The Treasury Department launched a pilot program Thursday to provide tax refunds on prepaid debit and payroll cards.

The unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 9.4 percent in December, as nonfarm payroll employment increased by 103,000.

Approximately 89 percent of public accountants in a recent survey believe that businesses will either hire more in 2011 than they did in 2010 or maintain the same employee count from 2010 in 2011.

Private-sector employment increased by 297,000 from November to December on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest report from payroll giant ADP.

Small business employment continued to show growth in December with hours worked up and wages flat, according to the latest update of the Intuit Inc. Small Business Employment Index.

Government data and service software developer Legal Data Research LLC has released Track1099.com, a Web-based service for 1099-MISC e-file and recipient e-delivery.

Few early signs of economic recovery will get as mixed a reception as the news that salaries in accounting are likely to rise in 2011.

eSmartPayroll, an IRS and state-authorized online payroll and e-file servicer for a variety of tax forms, has released W2Manager.com, a new Web site that provides W-2 reporting or electronic filing to the states as well as to the Social Security Administration for the IRS.

What do Oprah, the BP oil spill and Lindsay Lohan all have to do with each other? Could it be W-2 and 1099 forms?

The start of the New Year ushers in a series of new regulatory, compliance and legislative changes that could potentially affect every small business.

The Internal Revenue Service released instructions Friday to help employers implement the 2011 cut in payroll taxes that were included as part of the tax cut legislation passed by Congress late Thursday night, along with new income-tax withholding tables that employers will use during 2011 (see House Passes Extension of Bush Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits).

Approximately 13.4 million taxpayers who received the Making Work Pay Credit that was included in the economic stimulus bill may end up owing taxes, according to a new government report.

IMGCAP(1)]Several months ago, I got an e-mail from a young CPA asking my advice about whether he should stay with his firm, or leave to start his own. He was depressed. He had lost respect for his partners during the recession, when the firm made what seemed like overreaching layoffs. In addition, they'd stripped away perks like telecommuting that he and many of his colleagues valued. And at the end of 2009, the firm leaders quietly celebrated a "very profitable year." Deeply saddened by this behavior at a firm he once loved, he wondered if it was time to move on.

While flexibility at work and work/life balance remain important for young staff in CPA firms, advancement opportunities and compensation rank higher on a list of what they want out of their job. They also want their partners to communicate better about what success means.

Former President Bill Clinton stood alongside President Barack Obama at a news conference and endorsed Obama’s deal with congressional Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc. has acquired online payroll processor SurePayroll for an undisclosed amount.

A net 2 percent of CFOs said they plan to hire full-time accounting and finance professionals in the first quarter of 2011, according to a new survey.

After a dramatic drop last quarter, CPA executives regained modest optimism in the past three months about the prospects for the U.S. economy, but still believe the recovery will be slow and are cautious about expansion and hiring plans.

After 38 years at the Big Four firm Deloitte, with the last seven of them as chairman of the board, Sharon Allen is retiring from her post in May 2011.

CBIZ found a 0.44 percent decrease in its Small Business Employment Index in November, after posting an increase of 0.73 percent in October.