Linking CCH Trust Accounts to CCH Central

Linking

What this means is that certain details relating to the client are held in CCH Central and, although they are shown in CCH Trust Accounts, they cannot be edited in CCH Trust Accounts. The way this works is as follows:

• When a new client is created in CCH Trust Accounts, the user has the option of creating it from a client that already exists in CCH Central.  If the user chooses to do so, they are asked to select the CCH Central client before being taken to the normal CCH Trust Accounts Edit Client screen.  On this screen the fields that come from CCH Central are disabled and cannot be edited.  Other fields that are not present in Central can be entered in the usual way.
• Within Edit Client there is a button available to either Link or Unlink a client.  This means that clients can be linked as required.  For instance, it might be useful to create a test client in Trust Accounts that is not linked to one in CCH Central.
• On the Client List all the clients that are linked to CCH Central are indicated with an asterisk.
• If the name or address of a client is changed in CCH Central it is not immediately updated in CCH Trust Accounts.  Instead it is updated the next time a user goes into edit the client or double-clicks to work on the client.  This is called 'resyncing' the client.
• If a list of clients is produced, through Reports > List of Clients, all the CCH Trust Accounts clients are resynced. There is also an option available to Resync all the clients in Database Parameters > Other > Link to CCH Central.
• If a Trust Accounts client is linked to CCH Central and then deleted from CCH Trust Accounts, then it is automatically unlinked first. If the CCH Trust Accounts client has any Accounting Periods in CCH Central then they are deleted as well, but the CCH Central client is not deleted.
• If a Trust Accounts client is linked to CCH Central, it should not be deleted from Central. If it is deleted from Central, then warnings will appear in CCH Trust Accounts when CCH Trust Accounts  tries to access the CCH Central client. To stop the warnings, unlink the CCH Trust Accounts client.
• No extra software is required to link CCH Trust Accounts to CCH Central.  CCH Trust Accounts can be either the C-Tree version or the SQL Server version.

Preferences

Trust Accounts needs to know where the Central programs are located. This path is set up in Preferences > Local Options > Links > AP … The screen is as follows:

Tick the option Accounts Production, click button AP… and browse to the location of ClientFramework.exe, which is the executable program for CCH Central.
This needs to be done on each workstation that uses Trust Accounts because, at least in theory, each workstation could have the Central programs installed in a different location.

Database Parameters

Trust Accounts also needs to know where the Central database is located. This is set up in Activities > System Management > Database Parameters > Other > Link to CCH Central.

On this screen are entered the fields necessary for Trust Accounts to access the Central database.  The fields are:

• Server name Central’s Server name, e.g. MYSERVER\CCH2008
• Database name, e.g. Central
• SQL Database User for Central. The program will provide the CCH default, but this can be overridden if the system administrator has changed it.
• Password for the SQL Database User. Again the program will provide the CCH default.

After entering these details and pressing OK: 

• The system asks “Do you have any other Trust Accounts databases linked to this Central database?” Only one Trust Accounts database can be linked to a Central database. So answer No.
• The Central Address Type is requested. Central can maintain more than one address per client.  Addresses are identified by an Address Type, e.g. Home Address or Business Address. Select the one to be shown in Trust Accounts’ Edit Client screen. Most users select Main, but often the choice does not matter because most trusts do not have an address.
• Exit Trust Accounts and re-enter for the link to become effective.