Challenge:MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP needed a way to eliminate cumbersome IT-related tasks, allow staff to work from anywhere, at any time, better serve clients and optimize workflow in order to continue to accelerate growth. Solution: The firm moved to CCH Axcess, Wolters Kluwer’s modular cloud-based tax preparation, compliance and workflow solution, in order to outperform the competition. To learn more visit CCHGroup.com/Axcess

1. Tax & Accounting
MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP
the ‘Fastest Growing Firm
under $5 Million,’ Uses
CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth
Case Study:
Digital Tax
Workflow
When you have to be right

2. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth2
Challenge: MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP needed a way to eliminate cumbersome
IT-related tasks, allow staff to work from anywhere, at any time, better serve
clients and optimize workflow in order to continue to accelerate growth.
Solution: The firm moved to CCH Axcess, Wolters Kluwer’s modular cloud-
based tax preparation, compliance and workflow solution, in order to
outperform the competition.
Leveraging Cloud Technology
Wesley Middleton, Managing Partner
of MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP, was
instrumental in moving the firm, a Houston
Texas-based tax, accounting and audit 80
staff member firm, to CCH Axcess, to take
advantage of everything that the cloud-based
software has to offer.
“It has become the norm that
the larger firms have these
tools at their disposal.
CCH Axcess brings this down
to the lowest level of firm so
it doesn’t matter if you’re a
one-man shop, or have 10 or
15 people, or you’re our size
or larger. You can have a
high-tech environment and
have that remote access that
people want and expect.”
— Wesley Middleton,
Managing Partner,
MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP
The firm was
named the “Fastest
Growing Firm under
$5 Million” in the
nation, by INSIDE
Public Accounting.
Middleton attributes
some of that success
to CCH Axcess.

3. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth 3
Leaving IT to Experts
One of the advantages of the firm moving to
CCH Axcess has been the time and money
savings gained from eliminating the need for
so much IT help and infrastructure.
When discussing servers for instance,
commonly CPAs tend to hesitate to spend
money on a new one every three years,
Middleton points out, but often keep a server
until it breaks. With CCH Axcess, IT concerns
are no longer top of mind. Wolters Kluwer rolls
out all new software updates automatically.
Being in the cloud means that the firm doesn’t
have to maintain servers. The firm also knows
that data is secure with CCH Axcess.
Data is so well-protected because cloud
technology is actually better secured than
desktop-based software, which can be
more susceptible to malware and other
cyberattacks. Wolters Kluwer has extensive
expertise in cloud-based software and can
secure it at a level that accounting firms
don’t have the resources to do. All of that
together has provided the firm with peace of
mind and has enabled the firm to leave IT to
Wolters Kluwer.
“The Cloud allows me to take
that maintenance concern
away. I don’t have to worry
‘am I on the latest server,
are all the updates done, do
I have the right protection?’
I just don’t have to worry
about that. That’s why it
becomes important ‘where
do you buy that from, who
do you get that from?’ That’s
the role Wolters Kluwer plays
for us, it gives us that level
of trust. We know we can
all float that risk, all float
that maintenance to them
while still having best in
class servers, best in class
technology available to us.”
Wesley Middleton
Managing Partner
MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP
Houston, Texas

4. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth4
“There’s no question that we
are not an IT firm, we are
a public accounting firm.
When we started the practice,
one of our first goals was
to not have an in-house IT
department, which is possible
with CCH Axcess.”
Middleton points out another benefit of
CCH Axcess. He doesn’t have to spend an
entire day prepping a computer for a new
staff member.
“One way technology helps us
grow is that when technology
is in the cloud, to onboard
a new employee is just a
matter of almost a click of
a button. Today you hook
the staff member up with
Internet access; he/she is live
and working quicker than
ever before. From a growth
perspective, it clearly allows
us to leverage software more
quickly and more easily.”
Middleton adds that he no longer has to ask
his entire firm of 80 people to stop working
and log off their computers so that he can
update the software or address a glitch, which
saves an incalculable amount of time.
“When we don’t have the
distraction of downtime
and have real-time updates
as opposed to having to
get everyone out of system
to do updates, all of those
things contribute to a more
efficient process all the way
across our firm, from a
productivity standpoint all
the way through to the client
service area.”

5. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth 5
Being Able to Work from Anywhere, Anytime
Staff members benefit from being able to work
from anywhere, at any time, whether they’re
traveling, working long hours or need to be
more accessible to their family. Middleton
points out that the firm won Houston’s Best
Places to Work award from Houston Business
Journal and that the advanced technology is
part of the reason for such strong accolades
from staff members.
“We made number one on
the list. That’s a result of our
staff employees voting that
way … when we’re recruiting
and we bring people into our
firm, they’re impressed with
the level of technology, no
paper in the office, 3–4 to 5
monitors. When you tell them
they can do the same exact
thing from home, because
of that, it’s an incredible
recruiting tool for the staff
coming right out of college.”
The firm also can access all necessary
information when meeting with clients, which
is crucial and expected by clients.
“I believe that the more we
can utilize and leverage
technology, the better we
are going to be able to serve
our clients. Having that 24/7
access from anywhere makes
us a more efficient firm at
delivering service.”

6. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth6
Time and Billing Software
The firm uses CCH Axcess™
Practice to
maximize billable hours and streamline
administrative work.
“The best thing it’s enabled
me to do is to do my billing
from home on the weekends.
That’s incredible … work
like I’m right at the office,
same speed, same data, real-
time, and I don’t have to
log in through two or three
different services to get there.
It’s just a direct link right to
the software, just as if I’m at
the office working with it. So
for me, personally, it’s been
incredible that I could work
that way.”
The firm also uses the project management
software, CCH Axcess™
Workstream.
This module offers project management
components to monitor due dates, manage
projects and map processes into standardized
steps to ensure consistency.
“It has been phenomenal for
our firm, for a management
tool. I love to be able to sit
there and have a tab with
every single manager’s list
in Workstream. I can just
click, it refreshes, and I
am able to manage from
anyplace, anytime, real-
time information, so I know
exactly what’s going on. A
client calls me, wants to
know, ’Hey, where is this
at?’ It’s so much easier to get
information out of. I think the
integration is key to that.”
CCH Axcess Practice and CCH Axcess
Workstream together make for a powerful
combination for managing the firm’s work.
“Being able to utilize the
practice management in the
cloud, and also the workflow
process in CCH Axcess
Workstream, has been
incredible for our firm.”

7. MiddletonRaines+Zapata, LLP the ‘Fastest Growing Firm under $5 Million,’ Uses CCH Axcess™
for Faster Growth 7
Middleton adds that the firm’s leaders take
advantage of the quiet of their home offices
together with the cloud-based software to get
management tasks done.
“The higher-level people
in the firm that use the
software for billing and
time management, and
scheduling, can do these
tasks at home. CCH Axcess
has provided an incredible
way to work comfortably, in
an environment where you
don’t have the distractions of
the day-to-day office.”
Big Payoffs with CCH Axcess
In summary, Middleton says that the benefits of
moving to CCH Axcess have been substantial.
“Anything that we can put into
the cloud and manage that way
increases our productivity and
our flexibility — and it makes
us a better service provider. For
those reasons, CCH Axcess is
great for us.”

8. When you have to be right
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Contact information:
Wolters Kluwer
2700 Lake Cook Road
Riverwoods, IL 60015
United States
800-739-9998
7/16 2016-1138
Please visit CCHGroup.com/Axcess
for more information.