Using Correspondence Manager Inside a Return

Important: This topic describes how Correspondence Manager functions when opened in a tax return. For information about using the Correspondence Manager window when opened from Dashboard, click in the upper-right corner of that window.

Access Rights to Correspondence Manager

You must have access rights to edit correspondence. Access rights can be assigned to security groups. The functional rights are located in the Security Group Profile on the Tax tab. There are two functional rights for correspondence:

  • Access Correspondence Libraries. Grants rights to edit correspondence in a Correspondence Manager library.
  • Modify letters for return. Grants access to Correspondence Manager to edit letters in a return.

Opening Correspondence Manager Inside a Return

You access letters by clicking Letters,, on the Review tab or by selecting Print Preview from the Application menu or Print window.

To open Correspondence Manager from inside a return, do the following:

  1. In CCH Axcess™ Tax, open a return with correspondence.
  2. Calculate the return if it has not been previously calculated or if you made changes to the return since the last calculation.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • Click Letters,, in the Overview group on the Review tab. All letters prepared from the return display on the navigation panel.
    • Click Preview on a Print window to open the Print Preview window.
  4. Select a correspondence item on the navigation panel to preview.
  5. Click Edit to open the Correspondence Manager window, displaying the selected letter in the Word pane.

    6. Note: The Edit button is disabled for the following reasons:

    • You may not have the necessary functional rights to access Correspondence Manager. The functional rights are located on the Tax tab in the security group profile. Please see your system administrator.
    • You may be previewing standard filing instructions, selected in a return on the Filing Instructions and Cover Letter form or the Letters and Filing Instructions worksheet. Correspondence Manager does not manage standard filing instructions. See Return Options for more information about the differences in selecting alternate and standard filing instructions.
    • You may be previewing a document that was not rendered from Correspondence Manager.

The Correspondence Manager Window

Correspondence Manager opened from Tax includes features to review or edit existing correspondence that applies to an open return and to select the letters to print with the return.

Commands

Most of the features used in Correspondence Manager are accessed from commands found on the Application menu, Quick Access Toolbar, and ribbon.

ClosedApplication Menu

The Application menu contains the available actions for CCH Axcess™  product. The menu also provides access to user options and, if applicable, a list of recently accessed records. Click in the upper-left corner of the window to display the menu and view the available options.

ClosedQuick Access Toolbar

By default, the Quick Access Toolbar is located beside the Application button and is used to access the commands you use most frequently.

You can click the down arrow on the Quick Access Toolbar to display the menu and change the toolbar position either above or below the tabs.

ClosedTabs

Tabs on the ribbon are used throughout CCH Axcess and replace the menus used in previous versions. Commands are organized on the Letters tab. Tab commands provide another option to perform an action, in addition to the Application menu and right-click menus.

The following additional ribbon features are available.

  • Minimize. You can minimize the ribbon by right-clicking the ribbon and selecting Minimize the Ribbon from the menu or by double-clicking the ribbon.
  • KeyTips. Each tab on the ribbon and each feature in a ribbon have corresponding keyboard commands. Press the Alt key to display the shortcuts and use your keyboard to execute ribbon commands.
  • ScreenTips. A description and, if applicable, a keyboard shortcut displays when you hover your mouse over each ribbon command.

Navigation Panel

The navigation panel, located on the left of the Correspondence Manager window, is divided into three sections, each organized under a navigation bar. The following sections can be expanded and collapsed by clicking a section's navigation bar:

  • Letters and Filing Instructions. Lists the letter types and letters applicable to the return. All letters that are enabled for each letter type are rendered and can be viewed. Letters that are selected to print with returns are denoted with an asterisk (*).
  • Paragraph Library. Organizes standard paragraphs defined by the system as well as any custom paragraphs. Only those paragraphs that are rendered for the selected letter display in the paragraph tree. The Search box above the list of paragraphs locates objects in the library.
  • Keyword Library. Displays keywords defined by the system as well as data populated from the open return in a grid. The Data column in the Keyword Library shows the keywords that were converted to text in the return. You can also drag a keyword from the Keyword Library to a letter in the Word pane. Keywords and data that you add to the open letter display in blue font in the library.

See Managing Correspondence Letters Inside a Return for more information about the navigation panel.

Word Pane

The Microsoft® Word pane displays to the right of the libraries. Word maintains many of its functionality and displays menu and tab options that are separate from the Correspondence Manager window. The New, Open, Save, Close, and Exit commands are not available in the Word pane. These functions are available on the Correspondence Manager Application menu, ribbon, and library context menus.

  • When you open Correspondence Manager from Dashboard, a blank document displays in the Word pane. To display a letter or paragraph in the Word pane, select it from a library on the navigation panel.
  • When you open Correspondence Manager from Batch Manager, a blank document displays in the Word pane. Select Organizer letter templates from the Letter Template Library to display in the Word pane.
  • When you open Correspondence Manager from inside a return, the letter on the Print Preview window displays in the Word pane. You can enter content directly in this document, or you can drag keywords and paragraphs from the libraries when editing letter templates.

The Word pane has the same view settings as your last session of Microsoft® Word outside of Correspondence Manager.

You can resize the Word pane to enlarge or reduce the viewable area of the open document and the Correspondence Manager libraries. To resize the pane, click the divider between the Word pane and the libraries to display double arrows, and then drag the divider left or right. The default Word pane size is applied when you reopen Correspondence Manager.

Note: You must have one of the following versions installed:

  • Microsoft® Office Standard edition of Word 2013 or 2016
  • Microsoft® Office Home & Business edition of Word 2013 or 2016
  • Microsoft® Office 365™, locally installed
  • Microsoft® Office 2019

Preview Pane

The Preview pane, located below the Word pane, displays a preview of a standard paragraph, custom paragraph, or paragraph condition. Collapse and expand the pane by clicking the double down arrows in the Preview title bar. For more information, see Previewing Paragraphs and Paragraph Conditions.

Status Bar

The status bar, displayed at the bottom of the window, displays information about the active element. The information displayed on the status bar varies depending on where the cursor is in the text. Some examples of the information displayed on the status bar are as follows:

  • Role description of the current user
  • Current mode (for example, New Letter Template or Edit Letter Template)
  • Name of a template, when it is saved
  • The path of a selected or open paragraph, including the letter type and name, paragraph section, reference ID, and the first 125 characters of the paragraph text
  • Category and name of a keyword
  • Keyword reference information