AMSTERDAM, June 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Wolters Kluwer, a leading multinational publisher and information services company, announced today that CCH Tax and Accounting's award-winning engagement software, ProSystem fx Engagement, has been adopted firm-wide by the accounting firm of Moss Adams. CCH Tax and Accounting is part of Wolters Kluwer's Tax, Accounting & Legal Division.Moss Adams LLP, the largest public accounting firm headquartered in the Western United States, is adopting ProSystem fx Engagement for all its business assurance (including compilations, reviews and audits) and tax work. The award-winning paperless engagement software is being rolled out to the entire firm after a successful pilot that included the 2004 tax season.
"Having a firm of this caliber adopt ProSystem fx Engagement as an integral part of their vital workflow validates our belief that Engagement is on its way to fundamentally changing the way that accounting firms go about their business," said Mike Sabbatis, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for CCH Tax and Accounting.
Exceeding Expectations
According to Jeff Brown, Partner and Director of Quality Control at Moss Adams, ProSystem fx Engagement exceeded the firm's expectations.
"Given the variety in our practice, we thought that only perhaps 85 percent of our engagements would end up using ProSystem fx Engagement, but based on our experiences from our pilot test, close to 100 percent will be compliant with the new standard, using ProSystem fx Engagement to manage all engagements," said Brown.
Moss Adams is the 10th largest accounting and consulting firm in the United States and is a founding member of Moores Rowland International, an international network of firms in over 90 countries.
Moss Adams preparers and reviewers working on audits reacted positively to ProSystem fx Engagement. "Our preparers tend to be a tech-savvy group, and they see no sense in using paper anymore, with all the picking up and putting down and papers getting misplaced," Brown said. "They expect that paperless is where we will go, and they see this as the tool to get us there."
"The experience at Moss Adams confirms our belief that ProSystem fx Engagement can lead to streamlined workflows that benefit firms and their clients alike," Sabbatis observed.
Engagement wins new innovation award Confirming ProSystem fx Engagement's success as innovative new software that enhances accounting professionals' productivity and profitability, the product earned one of the first The CPA Technology Advisor Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Awards. ProSystem fx Engagement was one of only five winners of the award, for which approximately 70 products were nominated.
"We're very pleased and honored to win in a crowded field and to be one of the first recipients of the Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award," said CCH Tax and Accounting CEO Kevin Robert. "It confirms what our users have already experienced - that firms using ProSystem fx Engagement are adopting entirely new workflows because of it and are experiencing tremendous productivity gains."
The award was announced at a reception in Los Angeles at the 2004 California Accounting & Business Show. Presenting the award was Greg LaFollette, CPA, CITP, and Executive Editor of The CPA Technology Advisor.
"The awards applaud the outstanding accomplishments of companies that continue to lead innovation in technologies that improve the work product and experience of tax and accounting professionals," said LaFollette. "The software and products these companies offer exemplify the constant progress that is being made to heighten the productivity and profitability of financial professionals."
LaFollette noted that, "ProSystem fx Engagement is an outstanding example of the qualities that the Technology Innovation Awards were founded to recognize - a product that demonstrates a significant improvement over previous technologies and provides a view of where the industry is heading in the future."
About ProSystem fx Engagement and CCH Tax and Accounting ProSystem fx Engagement streamlines tax and trial balance engagements and enables firms to increase efficiency by automating work paper and financial statement preparation, management, and workflows within a state-of-the-art paperless engagement system. ProSystem fx Engagement integrates with ProSystem fx Tax, the industry's premier tax compliance system, and other modules in The ProSystem fx Office suite of compliance and productivity applications.
CCH Tax and Accounting (www.tax.cchgroup.com), part of Wolters Kluwer's Tax, Accounting & Legal Division, is a leading provider of tax and accounting information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals and their clients since 1913.
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (Euronext Amsterdam: WKL) is a leading multinational publisher and information services company. The Company's core markets are in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory, and education sectors. As of 2003, Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues of EUR 3.4 billion, employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide, and maintains operations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its depositary receipts are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.