Armanino McKenna and CCH Introduce ProSystem fx Practice Intelligence

SAN RAMON, Calif., April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- To keep up with their clients and stay ahead of the competition, today's accounting firms need access to insightful data in a user-friendly, self-service format. CCH's new ProSystem fx® Practice Intelligence solution delivers fast, accurate decision-making data displayed via an on-screen dashboard that helps firms across the nation chart their courses for success. This revolutionary business discovery tool results from a strategic partnership between CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a leading global provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services (CCHGroup.com), Armanino McKenna, one of the nation's fastest-growing accounting firms (www.amllp.com), and QlikTech, a leader in user-driven business intelligence.

Integrated, Customized Business Intelligence Solution

CCH ProSystem fx Practice Intelligence is a Business Discovery platform that bridges the gap between traditional business intelligence solutions and standalone office productivity applications to improve accounting firm financial reporting and analysis.  From firms with five users to those with more than 100 users, Practice Intelligence customers benefit from full integration with ProSystem fx® Practice Management. The business discovery tool pulls compelling data directly from existing time and expense entry, billing and invoicing, accounts receivable (A/R), and other key business management databases.

"ProSystem fx Practice Intelligence significantly elevates the level of business analysis for key decision makers," said Mark Gurley, CCH Product Manager, Workflow Solutions. "Customers tell us they have a quicker path to insights because they can see the relationships and find meaning in the data that they never saw before."

"Accounting firms need to run like a business— care for clients, make a profit, and manage the operation," said Karl Driggs, COO of Apple Growth Partners, a regional accounting firm in Ohio.  "The sheer ease of Practice Intelligence showed us we could get management information in an instant.  Because we all get the same report, it speeds up our firm decision-making process."

Key Practice Intelligence Features

• KPI dashboard – speeds up analytics and reduces manual reporting
• Organized interface layout – clean, visual and straightforward data delivery
• Instant "slice-n-dice" and drill-down capability – displays data by billing partner, billing manager, department, client name and more
• One-click management report – helps managers easily visualize relationships among multiple sets of firm data
• Rapid data delivery – eliminates problems and complexity of traditional slow, disk-based and query-based business intelligence tools that offer little more than static, prepackaged reports
• Easy implementation – installed and operational in a week's time
• Web-based training – takes only one hour and can be completed online

"Practice Intelligence puts our financial performance at our fingertips.  Each morning, our partners and management team members can see their key metrics," said Lynn LaCount, CPA, CFO of Dixon Hughes Goodman, the largest Southern United States CPA firm.  "It's really very intuitive.  Once you have a business intelligence dashboard, I don't see you how can live without it."

Technology and Industry Expertise behind the Solution

The patented, in-memory technology supporting Practice Intelligence's ability to rapidly extract data from existing Practice Management databases is powered by the QlikView Business Discovery platform developed by QlikTech, (NASDAQ: QLIK).  The in-memory associative search technology, called user-driven Business Intelligence, which QlikTech pioneered, allows users to explore information freely rather than being confined to a predefined path of questions.

"Teaming up with CCH to offer a leading-edge, combined solution that's reinforced by our Business Discovery platform allows many more firms to enjoy the benefits of enhanced business intelligence," said Peter McQuade, QlikTech SVP of Alliances. "The integrated partnership around Practice Intelligence really creates a competitive advantage in helping firms understand the keys to success."

Practice Intelligence, which clearly and colorfully illustrates all key facets of accounting firm performance, is specifically designed for accounting firms by the professionals of Armanino McKenna – named as one of Accounting Today magazine's 2011 top 100 firms.  The firm took the knowledge gained by providing software solutions to clients in a wide variety of industries and applied it to its own business management processes, thus creating the Practice Intelligence accounting industry-specific solution in partnership with CCH.  

"We're very excited about this partnership between Armanino McKenna and CCH.  We see it as a natural fit," said Matt Armanino, Partner and COO of Armanino McKenna.  "The Practice Intelligence product is the best solution for the market, combining the strength of CCH's expert solutions with Armanino McKenna's practical knowledge and software solution deployment expertise."

For More Information

To learn more about CCH ProSystem fx® Practice Intelligence please click here or call 1-800-PFX-9998 (800-739-9998).

About QlikTech

QlikTech (NASDAQ: QLIK) is a leader in Business Discovery -- user-driven Business Intelligence (BI). QlikTech's powerful, accessible Business Discovery solution bridges the gap between traditional business intelligence solutions and standalone office productivity applications.  Its QlikView Business Discovery platform enables intuitive user-driven analysis that can be implemented in days or weeks rather than months, years, or not at all. QlikView Business Discovery works with existing BI applications and adds new capabilities: insight for everyone, zero-wait analysis, mobility, an app–like model, remixability and reassembly, and a social and collaborative experience.  Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, QlikTech has offices around the world serving more than 18,000 customers in over 100 countries.

About Armanino McKenna

Armanino McKenna provides comprehensive services to the CFO organization, including audit; tax; IT systems and strategy; outsourced accounting; governance, risk and compliance; financial management; and business advisory services. The firm is the 37th largest public accounting and business consulting firm in the nation and one of the largest California-based CPA firms. In addition to its San Ramon headquarters, the company has offices in San Francisco and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading global provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading solutions are The ProSystem fx® Suite, CorpSystem®, CCH® IntelliConnect®, Accounting Research Manager® and the U.S. Master Tax Guide®. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill. Wolters Kluwer (www.wolterskluwer.com) is a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.

SOURCE Armanino McKenna