DEXTER, Mich. – Thomson Reuters wrapped up SYNERGY 2015, the company’s 35^th annual Users’ Conference for tax and accounting professionals, in Orlando, Florida last week. This year’s conference highlighted the company’s customer-centric approach to developing new solutions for the profession, featuring its popular customer Ideas Communities, a hands-on product Innovation Lab, meetings with product partners, and dedicated sessions focused on user experience.

"This has been one of the most productive conferences I have been to in my career," said Ryan Niedoba, chief operating officer of Niedoba, Beppel & Co, LLC. "The presentations and speakers are all top notch. Most importantly, Thomson Reuters focus on the customer, their commitment to the profession, and their efforts to provide continuous product demos made this an invaluable experience. I look forward to returning next year, with partners and team in tow!"

The CS Professional Suite Ideas Communities are online groups where customers are encouraged to suggest ideas for new product features and enhancements. Community members vote for and comment on the ideas. There are currently seven product communities with over 14,000 active community members. Over 1,200 ideas have been implemented in Thomson Reuters product releases based directly on customer suggestions.

“The Ideas Community is a tremendously helpful tool for all users of Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting products,” said Ryan McCowan, CPA.CITP, principal with Greene McCowan & Co., PLLC. “From the largest firm to sole practitioners, from the managing partner to the front desk admin, the Ideas Community gives everyone a voice.”

The Innovation Lab, which debuted at last year’s SYNERGY Conference, is where customers previewed new product and service innovations, with the goal of gathering customer feedback on user experience, functionality, and usability. The lab encouraged attendees to explore Thomson Reuters Onvio, the newly announced next-generation, cloud-based platform of integrated tax and accounting applications delivered across a single platform. The lab also featured a product demo theater, highlighting Onvio Documents and Onvio Client Center, as well as a preview of future releases; a feedback station that allowed customers to provide their thoughts on the future design of Onvio; and an experience station, where customers could interact with the mobile version of Onvio Documents on tablets.

“At Thomson Reuters, we are dedicated to making the lives of our customers and their clients better by providing products that are seamlessly integrated, always connected , and easy to use,” said Jon Baron, managing director of the Professional segment with the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. “Customer feedback is an essential part of the product development process. Because exceeding customer expectations is our goal, we regularly monitor and seek out customer insights in order to enhance our current products and develop new, innovative solutions.”

To support the focus on our customers, the Thomson Reuters Professional segment has a cross-functional Customer Excellence team that continuously monitors user experience and works on initiatives to improve it. In addition to customer journey mapping, which outlines the touch points that a customer has with any staff member, the team engages customers with quarterly satisfaction surveys, annual product surveys, regional customer events, and at the annual SYNERGY Users’ Conference.

The longest running professional conference of its kind, SYNERGY 2015, the 35^th annual Users' Conference, was also our largest on record, with nearly 1,500 attendees. The conference continues more than three decades of growth since the event began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1981. Over the years, the annual conference has evolved into one of the profession's premiere venues for sharing insights, exchanging ideas, and gaining hands-on experience with the latest technology in the tax and accounting profession.

Join us again at SYNERGY 2016, scheduled for November 2-5 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. For more information about the conference, visit cs.thomsonreuters.com/synergy.

To learn more about the CS Professional Suite Ideas Communities or to become a member, visit tax.thomsonreuters.com/cs-professional-suite/ideas-communities.

Thomson Reuters
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