Many private businesses are planning to maintain their current staffing levels this year, according to accountants surveyed by financial information provider Sageworks.

The unemployment rate dipped a tenth of a percentage point to 7.6 percent in March, although hiring slowed to 88,000 jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, with 11,000 jobs added in accounting and bookkeeping services.

Month-over-month hiring declined 0.2 percent in March at small businesses and the average paycheck size fell 0.1 percent, according to payroll provider SurePayroll, but optimism among small business owners rose.

While small businesses again appear to be hiring, plans to create more jobs appear to be slackening, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

Employment at small businesses in the U.S. grew a slight amount in March, with employees earning more money and working more hours, but revenues mostly dropping, according to Intuit.

Private sector employers added a total of 158,000 jobs in March, according to payroll giant ADP, with growth occurring across all sizes of companies and many industries such as finance, with the notable exception of construction.

Big Four firm deloitte launched its new leadership Center for inclusion in early March with a celebration, informational sessions and tours of its deloitte University campus in Westlake, Texas, the epicenter for this renewed commitment to evolved diversity education.

After years of languishing as a peripheral accounting service, payroll has become one of the hottest trends adopted by CPA firms.

More than half of working Americans either have not noticed or been unaffected by the January 1 expiration of the payroll tax cut, according to a new survey.

ADP has introduced ADP SmartCompliance, a set of outsourced services to assist organizations with tax, employment and payroll compliance.

The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 7.7 percent as employment increased by 236,000 in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Employment in the private sector rose by 198,000 jobs in February, according to payroll giant ADP, fueled by a long-awaited rebound in the construction industry and healthy increases in a broad array of other sectors.

Sage North America has released Product Update 1 for Sage 300 ERP 2012, including – among other improvements -- 20 new enhancements to the Payroll module designed to simplify payroll processing and improve payroll reporting and compliance.

Epicor Software Corp. has unveiled its latest human capital management (HCM) product Epicor HCM version 5.7.1, including HCM Mobile Connect which provides access to users for daily tasks via Apple, iPad, iPhone or Android devices.

I recently had the interesting task of facilitating a group discussion on the topic of mentoring programs among representatives of CPA firms throughout the U.S. The participants were members of the Human Resources Practice Group of BKR International, an association that has more than 150 independent accounting and business advisory firms worldwide.

A New York judge has given the go-ahead for a class-action lawsuit against KPMG by female employees claiming gender discrimination by the firm.

The average paycheck size rose slightly by 0.6 percent in terms of gross pay in January, according to payroll provider SurePayroll, although employees still lost money in their take-home pay from the expiration of the payroll tax cut.

Sir Ken Robinson, a speaker and author with expertise on education, creativity and innovation, describes how firms can follow the model of Zappos in getting staff members more engaged with the firm, during an interview with Accounting Today senior editor Danielle Lee at the Winning Is Everything conference in Las Vegas.

The Internal Revenue Service is making progress in the management of its employees but faces continued challenges, according to a new report.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January, but the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point to 7.9 percent.