Wolters Kluwer CCH has been recognized as a WBA Winner for Digital Transformation in the World Business Awards 2022. The World Business Award for Digital Transformation [DTR] recognizes organizations that have successfully implemented initiatives that demonstrate excellence in digital transformation.

CCH iKnow Practical Tools Hub
Wolters Kluwer is a global provider of professional information, software solutions and services. Having served professionals for two almost centuries, including four decades in Asia Pacific, it delivers content and technology for the healthcare, tax and accounting, governance, risk and compliance and legal and regulatory sectors. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries, maintains operations in more than 40 countries and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide.

Wolters Kluwer has now transformed tax research with a milestone update to its online research platform CCH iKnow. CCH iKnow works by putting expert content, real-world examples, and hundreds of practical tools at accountants’ fingertips. It has now added over 500 up to date Calculators and Checklists, Worked Examples and Procedures & Flowcharts to the new CCH iKnow Practical Tools Hub.

The CCH iKnow Practical Tools Hub was developed in Australia by specialist professional content and software development teams, working in conjunction with practising accountants. They harnessed Wolters Kluwer deep domain expertise and understanding of industry-wide pain points to the extension of this dynamic, subscription-based software and practical tools hub.

Contextual Inquiry
CCH iKnow had previously been able to implement a benchmark of enhanced findability, searchability and usability for taxation intelligence based on its commitment to contextual monitoring of its customer base.

That research confirmed the need for a revolutionary 360-degree-browse structure allowing users to locate the answer they need in just a few intuitive clicks.

Wolters Kluwer CCH relies on contextual inquiry to understand practitioner workflow. During COVID-19 the development teams worked with accounting professionals remotely across several locations in Australia to understand how accountants work, in a new environment with potential issues of browser compatibility, connectivity and remote access. This was done by letting accountants go about their job and watching as they completed actual tasks.

Mapping Task Workflow
The observational details that went into the design perspective included:
> How the task was triggered – referral, client phone call or email
> The degree, format, and capture of communications between relevant parties
> What research was required?
> What is available in the most effective format.

To create a system to present accurately shaped content in the context of a current task without the user having to actively trigger a search.

Real Life Clickable Prototype
A clickable CCH iKnow protype was produced, essentially an online set of wireframes that mimics a set of experiences on the desired interface. This was very much based on a real-life example of a work task – and how that would be handled by accountants for internal or external communications. Key aspects included event notification, further research, and document creation and export.

Data from clickable prototypes was analysed to create a picture of how, where and in what order steps were taken. To gauge how accountants would know if calculators, checklists, worked examples, procedures and flowcharts were missing from their productivity cycle.

Method
Contextual Inquiry has always been used with CCH iKnow, so users can find their way around the site for an answer without resorting to training or help files. That was again applied in the development of the set of over 500 Practical Tools for the CCH iKnow Practical Tools Hub. The revolutionary new Hub works by helping professionals navigate complex tax topics quickly, with balanced commentary and up-to-date data and insights prepared by the same team that powers the highly renowned Australian Master Tax Guide.

The scope and detail consider the new post-pandemic work environment. The key was to consider the research platform and practical tools hub as just one part of a flow of information.

Namely one that an accountant shapes before and after a research task to inform decisions about how the platform should best handle its part of the workflow.

Outcomes
The CCH iKnow Practical Tool Hub is a self-service business intelligence library that directly addresses the four core business challenges for accounting professionals:
> Financial year end – with resources to calculate and prepare financial statements and tax returns
> Special transactions – including tools for efficient treatment of Goods and Services tax, capital gains, Fringe Benefits tax, small businesses, dividends etc
> Client Management – tools and procedures to align with the client lifecycle from client screening, onboarding welcome packs and managing complaints
> Practice Management – operational guides to systems and strategic plans to everyday office activities.

In 2021 the CCH iKnow Practical tool Hub experienced:
> Becoming one of the fastest growing products in the portfolio
> A post-launch 30% adoption rate by customers new to Wolters Kluwer
> A growing footprint in smaller, price conscious firms with subscription price for a single user starting at $450 + GST
> Developing a roadmap for replicating an in-country Practical Tools Hub for similar markets across Asia Pacific, including NZ.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Australia, visit wolterskluwer.com/en-au