CCH Celebrates 90 Years of Authoritative Tax Law Information, 40 Years of Accounting Software Innovation

Setting the Standard in Tax Research, Leading the Way in Integrated Workflow Tools

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., August 26, 2003) – In 1913, as the U.S. government was issuing the first-ever federal 1040 income tax return, CCH also was launching a first – the first loose-leaf tax reporting service to help accountants and attorneys make sense of the new law and keep current with regular updates as the law changed. Ninety years and 55,000 pages later, CCH INCORPORATED, a Wolters Kluwer company, continues to publish that guide known as the Standard Federal Tax Reporter.

Over the past nine decades, CCH has continued to innovate and lead, establishing itself as a company of firsts – from the first loose-leaf reporting service, to the first online tax research system, to the first context-sensitive integration between its tax compliance software and research products. The company now produces more than 100 print and electronic information products annually for tax and accounting professionals.

This year also marks the 40th anniversary for CCH Tax Compliance in developing technology-rich solutions for the tax and accounting industry.

Today, CCH Tax Compliance is a leading provider of professional tax, accounting, audit and practice management software and solutions, marketing the premier suite of integrated tools and services available: The ProSystem fx® Office.

"CCH was founded on the principles of integrating innovative technologies with authoritative content to create resources that help professionals do their jobs," said CCH Tax and Accounting CEO Kevin Robert. "Now, those principles are more important to our customers than ever before."

Robert noted that the recent announcement that Wolters Kluwer is aligning CCH, CCH Tax Compliance and Aspen Publishers tax and accounting products into a single unit will further advance the company’s ability to deliver innovative solutions through integrated content and workflow tools.

"The strategy of leveraging the strengths of CCH, Tax Compliance and Aspen by creating a single Tax and Accounting unit is a natural extension of how we are already working today to better serve tax and accounting professionals," said Robert.

CCH recognized years ago the potential of integrating content and tools, and responded with the development of Tax.CCHGroup.com, an integrated destination site specifically for tax and accounting professionals in North America, and with CCH ClientRelate. ClientRelate combines the power of the CCH Internet Tax Research NetWork with the strength of CCH's ProSystem fx Tax compliance system to identify and analyze tax law changes for professionals so they can determine those clients who may be affected and offer them potential solutions thereby increasing the customer’s need for additional professional services.

"As we look to the future, we are now poised to leverage fully all the expertise, content and technology across our unit to provide the next generation of integrated content and software solutions that support the workflows of CPAs, tax attorneys and corporate tax and accounting departments," said Robert. "And, we will continue to deliver the premium content and services on which our customers rely and on which our reputation is built."

Attached to this release is a timeline of CCH through the years.

About CCH

CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in 1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company produces more than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, securities, insurance, human resources, health care and small business markets.

Headquartered in Torrance, Calif., CCH Tax Compliance is a leading supplier of software for tax and accounting professionals. It offers The ProSystem fx Office, a powerful, integrated suite that includes modules for tax compliance, tax planning, trial balance, fixed assets, practice management, paperless engagements and web site development.

CCH and CCH Tax Compliance are Wolters Kluwer companies. The CCH Federal and State Tax group, CCH Tax Compliance and Aspen Publishers Tax and Accounting group comprise the new CCH Tax and Accounting unit. The unit’s web site can be accessed at http://www.cch.com.

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CCH Through The Years: A Timeline in Taxes

Setting the Standard Since 1913

1913: CCH predecessor, Corporation Trust Co. (CT), publishes the first Income Tax Reporter in response to the Tariff Act of 1913, which established the federal income tax under the Sixteenth Amendment. The law imposes a 1-percent income tax affecting one out of every 271 people. The CCH guide is 400 pages.

1927: CT merges with competitor, William KixMiller's Commerce Clearing House (CCH).

1940: CCH assists the federal government with special publishing projects in support of the war effort and is ruled "essential" by the War Manpower Commission.

1956: The company opens a site on the northwest side of Chicago in a facility specifically designed to handle unique loose-leaf production.

1960s: The road ProSystem fx Tax has taken to become the industry leader begins in 1963 when the company was known as Computax. In 1965, Computax was acquired by CCH, becoming CCH Computax, which acted as a service bureau providing many of the nation’s most prominent accounting firms with secure and reliable processing for their clients’ tax return information.

1980s: CCH develops Computax Interactive System (CIS), which allows firms to enter data directly into CCH mainframe tax programs. CCH leads the industry in offering dynamic PC-based solutions as well, introducing Computax RJE (Remote Job Entry) in the early 1980s, CCH's first PC-based tax compliance software with online functionality. The application allows firms to enter data at their office, transmit it to CCH for calculation, and then have the final returns downloaded for printing in the accountant's office.

1990s: The technology of the 1990s paves the way for the introduction of ProSystem fx Tax, CCH's PC-based software application that completed the shift of control and functionality to tax professionals. It was one of the first completely in-house tax programs that offered comprehensive tax capabilities for both federal returns as well as multi-state calculations. As ProSystem fx Tax established itself as the industry leader, CCH continued to enhance the product, introducing ProSystem fx for Windows in 1992 and the more powerful Windows 32-bit version in 1997.

CCH Publishing also leverages advances in computer technology with an all-out new product development effort. During the decade, CCH produces its first CD-ROM based tax research service, knowledge-based practice systems and subscription-based Internet products. In 1993, CCH becomes the first tax and accounting software and research provider to offer customers context-sensitive integration between its tax compliance software and research products.

In 1996, CCH is acquired by Wolters Kluwer nv. During the 1990s, CCH also makes several tax and accounting acquisitions, including the tax research line from Matthew Bender (1993); ViewPlan, Inc. (1997) estate planning software; Damirus Corporation (1998), owners of Pencil Pushers tax preparation software; PACS Software, developers of PACS Practice Management system; AuditVision trial balance software (1996); and State Taxation Institute (1999).

2000s: CCH continues to add to its tax and accounting solutions with the acquisitions of A-Plus Tax Software (2000), Arthur Andersen’s tax compliance system; ePace! Software, a trial balance and engagement workflow solution; Execusite (2001), a web site development tool; and esalestax.com (2002).

The Wolters Kluwer companies of CCH INCORPORATED, Tax Compliance and Aspen begin to work closely with one another to build integrated tools for tax and accounting professionals, including the creation of the Tax and Accounting destination site (tax.cchgroup.com); the development of CCH ClientRelate, which combines the power of CCH Internet Tax Research NetWork and the strength of CCH’s ProSystem fx Tax; and the integration of Aspen’s Miller content with ProSystem fx Engagement, CCH’s trial balance and engagement workflow solution.

2003: The CCH Federal and State Tax group, CCH Tax Compliance and Aspen Publishers are formally joined together within one Tax and Accounting unit to deliver integrated workflow solutions for tax and accounting professionals.

ProSystem fx Tax is the industry’s premier tax compliance system, used by more than 20,000 firms nationwide. It also serves as the cornerstone of The ProSystem fx Office, CCH’s fully integrated suite that includes modules for tax compliance, tax planning, trial balance, fixed assets, practice management, paperless engagements, outsourcing services and web site development.

With an onslaught of legislative activity, including significant changes to the federal tax code during the past three years and sweeping changes to the accounting/securities law, particularly with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, CCH remains nimble and always responsive to customers – quickly developing and delivering analysis on the law changes to its customers via electronic alerts, workflow tools, the CCH Tax Research NetWork, CCH ClientRelate…and even through the venerable CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter…now 90 years old and 55,000 pages long.