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Modifications Made to Version 2024 v.1.0

The user interface of the Tracking module has been enhanced

The CCH iFirm Tracking user interface has been enhanced. Enhancements include a modernized user interface, an improved Statistics section, customizable columns, all views that can now be viewed in Cards mode, and much more. See below for more details.

Statistics section improvements

Significant improvements have been made to the Statistics section to enhance its functionalities and usability. Here is an overview of the changes:

The section can be collapsed or expanded, allowing you to see more cards in the dashboard. To collapse or to expand the Statistics section, click the arrow that appears beside the name of the view.
The At a glance graph allows you to quickly view the number of cards per step. Each column in the graph is labelled with the first letter of the step. For example, if the step or the column is named Preparation, the column in the graph will display the letter P.
The Alert Center provides a quick overview of how many active returns have a warning or an alert. Note that the Alert Center is available only in the Active view.

Collapsible columns allow you to customize the view and display the columns that are relevant to you

The columns in the Not started, Active and Completed views can now be collapsed when the view is displayed in Cards mode. To collapse or to expand a column, click the arrow that appears in the header of the column.

Note: The column customization is saved for your user and will be kept when you access the dashboard subsequently.

Taxpayers can now be displayed in Cards mode with Not started, Active and Completed views

In addition to the Active view, the Not started and Completed views can now be displayed in Cards mode, allowing you to configure the views based on your needs by adding any step or column you need. The Not started and Completed views continue to support the List mode.

To configure the Not started and Completed views in Cards mode, click the Display button in the top right corner, then click Cards. To return to List mode, simply click List from the Display button.

Details mode improvements facilitate the tracking of assignments by step and by user

The Details mode allows you to visualize user assignments by step. This mode can be accessed by clicking the Display button in the top right corner. The Details mode now includes all steps and return statuses from the left pane, allowing you to see assignments per step from the same view. The left pane can be collapsed by clicking the arrow in the bottom left corner, allowing you to see more of the assignees’ columns.

Filters section improvements

The Filters section is now located next to the search bar, and the filter options have been divided into two sections: General and Assignees.

The filters related to the different roles have been regrouped into the Assignees section, which contains two filters: Roles and Users.

By default, the Users filter contains all users who have access to CCH iFirm Tracking.
When at least one role is selected in the Roles filter, the Users filter displays all users who have access to CCH iFirm Tracking and who are assigned to the role.

Viewing information for each family member has been simplified through open card enhancements

The following improvements have been made to open cards:

Family members: This section allows you to navigate across the different members of a family. To collapse or to expand the section, click the arrow that appears at the bottom right of the section.
Family return status indicator: This visual warning informs you that not all family members are in the same step.
Dates header: This section contains the key dates and the key days counter for the tax season.
Audit Trail: The Audit Trail button has been moved to the upper right corner of the card.
Options that apply to all family members: This section allows to quickly apply a change made in an open card to all other family members.

The default value for these options can be configured by accessing Settings > Tracking > General settings > Apply to all family members.

The following key dates and the key days counter can be modified by using the integrated calendar:

The deadline
The alert related to the number of days in this step. It can be snoozed by selecting a date in the future.
The date received

Access to CCH iFirm Tracking dashboards now handled with a security role, simplifying onboarding for new users

The process to onboard users into CCH iFirm Tracking has been simplified. To onboard a user into CCH iFirm Tracking, the user only needs:

A CCH iFirm Tracking license
The Tracking – Access to Tracking security role

The Dashboard Management section has been added to Settings > Tracking, allowing you to handle user access per dashboard if you have more than one CCH iFirm Tracking dashboard. By default, all users who have a CCH iFirm Tracking license and the Tracking – Access to Tracking security role will have access to all existing dashboards on your site. To change the access for a single user, you simply need to modify the access rights in the Access column and save your changes.

To change user access in bulk:

Select the concerned users. Note that it is possible to filter on columns to easily identify the users (e.g., filter on the columns pertaining to groups).
Click the Change access in bulk button.
Select the desired option and click Save.
Click Save.

The following security role is required to manage rights from the Dashboard Management section: Tracking – Settings – Dashboard Management.

Modifications made to the Tracking – Settings – Access security role

The Tracking – Settings – Access security role has been renamed Tracking – Settings – General configuration.

When a user has the Tracking – Settings – General configuration security role, the user can:

Access all sections of the settings sections, except the Dashboard Management page that requires the Tracking – Settings – Dashboard Management security role.
Use the Link Client Files and Link Users functionalities in the CCH iFirm Tracking menu of Taxprep on-premise.

CCH iFirm Tracking cards can now be created when rolling forward a tax return

For CCH iFirm Taxprep users, the CCH iFirm Tracking section will be available in the Roll forward selected documents modal only if you have a CCH iFirm Tracking license and the Tracking – Access to Tracking security role.

Configuring the Displaying Taxprep Client File Info in the firm settings (applicable for Taxprep on-premise integrations only)

It is possible to configure the moment when the client file information opens during the preparation process. Firms can now set this setting from Settings > Tracking > General Settings > Displaying Cards. The setting will be applied to every user of your site.

Note that this setting is applicable only for dashboards linked to Taxprep on-premise.

Modifications Made to Version 2023 v.2.0

Integration with CCH iFirm roles CCH iFirm Tracking is now integrated with CCH iFirm user roles.

You are now able to configure roles and assign them to your users. Four default roles are defined in CCH iFirm: Manager, Partner, Preparer and Reviewer. You can also choose to add a custom role by clicking Manage Roles under Settings > Users.

Following this addition to CCH iFirm, CCH iFirm Tracking is now integrated with the CCH iFirm user roles for dashboards from 2023 onwards. This means that the roles that were previously configured in CCH iFirm Tracking > Tracking must be configured again for each user in Settings > Users > Manage Roles.

To configure the roles, follow the steps below:

Access Settings > Manage Roles and create additional roles, as needed. Consult the Knowledge Base article for more information.
In the Roles area (Settings > Manage Roles), click the role for which you want to add users.
In the Users field, select all the users that you want to add to the selected roles and click Save.
Access Settings > Tracking > Mapping of Statuses and configure the roles for each status, as needed. Consult the Mapping of Statuses topic for more information.

Note that the status assignment for Administration roles and all CCH iFirm Tracking custom roles performed in previous dashboards was not retained.
Check the remaining CCH iFirm Tracking configurations and make any required changes.
Roll forward the tax returns and create the cards in CCH iFirm Tracking.

CCH iFirm Tracking now integrated with CCH iFirm Taxprep T1

CCH iFirm Tracking is now integrated with CCH iFirm Taxprep T1. For more information on the integration with CCH iFirm Taxprep, click the following links:

The new All view allows you to display all cards and generate reports

It is now possible to display all the cards contained in all the views (Not started, Active, Completed) allowing a better overview and facilitating the creation of reports.

Among other things, this view lets you see all the cards included in the 2023 dashboard and select the columns to display with the button. The cards in the grid can be sorted in ascending or descending order by clicking the column header. The columns can also be ordered using the drag-and-drop function.

Batch actions can also be performed from the All view by selecting the returns you want to modify.

The All view allows you to export all cards from the view in .csv format for in-depth reporting and analysis. To do this:

Click the button.
Click the Export button.
A notification is displayed when the export is complete. The .csv file is available for your use.

The button is used to delete the selected tracking cards.

Warning: It is not possible to restore tracking cards that have been deleted.

The Audit Trail allows you to retrace the actions carried out on a tracking card

It is now possible to perform detailed monitoring of each card using the Audit Trail functionality.

This feature can be accessed through the Audit Trail link that is displayed on the card:

The Audit Trail provides a history of the various actions carried out on a tracking card since its creation. The list of actions can be filtered by date, user or action type.

Note that the Audit Trail feature in the CCH iFirm Tracking settings is still available if you wish to view the actions carried out in your firm’s dashboards.

Role Management option removal

Roles are managed in the Settings > Users module for dashboards from 2023 onwards. For this reason, the Settings > Tracking > Role Management option displays only when you have a dashboard from a year prior to 2023. Consult the Role Management topic for more information.

Office Management option removal

Groups (previously offices) are managed in the Settings > Firm Settings > Firm Filtering & Group Settings module for dashboards from 2022 onwards. For this reason, the Settings > Tracking > Office Management option displays only when you have a dashboard from a year prior to 2022. Consult the Set up firm groups topic for more information.

Tracking module user settings

It is important to define the Tracking module user settings in the Tracking tab of Settings > Users and to click the Save button; otherwise, the user will not be able to use the Tracking module.

Multi-site

It is now possible for CCH iFirm Tracking users to use a single e-mail address to connect to several CCH iFirm sites.

To do so, the Manage iFirm site access functionality has been added to the General Settings of CCH iFirm Tracking.

To enable the use of multiple CCH iFirm sites, select the Multi-site option on each CCH iFirm site. Your CCH iFirm Tracking users will be able to log in to the various CCH iFirm sites with a single e-mail address. Please note that you will need to define the user rights and roles for each CCH iFirm site.

Important: By selecting the Multi-site option, synchronization between CCH iFirm Tracking and Personal Taxprep will only be activated for 2022 onwards. In this case, synchronization with Personal Taxprep 2020 and 2021 will be deactivated. Please note that it will no longer be possible to return to Single site mode once this change has been made.

Modifications Made to Version 2023 v.1.0

Multi-site

It is now possible for CCH iFirm Tracking users to use a single e-mail address to connect to several CCH iFirm sites.

To do so, the Manage iFirm site access functionality has been added to the General Settings of CCH iFirm Tracking.

Modifications Made to Version 2022 v.4.0

Taxprep Dashboard name change

CCH iFirm Taxprep Dashboard is now known as CCH iFirm Tracking. This new name better reflects the product's function. The various menus and options that were available in CCH iFirm have been renamed to reflect this change.

Please note that the name change will take effect in Personal Taxprep beginning with version 2023 v.1.0.

Modifications Made to Version 2022 v.2.0

Taxprep Dashboard 2022 can now be used with Personal Taxprep 2022

With the Personal Taxprep 2022 release, you can now use Taxprep Dashboard 2022 with your personal tax program.

Taxprep Plus is now integrated with the Personal Taxprep installation

Taxprep Dashboard is now part of the CCH iFirm ecosystem.

The separate installation of the Taxprep Plus add-in is no longer required, as Taxprep Dashboard will now automatically be installed with Personal Taxprep.

To activate Taxprep Dashboard for a user, you must:

Register with Taxprep (see Figure 1);
Restart Personal Taxprep;
Select the Taxprep Dashboard checkbox in the Options > Add-Ins section of the Options and Settings dialog box in Personal Taxprep;
Enter the CCH iFirm site address in the CCH iFirm > General section of the Options and Settings dialog box (see Figure 2);
Connect to CCH iFirm (see Figure 3).

Consult the release note in the Modifications Made to Version 2022 v.1.0 section below for more information on the integration of Taxprep Dashboard in the CCH iFirm ecosystem.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modifications Made to Version 2022 v.1.0

Taxprep Dashboard is now part of the CCH iFirm ecosystem

Taxprep Dashboard, now part of the CCH iFirm ecosystem, allows you to benefit from the advantages of this platform. To access Taxprep Dashboard, please log in your CCH iFirm site and click the Taxprep Dashboard module.

Note: If you already have a CCH iFirm site with other modules, the Taxprep Dashboard module will be available from your existing site. If you do not have a CCH iFirm site, one will be created for you and the information related to this site will be communicated to you.

Taxprep Dashboard works as usual. However, it must be accessed via CCH iFirm.

If you try to log in Taxprep Dashboard without connecting to CCH iFirm, the following message will be displayed.

The CCH iFirm login page will be displayed as follows.

When logging in CCH iFirm, the user will be directed to the landing page, where he or she will need to click the Taxprep Dashboard option present in the left-handed menu, as highlighted below.

The user will then be directed to the Taxprep Dashboard landing page.

The user can click to minimize the sidebars, and the dashboard will be displayed as below. (When viewing in Chrome or Edge, switch to Full mode [F11 on keyboard] to have a fuller view.)

In this view, there is no drop-down menu to select the language, to log out, etc.

To do so, the user needs to access the CCH iFirm drop-down menu, as shown below.

Note: The Customize Dashboard option in this drop-down menu is related to CCH iFirm Dashboard and NOT to Taxprep Dashboard.

In order to access the Taxprep Dashboard Help, the user can click the Help icon on the main Taxprep Dashboard page.

The Change in bulk button is now accessible from the main Taxprep Dashboard page, as shown below.

The rest of the functionality on this screen remains as is and functions as before.

Settings

The Taxprep Dashboard settings in CCH iFirm are now accessible from Settings > Taxprep Dashboard.

With the exception of the Users settings and the newly added Import Taxprep Dashboard Users settings, the rest of the settings remain the same.

Office Management

The Office Management settings remain the same.

Note: The Office Management settings are used with the Taxprep Dashboard 2021 version and prior versions. With the Taxprep Dashboard 2022 version and subsequent versions, the Firm Filtering & Group Settings that are present in the Firm settings are used, rather than the Office Management settings.

Import Taxprep Dashboard Users

Now that Taxprep Dashboard is integrated in CCH iFirm, Taxprep Dashboard users must be imported in CCH iFirm.

All of this can be done by simply clicking a button. The user must access the Taxprep Dashboard settings and click Import Taxprep Dashboard Users, as shown below.

As for prerequisites for user import, the CCH iFirm user must:

Use the same email address in both CCH iFirm and Taxprep Dashboard
Be an admin user in Taxprep Dashboard
Have an adequate number of Taxprep Dashboard licenses in CCH iFirm
Have the following security roles in CCH iFirm:

Security – View, Add and Edit Users

Security - Manage User Security

Taxprep Dashboard - Access to Taxprep Dashboard

Taxprep Dashboard – Settings

When clicking the Import button, all Taxprep Dashboard users are imported into CCH iFirm and are given a Taxprep Dashboard license, as well as the respective user rights they had in Taxprep Dashboard.

If a user does not already exist, a new user will be created in CCH iFirm based on the user’s email address.
If a user with the same email address already exists in CCH iFirm, that user will be mapped with the relevant Taxprep Dashboard user.
If multiple users with the same email address exist in CCH iFirm, the mapping screen will be displayed to synchronize the relevant users.

When a new user is imported into CCH iFirm, the CCH iFirm username that will be created will consist of the first letter of the first name and the last name. For example, if the name is Alice Mathews, then the CCH iFirm username will be amathews.

The username can be easily modified later if needed by accessing the Users module and by changing the username in the Details tab.

When a new user is imported in CCH iFirm, he or she will receive a new user creation email from CCH iFirm to set a new password.

It is important to note that if a user is disabled in Taxprep Dashboard, he or she will be imported as an inactive user.

Also, if the user is not an admin in Taxprep Dashboard, the created user in CCH iFirm will have the security role Taxprep Dashboard - Access to Taxprep Dashboard only.

Users Settings

The Users settings can be accessed via the CCH iFirm settings, as shown below.

When accessing the User Manager window, a list of users present in CCH iFirm is displayed in two tabs: one for Active users and another one for Inactive users.

New users can be created in this module.

When creating new users, a Taxprep Dashboard license must be given to them, as shown below.

This video also gives you a glimpse of user creation in CCH iFirm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRKOXsFclwc

In the Security tab, two security roles related to Taxprep Dashboard can be associated with the user, as needed:

Taxprep Dashboard – Access to Taxprep Dashboard: This security role gives Taxprep Dashboard access rights to the user.

Taxprep Dashboard – Settings: This security role gives access to the Taxprep Dashboard settings to the user.

In the absence of these security roles, the user will not be able to see the respective section. For example, if the user does not have the Taxprep Dashboard – Settings security role, the user will not have access to the Taxprep Dashboard Settings section.

The Taxprep Dashboard tab in the user settings is accessible to Taxprep Dashboard admin users only.

Here, the admin can give users access to dashboards, as required. For example, an admin user can give user access to the dashboard settings for the Montréal dashboard in addition to the security roles, as security roles are not dashboard specific.

Assigning roles must also be done in this tab.

Note: In order to deactivate or disable a user, the admin will have to navigate to Settings > Users, select the user, and click the Deactivate button.

Also, in order to disable the user from Taxprep Dashboard, the admin will have to select that user, navigate to the Taxprep Dashboard tab, and click the Disable button.

The opposite is also true; if the admin wants to activate a user that was deactivated in the past, that user will have to be deactived in the User settings and disabled in the Taxprep Dashboard tab.

Modifications Made to Version 2021 v.2.0

Multiple dashboards – Manage cards more easily using multiple dashboards

Using multiple dashboards allows you to conveniently and efficiently manage your cards. Only users who have security rights to a particular dashboard will be able to access that dashboard. In addition, users can have rights to multiple dashboards and can select which dashboard they want to access. As a result, the cards will be displayed accordingly, which means that there is no need for an additional login or access.

For example, users can define a dashboard for Toronto, and another one for Montréal, which makes the card management very efficient.

Multiple dashboards are available for selection using a drop-down list. The drop-down list displays the dashboards for which the user has security rights.

In the following example, the user can select between two dashboards (Montréal and Toronto) and the name of the selected dashboard (Toronto) appears at the top of the screen and is identified by a check mark.

The user can rename the dashboard using the Dashboard Management feature as depicted below. If no name has been entered by the user, the default dashboard name will be displayed.

The user rights for access to multiple dashboards can be set using the User Management feature. In the following capture, all dashboards available for a particular user are displayed under the User Rights section. In addition, we can see that the user has security rights for both the Toronto and Montréal dashboards.

Using the filters and the Search field only display results for the selected dashboard.

For example, in the Montréal dashboard selected below, if the user searches for a card entitled Carol, the result of the search will display Mrs. Carol, which is a card in this dashboard.

If the user were to search for a card that is not part of this dashboard but part of another, the search results would be blank.

All other dashboard functionalities work the same way in multiple dashboards and in a single dashboard.

Note: Only one dashboard has been created by default in 2021. To have more than one 2021 dashboard, please submit a support ticket at http://support.cch.com/oss/canada.

The Taxprep Add-in displays the list of multiple dashboards which are named in the same manner as in the Dashboard Management feature. Otherwise, default names would be displayed. The selected dashboard will also be identified by a check mark.

If the user opens a client file that is not linked to the dashboard he or she is currently logged in, once the file is opened, the application will verify if the file is linked with the dashboard. If this is not the case, the user will be prompted with the following message: This file is not linked with the currently logged Dashboard. If you continue, a new card will be created for this file in the current dashboard. Do you want to continue?'

When the user clicks Yes, a new card will be created in the active dashboard. If the user clicks No, the pop-up will close, and the user will remain on the same screen. The user can then select the appropriate dashboard.

For example, if the user logged in on the Toronto dashboard and opens a file from Montréal dashboard, the application will validate before creating a card in the Toronto dashboard.

All other dashboard functionalities work the same way in multiple dashboards and in a single dashboard.

Modifications Made to Version 2021 v.1.0

Change in Bulk – Change the value of multiple cards in a single step

The Change in Bulk feature allows you to choose the value that you want to replace, the value with which you want to replace it and for which cards.

To access this new feature, click Change in Bulk from the drop-down menu at the top right corner. This feature will be accessible to the Admin as well as to all users who have the Access the dashboard and settings management right.

If the user does not have this right, the option will not be visible in the menu.

In the following example, we will be changing the return status for all cards whose office is set as Montreal.

The following dialog box will display once you click Change in Bulk.

In the displayed dialog box, you can select the settings to which you want to change from the desired drop-down menus.

The Update drop-down menu contains a list of fields that can be changed in bulk. The fields are the following:

Return Status
Category
Office
Each role present in the system (Including custom roles)

The Change to drop-down menu is populated by the values based on the selection made in the Update drop-down menu.

For example: If Category is selected from the Update drop-down menu, the Change to drop-down menu will be populated with values for the categories present in the system.

If you select the Return Status filter, the Change to drop-down menu will be populated with the system return status as shown below.

For this example, let us select Reviewed as the return status to which we want to change.

As depicted in the above image, the number of returns concerned by this change is displayed near the bottom.
The Return Filters section can be used to filter the number of cards to which this change should be applied to. The Return Filters section contains drop-down menus for:

Return Status

Category

Office

Each role present in the system (Including custom roles)

The drop-down menus for each filter will be populated from system values.

For this example, let us select Montreal from the Office drop-down menu.

As depicted in the above image, you can see that the number of returns concerned by this change has changed.

Once you click Apply, the return status of all the cards that have Montreal as an office will be changed to Reviewed.

The “Assigned to” section of the Filters will now display the “All Cards” accordingly

In the Filters section, once a user is selected in the Assigned To drop-down menu, we have the All cards options, which when selected, will display all the cards assigned to the selected user.

When the Cards ready to be worked on radio button is selected, the only cards that display are those in which the user has a role assigned.

For example: A user is selected in the Assigned to filter and the All Cards radio button is also selected. As depicted in the following image, four cards are assigned to the selected user.

The user has been assigned roles in the Ready step but has only been assigned the appropriate role for the Preparation step. Therefore, four cards are available for that user based on the selected All Cards option for that user.

Now, if we select Cards ready to be worked on, only the cards where the user has been assigned the appropriate role for the Preparation step would be displayed as shown below.

Accordingly, only one card is displayed as per the filter applied as depicted below.

Dashboard Management

Dashboard Management allows the user to rename the Dashboard.

To access the Dashboard Management page, select Configuration from the drop-down menu under your name, then click Dashboard Management on the left of your screen.

From there, rename the Dashboard and click Save. The change will be reflected in the Dashboard selection menu at the top left of the screen.

Note:
This feature is available in CCH iFirm Tracking v.2021.1.0.
This feature will be available for the Dashboard Add-in for Taxprep in the 2021 version.

Security Enhancement: User locked out after five successive incorrect login attempts

As a part of our security enhancement, if a user has five successive incorrect login attempts, the account will be temporarily blocked for 15 minutes. Once the block is lifted after 15 minutes, the user can login again.

Modifications Made to Version 2020 v.2.0

The following modifications have been made to this version of CCH iFirm Tracking:

Multiple options can now be selected in the Category and Office filters.
The Personal Taxprep Cellular field is now synchronized and visible in CCH iFirm Tracking.

Modifications Made to Version 2020 v.1.0

The following modifications have been made to this version of CCH iFirm Tracking:

The import of notes is now automatically performed during the card creation process in CCH iFirm Tracking. Therefore, the different options to import notes into the Link Client Files dialog box are no longer available. Please note that only the permanent notes will be imported.
Multiple options can now be selected in the Manager, Partner, Reviewer, Preparer and Assigned to filters.

Note that following some significant changes in Taxprep Plus, we recommend to all our clients using Taxprep Plus on a Remote Desktop Services environment with RemoteApp (RDS) to manually install the latest version of Taxprep Plus. To download Taxprep Plus, click the following link: https://taxdash-storage-cdn.taxprepplus.ca/bin/taxprepplus.prod/taxprepplus.exe.

For users who would like to install Taxprep Plus and CCH iFirm Tracking on a Remote Desktop Services environment with RemoteApp (RDS), we recommend following the new installation steps available at the following address: https://www2.taxprepdashboard.ca/help/en-ca/Content/Firm%20Setup/Install_RDS.htm.