House Republicans have passed an extension of the payroll tax cut for another year, but Senate Democrats have vowed to defeat the bill when it comes up for a vote Wednesday.

Plante Moran has hired 135 accounting, tax and consulting interns and professionals and entry-level staff who are slated to start January 1.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex has unveiled BuildMyBiz.com, a Web site providing tools and other resources to help start, manage and grow small and midsized businesses.

Small business hiring is trending is slightly higher, according to payroll provider CBIZ.

Optimism among small business owners stayed relatively the same in November as in October, according to payroll provider SurePayroll.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered Monday to compromise on how to pay for the payroll tax cut extension in an effort to convince more Republican lawmakers to vote for the bill.

The nation’s unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 8.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009.

Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to muster the necessary number of votes to pass two competing bills to extend the expiring payroll tax cut on Thursday night.

Offering payroll services to clients has long been seen as either a reluctant necessity or an essential service for CPA firms.

Accounting firms are going back to basics in their retention efforts, with renewed focus on establishing and building a quality culture.

Senate Republicans are offering their own legislation to extend the payroll tax cut while avoiding an extra surtax on millionaires.

Employees at small businesses made less money in November than in October and were working fewer hours, even though 55,000 new jobs were added at small businesses in November, according to Intuit.

Jobs in the private sector shot up by 206,000 in November, according to payroll giant ADP, outperforming most forecasts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday that he plans to introduce legislation this week that would extend the payroll tax cut that is due to expire at the end of the year.

President Barack Obama told an audience in New Hampshire on Tuesday that their taxes would go up an average of $1,000 to $1,500 unless the payroll tax cut were extended and expanded as part of his jobs bill.

ADP said Monday that small businesses using the company’s online payroll management offering, RUN Powered by ADP, along with those utilizing its human resources outsourcing product ADP TotalSource, will now be able to access the ADP Mobile Solutions app.

The House overwhelmingly passed legislation repealing the 3 percent withholding mandate on government contractors, along with a tax credit for hiring veterans.

Web-based accounting and business application developer Paramount Software has released several new features in its Crest Payroll system, including support for Web-enabled mobile devices, reporting of new hires to all states, client log-in access from a firm’s existing Web site, and the ability to move between fully automated or self-managed modes for all payroll processes.

ADP has signed a partnership with NextGen Software Inc. to create the i2x Integration Suite for ADP Invoice, an electronic invoice and receipt submission application.

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