The economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, providing some measure of comfort for President Barack Obama who faces re-election in November.

Small business owners’ optimism about the economy held steady in January, according to payroll provider SurePayroll.

Small business-focused cloud accounting software developer Wave Accounting has released its first online payroll tool, Wave Payroll, initially targeted toward Canadian users, with a U.S. version planned for mid-2012.

Private sector employers added 170,000 jobs in January, according to the monthly national employment report from payroll giant ADP, which saw most of the gains in small and midsized businesses come in the service sector.

It was the heart of the college football Bowl Championship Series last month, when approximately 150 deans, faculty and administrators from prominent business schools gathered in New York for Ernst & Young's Campus Diversity and Inclusiveness Roundtable.

The younger generation was a popular talking point during the recent Winning Is Everything conference in Las Vegas.

Payroll provider Paychex is offering a free federal and state tax practice sheet that accountants can pass along as a tax season gift to their clients, branded with the CPA practice’s own name.

Succession planning, recruiting, M&A and developing top talent and pricing pressures were among several front-burner issues that came to the forefront during a roundtable discussion by members of the Advisory Board.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex has acquired Icon Time Systems, an online and PC-based time and attendance products concern for small businesses.

CBIZ’s Small Business Employment Index increased sharply in December, the largest jump in two years.

The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as employers added 200,000 jobs.

The private sector added 325,000 jobs in December, according to payroll giant ADP, the largest monthly gain since December 2010.

Small businesses added 55,000 new jobs in December and employees worked longer hours last month, according to figures from Intuit.

IMGCAP(1)]I travel quite a bit and have the luxury of seeing a lot of different accounting practices and management styles.

Sage North America has released Sage Simply Accounting 2012 English/Spanish, with new features geared towards providing payroll processes with increased efficiency and compliance for bilingual small businesses.

Optimism among small business owners grew significantly in December, according to the latest survey by SurePayroll.

This issue of Generational Viewpoints features two individuals from Kennedy and Coe llC (www.kcoe.com), a Salina, Kan.-based top 100 firm with over 200 professionals. Generation X member Jeff Wald, born in 1972, and Baby Boomer chief executive Kurt Siemers, born in 1948, shared their responses to the following question:

When Elizabeth Taylor died last year, she left a legacy of iconic movie performances, philanthropy, and lots and lots of diamonds. It was among these incredible baubles at Christie's auction house, where they have since been sold for astronomical sums, that members of global women's network 85 Broads convened to ask the popular question: Where are all the women?

In a bit of good news despite a still-uncertain economy, compensation for accounting professionals is expected to rise some 3.5 percent overall in 2012, continuing its upward momentum from the prior year.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to issue additional guidance on the temporary two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, including how a new “recapture” provision for high-income employees will be implemented.