Enterprise DNA

Instead of CCH Trust Manager

Stop renting CCH Trust Manager. Own your trust administration system.

We build your version around your client families, your deeds and the way your practice runs year end, bring your trust and people registers across and run it for you. Your practice keeps every trust, resolution, signature and letter.

Wolters Kluwer publishes no price for CCH Entities Trust Manager. Its listing for practices using Actionstep says "Price on application".

Get your version built See it working
  • check_circleYour data in a database you own
  • check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
  • check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA

What the subscription charges for

A trust register on a price you ask for

CCH Trust Manager is sold to practices on application, inside the wider CCH suite. What it holds is plain: trusts, the people in them, decisions, documents and dates. Compare that with your own trust records, where another trust, trustee or staff member costs nothing to add.

request_quote

A price you have to ask for

There is no published price to compare. You learn what it costs from a sales conversation, as part of a bundle.

inventory_2

A register you cannot take with you

Your trusts, people, roles and history sit in the vendor's system. Moving means exports, mapping and starting the history again.

gavel

The Act, as they read it

Health checks tell you something is wrong. You see the warning, not the section of the Trusts Act or the tax rule behind it.

description

Their templates, their wording

Resolutions, minutes and letters come from the vendor's precedent library. Your own wording is a set-up job.

bar_chart

The reports they chose to build

A trust summary for the annual meeting is there. Missed year-end deadlines by manager, or every beneficiary never told, depend on what they offer.

lock

Families' private affairs in a rented system

Who benefits, who lent what and who was left out is the most private record a practice holds. Today it sits in software you rent.

Your own trust desk

Start with the dates and duties the law sets

Year end

Every trust's year end, on one list

Each trust carries its balance date, its deed's resolution date and its distributions, so nothing slips past the window.

  • check New Zealand income vested or paid within 6 months of balance date, or flagged before it is taxed as trustee income
  • check Australian resolutions by 30 June, or by the earlier date in the deed, with a late one kept on the record as late
  • check Capital gains and franked distributions streamed inside the time the tax rules allow
  • check A draft distribution resolution with every current beneficiary and last year's figures beside it

Trustees

Decisions every trustee actually signed

A resolution records who signed and when, and only someone who was a trustee that day can sign it.

  • check A resolution one trustee has not signed flagged until they do, unless the deed lets a majority decide
  • check A new trustee comes with the deed of appointment, a copy of the deed and the letter to beneficiaries as next steps
  • check A retiring trustee's handover of documents tracked to the day
  • check A sole trustee who has become the sole beneficiary caught before the trust fails

Beneficiaries

What each beneficiary was told, and when

Basic trust information, trustee changes and requests are dated, with the reasons kept whenever the trustees hold something back.

  • check Every beneficiary never given basic trust information, and every decision to withhold with its reasons
  • check Trustee appointments and retirements notified as they occur
  • check A beneficiary's request on the clock from the day it arrives, and a refusal that needs reasons
  • check The beneficiary letter and the reply to a request drafted from the records, never sent without a person

Answers

Questions across every family and trust at once

Ask in plain English and get the answer from your own records.

  • check How much each trust still owes its settlors, and how much was forgiven in five years
  • check Who is a trustee of more than one trust, and which
  • check Which properties and businesses have not been valued in three years
  • check Which trusts vest in the next ten years, and what they hold

Make it yours

Design your own CCH Trust Manager replacement

Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from CCH Trust Manager. Try it here, and we build the real one.

2. What it runs

3. Make it fit

4. Your colour

Your business · your CCH Trust Manager replacement Your version
YB Your business

auto_awesome

Answered from your own database

Build my version

We build it from the open-source base, bring your CCH Trust Manager data across and run it for you.

What it looks like

Ask it like you would ask a colleague

Real answers from a fictional accounting practice in Hamilton with a Brisbane office, looking after seven trusts for four client families. Your trust administrator asks the question and checks the records behind the answer.

forum

Family Trusts for Claude Code

Connected to your own database

What needs my attention across our trusts this week?

basic information considered overdue

Ref
KWT
Detail
KWT: due 2022-03-15. Trusts Act 2019 s 51(4): consider at reasonable intervals; the interval here is 12 months

beneficiary income allocated overdue

Ref
WBT
Detail
WBT 2026: due 2026-09-30. Income Tax Act 2007 s HC 6(1B): vested or paid within 6 months of balance date, or it is taxed as tru...

information request answered overdue

Ref
WBT
Detail
REQ-0002: due 2026-10-27. Trusts Act 2019 s 52: within a reasonable period (20 days here)

not signed by every trustee

Ref
RES-WBT-001
Detail
WBT loan resolution of 2026-09-23: Aroha Ngata did not sign. Trusts Act 2019 s 38 (NZ) / the deed

sole trustee is the sole beneficiary

Ref
HWT
Detail
Henare Whānau Trust: Mere Henare holds every interest. Legal and beneficial ownership merge and the trust can fail. Appoint a s...

trustee appointment notified overdue

Ref
WFT
Detail
Tōtara Trustees Ltd: due 2022-07-31. Trusts Act 2019 s 51(3)(c): each appointment, removal and retirement, as it occurs (30 day...

trustee retirement notified overdue

Ref
WFT
Detail
Ian Walker: due 2022-07-30. Trusts Act 2019 s 51(3)(c): each appointment, removal and retirement, as it occurs (30 days here)

minor beneficiary income

Ref
WFT
Detail
Tom Walker (under 16 at year end) allocated 2400.00 NZD for 2026: over $1,000 is taxed at the trustee rate, not his or her own....

no copy of the deed

Ref
WFT
Detail
Tōtara Trustees Ltd is a trustee of Walker Family Trust and holds no copy of the deed or a variation. Trusts Act 2019 s 46(a)

outside the family group

Ref
OFT
Detail
James Holt received 5000.00 AUD for 2026 from a trust with a family trust election. Family trust distribution tax applies. ITAA...

trust vests due soon

Ref
HWT
Detail
HWT: due 2027-12-07 (400 days). The vesting day in the trust deed

unpaid entitlement to a company

Ref
OFT
Detail
Okafor Investments Pty Ltd is owed 60000.00 AUD from 2026 with no complying loan. Pay it or put it on a loan agreement by the c...

no TFN quoted

Ref
OFT
Detail
Ada Okafor is entitled for 2026 and has not quoted a TFN to the trustee. Withhold at the top rate from any payment (closely hel...

paid to someone else

Ref
OFT
Detail
Ada Okafor's 2026 distribution (DST-OFT-2026-6) was paid to Chidi Okafor. Check it against ITAA 1936 s 100A and the ATO's PCG 2...

action overdue

Ref
ACT-0001
Detail
KWT: Get a market appraisal of 33 Grenada Street (due 2026-10-21, Priya Shah)

annual review overdue

Ref
WFT
Detail
WFT: due 2026-07-30. House rule: trustees meet and minute a review every 12 months (Trusts Act 2019 s 23: know the terms; s 32:...

information request answered due soon

Ref
OFT
Detail
REQ-0003: due 2026-11-16. House rule: answer within 20 days, subject to the deed

not valued in 3 years

Ref
AST-KWT-1
Detail
KWT: 33 Grenada Street, Mount Maunganui (rental), last valued 2023-04-12

not valued in 3 years

Ref
AST-WBT-1
Detail
WBT: 100% of the shares in Walker Contracting Ltd, last valued 2022-09-24

Ask it anything

Questions answered from your trust records

These examples combine your own records across every family and trust at once. They are not a claim that CCH Trust Manager cannot produce a similar report.

chat_bubble What does each family hold in trust, and when was each trust last valued?
chat_bubble How much does each trust still owe its settlors, and how much was forgiven in the last five years?
chat_bubble Who has received the most from each family's trusts over the last four years?
chat_bubble Which legal and deed deadlines were missed or met late in the last three years, by manager?
chat_bubble How long after balance date does each trust make its distribution resolution?
chat_bubble Who is a trustee of more than one trust, and which?
chat_bubble Which beneficiaries have never been given basic trust information, and has anyone decided to withhold it?
chat_bubble Which beneficiaries are under 16, and what have they been allocated each year?
chat_bubble Which properties and businesses have not been valued in three years?
chat_bubble Which trusts vest in the next ten years, and what do they hold?

Switching

How to switch from CCH Trust Manager

A move involves exporting your trust and people registers, checking the import, then bringing across the other records and reviewing them before you stop using CCH Trust Manager.

  1. 1

    Export your registers

    Export the trust list and people register from CCH Trust Manager to Excel, then save each as CSV. The import reads common register headings and usual alternatives, including trust name, settlement date, vesting date, person name, role, appointment date and resignation date. If you cannot find the export options in your account, check with CCH Trust Manager.

  2. 2

    Test and load the registers

    Start with a test run of the two CSV exports. It checks how the records will be read without keeping anything. Once you have reviewed the test, load the trust and people records. Roles such as discretionary beneficiary and corporate trustee are read as written, so check that the source register uses the role names your team expects.

  3. 3

    Bring across the other records

    Bring across documents, resolutions, assets and loans as part of the setup. Documents, resolutions and distributions may need to be entered by hand or with Claude Code's help. Decide which history you need to carry over, and make sure the setup includes the records your team relies on for trust administration.

  4. 4

    Check the import results

    Review the test results and correct any rows the import reports as bad before loading the full records. One bad row stops the whole file, so do not assume the rest of that file has been imported. After loading, check the trust list, people and roles against CCH Trust Manager, then review the other records you brought across.

  5. 5

    Run both for a short time

    Keep CCH Trust Manager available while your team checks the new records and uses them for current work. Compare the records in both systems and resolve any gaps you find before relying on the new database alone. When the checks are complete and your team is ready to use the new records, switch off CCH Trust Manager.

construction

Where the real effort goes

The main work is usually mapping your own fields and house rules, then deciding how much history to bring across. The trust and people registers have an import path, while documents, resolutions and distributions can need hand entry or Claude Code's help. If Enterprise DNA runs the setup for you, they handle this migration work as part of bringing your records across.

Not ready for a call?

Get your CCH Trust Manager switch plan by email

We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off CCH Trust Manager, what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.

One email with your plan. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Three ways to make it yours

Start with the free trust desk or have your version built

Open source

Do it yourself

Free code

  1. 1 Clone the repo and run npm install, npm test and npm run demo.
  2. 2 Open it in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Cursor.
  3. 3 Export your trust list and people register to CSV and import them with --dry-run first.
  4. 4 Add the deeds with /add-document, then run /core-documents and /attention.
Get it on GitHub

Built around your business

We customise it

One setup fee, then a retainer

  • check Your own resolution, minutes and letter wording, in your practice's brand
  • check The rules your deeds set: resolution dates, majority clauses, notice periods
  • check Your CCH Trust Manager trusts, people, documents and recent resolutions brought across and checked
  • check A web front end for your team, or links to your document system and practice software, if you want them

Omni by Enterprise DNA

We run it for you

One setup fee, then a retainer

  • check Installed and operated through Omni by Enterprise DNA
  • check Access for every partner, manager and administrator with no charge per user, plus backups and restore checks
  • check The year end, unsigned resolutions and overdue beneficiary letters raised every morning
  • check The rules kept current as the Trusts Act and the tax rules change
Book a call with Sam

Questions

Instead of CCH Trust Manager, answered

Does this replace everything CCH Trust Manager does? expand_more

The free version covers trust administration: client families, trusts, the people register, trust property, settlor loans and gifting, resolutions and who signed them, distributions, the core documents and who holds a copy, and what each beneficiary was told or asked for. It does not store the document files themselves, has no portal for clients and ships short plain drafts rather than a precedent library. We build your own wording, the link to your document system and a front end on the same records if you want them.

Can we trust the rules it checks? expand_more

Each rule is written beside the section it comes from: the Trusts Act 2019, the Income Tax Act 2007, and the Australian tax rules for trust resolutions, streaming, family trust elections and unpaid entitlements to companies. The full list with sources ships with the free version so your team can check it. It records and checks; the trustees decide, and it is not legal or tax advice.

What happens to the trusts we already hold in CCH Trust Manager? expand_more

The trust list and the people register come across from an Excel export saved as CSV, with a test run first that keeps nothing. Roles such as discretionary beneficiary or corporate trustee are read as they are written. Documents, resolutions, assets and loans are brought across as part of the setup, so the history starts where yours does.

These are families' private affairs. Who can see them? expand_more

They sit in a database your practice owns, not a vendor's cloud. Records cannot be deleted, every change is logged with who made it, no tax file number or IRD number is stored for a person, and nothing is sent from the system: letters and resolutions are drafts a person reads and sends.

What do we pay Enterprise DNA? expand_more

One setup fee to build your version and bring your trust records across, then a monthly retainer if we run it for you. There is no charge per trust and none per user. Book a call and we will price it against what you pay for CCH Trust Manager today.

Own the records behind every family trust

Take 30 minutes with Sam to go through your trust software, how many trusts you look after and how your practice runs year end. We map your process and agree what your version needs before you change systems.

Book a 30-minute call with Sam Get the free version

Family Trusts for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.

Done paying for CCH Trust Manager?

Get your version built