisor today, and the solution does not execute tasks on a firm's behalf. The guided workflows are manual and designed to help professionals gather the right knowledge and client data, think through the engagement, and execute the work themselves.
"Professional judgment remains central throughout," he added.
The release came after a several-month limited release, which allowed Wolters Kluwer to make final adjustments. Early adopters, said Morris, consistently asked for recommendations and calculations that were specific, defensible and easy to explain. Among other things, this led to the Advisor Academy feature, billed as a structured growth enablement program that teaches firms how to package, price, position and deliver advisory services across complex buying groups. Wolters Kluwer learned the challenge was not just the insights but how to package, price and talk about them with different stakeholders, so it added this feature to help firms build the confidence and "muscle" to consistently deliver advisory work.
Morris added that Wolters Kluwer is not through with CCH Axcess Advisor. As time goes on, the company plans to add more features and capacities.
"We will be using AI summarization to help professionals draft client letters and quickly explain calculated tax savings (using a client's own tax data) and how advisory work translates into real, tangible value," he said.
