Best Practices for Getting Started

Define Firm Structure and Lists

You can either set up the type of data you will not migrate or set up data that will be appended to migrated data. We recommend you set up list data that will not be migrated and that you want to be assigned in staff templates. For example, if you are planning to define staff templates by position, you can set up the positions now using the Set up firm lists link.

To set up your firm, you must have an idea of what your organizational structure will be for CCH Axcess™. For more information on organizational structure, see the following topics:

• Organizational Unit Examples
• Defining Your Firm's Organizational Unit Hierarchy
• Entering the Firm's Organizational Structure

Note: Other staff can set up firm structure and list information if they are given the appropriate security group rights.

Set Up Security Groups and Templates

A security group A set of access rights and restrictions. Staff assigned to the security group automatically receive the group's access rights. is a way to define access rights for staff. Use these groups to restrict or grant access to various areas in the products. See Managing Security Groups for more information.

Templates are used to add new staff without having to repeatedly enter the same basic information. Enter default options in profile templates to decrease the time required to create staff. See Setting Up Staff Templates for more information.

There are several areas of security that have documented best practices. See the topics listed for more information.

• Best Practices to Secure Client Information
• Using Best Practices to Grant Staff Access to Secured Client Information
• Using Best Practices to Secure Staff Information
• Using Best Practices to Provide Access to Secured Staff Information
• Using Best Practices to Provide Functional Rights to Staff

Migrate Data and Set Up Other Staff

You can migrate data now or at a later time. You can also give other staff assigned rights to use the Data Migration Tool.

You can manually create other staff now so they can perform any initial setup tasks, including data migration.

To launch the Data Migration Utility, click Utilities under Firm on the Application Links window in Dashboard, and then click Migrate data.

Use Staff Teams for Assignments

You can create teams in Staff Manager that mirror the working groups, departments, reporting relationships, or other groupings used in your firm. Grouping staff into teams can simplify Staff Manager since administrative tasks, such as assigning staff to projects, can be performed for all team members at one time. You can also organize reports by teams.

We recommend creating teams and only using the attribute settings whenever possible. This is to help reduce maintenance if a staff's properties or assignments change.

Create Client Groups for Reporting or Filtering Purposes

You can create client groups for reporting and filtering purposes. These groups allow you to include clients that share attributes and to always include or exclude selected clients regardless of their attributes. In addition, you can define attribute criteria for clients included in the group, which allows the clients included in the group to be automatically updated when their client profile is updated to match the attribute criteria.

Additional Information

To view a recommended procedure for setting up your firm, please review Best Practices for Firm Setup.