Many accounting professionals know Jody Padar simply as “The Radical CPA” — a nickname earned for her forward-leaning stance on cloud, mobile and social technology. The CEO and Principal of New Vision CPA Group took her firm into the cloud nine years ago, when many accountants still eyed SaaS with skepticism. Her first SaaS app was a payroll product.

1. “The Radical CPA” Shares a New
Vision of Accounting Technology
CCH Axcess™
helps New Vision CPA Group
grow in the cloud with open standards
Many accounting professionals know Jody Padar simply as “The
Radical CPA” — a nickname earned for her forward-leaning stance
on cloud, mobile and social technology. The CEO and Principal of
New Vision CPA Group took her firm into the cloud nine years ago,
when many accountants still eyed SaaS with skepticism. Her first
SaaS app was a payroll product.
Things that had taken me an hour took two minutes in the cloud.
That fundamentally changed the way I would run my firm. Fast
forward nine years, and we’re a cloud-driven firm, working in
real time with clients all over the world.
— Jody L. Padar, CPA, MST,
CEO & Principal, New Vision CPA Group
Padar never looked back, taking her firm entirely paperless and
moving every workflow into the cloud.
When I first started using the cloud, people thought I was one of
those crazy disrupters. When new clients sign on with us today,
they know part of our expectation is that they’ll work with us in
the cloud. They won’t have the option of continuing in their old
ways. That’s our philosophy.
In 2013, Padar took another step forward by switching the firm
from UltraTax CS®
to CCH Axcess, featuring Wolters Kluwer’s
Open Integration Platform.
The UltraTax CS®
cloud product was confining. We were spending
too much time getting in and out of the cloud in our everyday
work. As we grew, we needed more sophisticated tools, so our
option was to go to a private cloud or find a new solution.
Open standards were fundamental
for the future
New Vision CPA Group’s goal was to adopt a cloud-based
tax and accounting suite with open standards. In fact, Padar
identifies Wolters Kluwer’s Open Integration Platform as the
reason why the firm switched to CCH Axcess™
Document,
CCH Axcess™
Portal, CCH Axcess™
Tax, CCH Axcess™
Workstream
and CCH®
ProSystem fx®
Scan.
I knew immediately that CCH Axcess was where my firm was
going to need to be. An open integration platform was huge for
the future — a game changer. If you’re looking at our level of
software, you really only have three options: Wolters Kluwer
(including CCH Axcess and the CCH®
ProSystem fx®
Suite),
Lacerte®
or UltraTax CS®
. CCH Axcess is the only one with an
open integration platform option.
Because New Vision CPA Group works entirely in the cloud,
finding ways to integrate smaller software applications into their
day-to-day CCH Axcess workflow will drive future firm efficiency.
Open standards make this possible.
I’ve already called the CEO of a smaller product and asked if his
team would build a bridge to Wolters Kluwer’s Open Integration
Platform. He said he would check it out. How cool is that? Large
firms can build their own integrations right now because they have
the infrastructure.
But with a little patience, Padar believes smaller firms will get to
take advantage of the same types of integration for little to no cost.
In five years, if CCH Axcess is used by thousands of firms, all of the
little niche software solutions are going to connect to it. They will
know their customer base is there.
Jody Padar and New Vision CPA Group:
ll Author of “The Radical CPA: New Rules for the
Future-Ready Firm”
ll Social media and cloud-driven firm
ll Headquartered in Mount Prospect, IL
ll Two partners and five total employees
ll Specializing in small business accounting, tax planning and
tax preparation
ll Twitter Handle: @JodyPadarCPA (over 7,000 followers)

2. Tax preparation workflow is more efficient
The New Vision CPA Group recently completed its second full
tax season with CCH Axcess, and Padar reported good gains in
efficiency for the team.
CCH Axcess works like it should. Our efficiency went up this year,
and I think it will go up even more next year as we get better and
better with the tools.
The firm had scanned client documents at the front end of its tax
workflow for years but used a product that did not integrate directly
to their document management or tax software.
Being able to go from CCH ProSystem fx Scan right into
CCH Axcess Document was a huge timesaver for us. Having
it jump into the cloud was really nice!
In addition, CCH Axcess Workstream provides transparency and
communication about all of the work moving through the firm.
CCH Axcess Workstream gives me the insights I need to be on
top of everything that is happening in my firm and to manage my
people better. I know where things stand and can see if anyone
may need more direction or help. I can see instantly how to help
them move their files along without having to open the returns.
The CCH Axcess Workstream dashboard makes viewing reports
easy, but they can also be printed. When first learning the new
system, those printouts were helpful for Padar’s father, the firm’s
founder, to keep track of his tax files. Padar manages a full-time
remote employee with CCH Axcess Workstream in addition to
employees in the office.
What I like about CCH Axcess Workstream is that I can see where
everything is in the firm in a minute. I can sort it down to a specific
person on a specific work step — I have that level of insight into
things. I can’t just walk into someone’s office, look at the stack of
files on someone’s desk and know where the problem lies. With
CCH Axcess Workstream, I can “look” at everyone’s desk in our
paperless environment.
Future-ready firms must embrace cloud,
social and mobile technology
When Padar meets and consults with other CPAs, she is an untiring
advocate for new technology. In her view, the cloud, social media
and mobile technology are fundamental to the future of the
accounting industry, and these technologies offer much more than
just efficiency gains.
There are so many priceless things about being in the cloud. For
example, if my laptop dies in the middle of tax season, I am back
up and running in 20 minutes. Your technology impacts how your
firm is perceived by job candidates, and the cloud gives you the
flexibility to work with talented people who might need to work
remotely some or all of the time. My dad spent the first six weeks
of this tax season in sunny San Diego. What is that worth?
Padar further emphasizes the importance of social media.
We’re a social-driven firm, and I think it’s an important part of
being a global firm. The world is my network; I’m not limited to
local business. It’s about building a brand and connecting with
people. The cloud and social media can exponentially increase
our value to our current customers and our future customers.
You don’t have to do it all, but if you’re not doing any of this,
I think you’re missing a huge opportunity.
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Join us on at CCHGroup.com/Social
Wise Words from Dad
New Vision’s use of the
cloud-based tax software has
allowed me to take advantage
of more free time away from
the office, including fishing in
Door County and traveling in
the United States with my wife.
I got a phone call while fishing and advised my client
that I would get back to him within the next two hours.
Approximately two hours later, I called my client and
resolved the matter wearing shorts!
The cloud has helped me begin the process of going into the
office only as needed, and I look forward to real retirement
where the business can effectively operate without me on a
daily basis.
— James (Jim) J. Matousek, CPA,
Principal, New Vision CPA Group
© 2015 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates.
All rights reserved.
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CCHGroup.com/Axcess
800-739-9998
6/15 2014-0418-8