November 1999
Society Offers Discounts on CCH Products
Smaller Firms to Benefit
By James A. Woehlke, CPA
The NYSSCPA now offers Society members a 10 percent discount on certain CCH online and CD-ROM research products, specifically the company's U.S. Master Tax Guide Plus and Tax Essentials.
"CCH is a premier publisher of tax materials and analysis," NYSSCPA President Alan E. Weiner said. "I am thrilled that CCH is working with the Society to increase the access of New York CPAs to higher-level Internet tax research materials at a reasonable cost."
The discount will benefit particularly smaller firms and sole practitioners who may not currently have the online services. The U.S. Master Tax Guide Plus is available in Internet and CD-ROM versions. Tax Essentials, an Internet service, is available in a stand-alone version or a "plus" version that includes federal and state forms on CD-ROM.
U.S. Master Tax Guide Plus is an electronic, searchable copy of CCH's best-selling tax guide. The company regularly offers this product for an annual user fee of $199, but the NYSSCPA members price is $179. The "plus" includes online access to searchable documents including the Internal Revenue Code, court cases, IRS rulings and publications, and three print books: U.S. Master Tax Guide, Individual Filled-in Forms, and Corporation Filled-in Forms.
NYSSCPA members receive Tax Essentials for $445, compared to the regular $495. Tax Essentials includes significantly more editorial matter than the Master Tax Guide Plus and extra code, regulations, cases, rulings, and publications. Tax Essentials offers a "news of the week" feature and an active message board, where subscribers can pose technical questions to each other. Tax Essentials offers a federal and state forms service on CD-ROM for an additional fee. In addition, the product includes links to federal and state government forms, many of which can be completed on the computer.
John Kearney, NYSSCPA Nassau Chapter president and chair of the Society's Tax Division Oversight Committee, reviewed Tax Essentials before staff sought final approval of the CCH alliance.
"I was impressed," Kearney said. "For four hundred forty-five dollars, it is jam-packed with great analysis and original material. It is a powerful tax research tool. It's a handy place to get tax news as well--no need to clutter up your desk with weekly newsletters. CCH has really hit the spot with a product designed to benefit smaller firms."
CCH has redesigned its web interface to simplify searches and quicken the site's overall performance, and NYSSCPA members can receive free trials.
To learn more, call CCH's Society hotline at (800) 449-6411, visit http://www.nysscpa.org, or contact Kiesha Mills at (212) 719-8392, (800) 633-6320 or kymills@nysscpa.org. *
