CCH Axcess is the US cloud platform for accounting and tax firms from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. This article covers the Axcess Engagement licence types and the CCH Online Content terms of use, which also govern content subscriptions and ancillary services such as VitalLaw Client Share.
CCH Axcess Engagement licences
CCH Axcess Engagement is a workpaper and engagement application. The product help states: “There are four types of licenses your firm can purchase to work in CCH Axcess Engagement, Tax , Attest , Knowledge Coach and Knowledge Coach PCR.”[1] The first two, Tax and Attest, are the core functionality types for an engagement, while a Knowledge Coach licence adds practice aids on top. The page was revised on 8/18/2026. See Axcess Engagement is licensed as Tax, Attest, Knowledge Coach and Knowledge Coach PCR.
What each licence allows
| Licence | Engagement use described | Add-ons it enables |
|---|---|---|
| Tax | Trial balance, reports and basic workpaper management; typically less complex work such as preparations, compilations or tax return preparations | Knowledge Coach PCR titles can be added to Tax engagements |
| Attest | Trial balance, reports and advanced workpaper management, including links into Word and Excel workpapers and workpaper and engagement locking; typically reviews and audits | Knowledge Coach audit practice aids can be added to Attest engagements |
| Knowledge Coach | Audit practice aids and forms | Added to Attest engagements |
| Knowledge Coach PCR | Practice aids for Tax-type engagements | Added to Tax engagements |
[1] The help page also lists, in a table, which engagement functions each licence type provides, so the licence mix determines what a firm’s staff can do.
Analytics
“Analytics allow you to utilize the Data Analytics capabilities in an Engagement.” The page states that analytics “requires the use of an Attest module license”, and that an Attest license is used for an engagement to use this capability, with or without Knowledge Coach.[1] A firm planning to use analytics on a less complex engagement still consumes an Attest licence. See Axcess Analytics requires an Attest licence.
What is not documented here
The licence help page does not define how a licence is counted (per user, per engagement or per firm), the term or the price. The Axcess engagement licence row therefore records only the licence types and the Analytics prerequisite.
CCH Online Content Services terms of use
The Terms of Use for CCH Online Content Services (dated 25 September 2024) apply to CCH online content, software, titles, tools, APIs and data, together “the Online Services”. Access is allowed only to a person who is “an authorized user pursuant to an agreement or order between CCH Incorporated or one of its affiliates or businesses” and a customer, called a Customer Agreement, and only to the Online Services made available by that agreement. If the Terms of Use conflict with a Customer Agreement, the Customer Agreement governs.[2] See Online Services may be used only by authorised users under a Customer Agreement.
Authorised use and restrictions
The Online Services are licensed “for your internal management, research, reference and informational purposes or for providing professional services to your clients”. Unless expressly permitted, the following are excluded:
- redistribution, retransmission, publication, transfer or commercial exploitation, including as part of professional services to clients or under a services bureau, time-sharing or outsourcing arrangement;
- reverse engineering, decompiling or modification;
- automated copying, scraping, mining or ingestion of the services in their entirety or in lengthy sequence, or storing them in a third-party application;
- creating an archive of the services; and
- using the services to create, develop or improve software or tools, expressly including machine learning or artificial intelligence.[2]
Text and data mining within the meaning of the EU Digital Single Market copyright directive is separately prohibited as a reservation of rights.[2] For an organisation that wants to feed CCH content into an internal AI tool, these two clauses mean written permission is needed, which “may entail payment of additional fees.” See Services-bureau and outsourcing use of Online Services is restricted.
Permissions
Users may make printouts and distribute materials within fair use under US copyright law, download, store and distribute insubstantial amounts of select materials in machine-readable form consistent with authorised use, and quote insubstantial amounts in memoranda and similar work. Any other use needs written permission from an authorised CCH representative.[2]
Credentials, APIs and integrations
Users must not “give or make available your username or password, or IP automatic access or other means to access your account, to any other individual”, and remain responsible for all access via their credentials.[2] Shared logins are therefore not permitted, which matters when counting authorised users. See Usernames and passwords may not be shared.
CCH may license APIs for integrations consistent with authorised use. CCH owes no support for them, services around integrations carry additional fees, an integration may be used only while the subscription is active, integrations must not use open-source software under copyleft licences such as the GNU GPL or LGPL, and CCH may disable an integration it reasonably believes is inconsistent with authorised use or harms the services.[2]
Term, changes and trials
The term of access is governed by the Customer Agreement. Access ends automatically if the user violates the authorised-use provisions, and CCH may terminate on written notice if another provision is breached and not cured within 30 days. CCH may remove content, replace the platform or revise the terms, and revisions bind the user from the next renewal of the Customer Agreement; if CCH removes a publication or discontinues a platform it issues a substitute or a credit against paid fees.[2] Trial use is for evaluation only and is subject to the same terms.
Liability and law
For subscriptions, the total aggregate liability of CCH and related parties is capped at the fees paid in the six months preceding the claim, which is shorter than the 12-month period in the UK and Ireland terms.[2][3] The terms are governed by New York law and the New York courts, unless the Customer Agreement specifies another state or country. See CCH liability on subscriptions is capped at six months of fees.
VitalLaw Client Share
The additional terms for VitalLaw Client Share allow a customer to share certain CCH content through its own client portal. The “web share components” may not be shared with third parties other than the customer’s vendors performing work for it, must sit in a password-protected portal area and may not have their look and feel changed without written approval. Access to the content through the portal may be free to clients but may not be provided for remuneration. The key metric is stated in one sentence: “VitalLaw Client Share is sold on a per registered user basis and limited to the number of users reflected in the Customer Agreement.” On written request CCH shares the names and email addresses of registered users and disables users the customer identifies within 3 business days, and disabled registrations become available to new users.[2] See VitalLaw Client Share is sold per registered user and the registered user metric.
Because disabled registrations can be reused, a customer can keep within its limit by pruning registrations on a schedule rather than buying more. The same request route lets the customer audit the list CCH holds.
Data protection annex
The terms include a data protection annex with standard contractual clauses and a UK international data transfer agreement. It describes CCH as controller of limited authentication data such as names, business email and passwords, and states that platforms are not meant to store client confidential or personally identifiable information.[2]
Out of scope
This article does not cover CCH Axcess modules other than Engagement (for example Tax or Workstream), pricing, the knowledge-base rules on licence keys and grace periods, or the AMA content terms for Mediregs.