The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission Defense voted to consolidate 26 defense finance and accounting service centers into five locations, two more than originally proposed by the Pentagon.

American Express' foray into acquiring and operating accounting firms has ended.

BST Advisory Network LLC will merge its operations with Ferraro Andrie CPAs PC of Saratoga Springs effective Oct. 1, creating a fraud and forensic accounting team alternative north of New York City.

Looking to expand its geographic reach, accounting firm Wiss & Co. LLP has formally merged with The Distinctive Group in an agreement effective Aug. 1.

Schneider Downs & Co. Inc., with offices in Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, announced a deal to merge with BKR Longanbach Giusti LLC, another Columbus-based accounting firm.

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland LLP, a regional accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the southeast, merged northern Virginia's Soza Associates PC into its accounting and consulting group.

Management consulting firm Navigant Consulting Inc. will acquire Canadian forensic accounting practice Kroll Lindquist Avey for $20 million.

Convergys Corp., a provider of customer care, human resources and billing services, completed its acquisition of the finance and accounting business process outsourcing line of Deloitte Consulting Outsourcing LLC, a subsidiary of Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Midwest accounting heavyweight Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co. LLP has acquired southwestern Florida firm Girardin, Briant & Baldwin LLC in a merger effective Aug. 1.

Auto-parts manufacturer Visteon Corp. expects to report a loss of $1.2 billion in its second quarter after reducing the value of assets it will transfer to Ford Motor Co.

As part of a plan for strategic growth, Citrin Cooperman & Company LLP recently announced that it will take on four partners from the boutique New York firm Weinick Sanders Leventhal.

Time Warner Inc. will set aside $3 billion in reserves for shareholder lawsuits over the AOL merger, and in a separate announcement, plaintiff lawyers said that accounting firm Ernst & Young, the company's auditor, has agreed to contribute another $100 million.

Armanino McKenna LLP, one of the largest accounting

Tax preparation giant H&R Block Inc. will acquire the Tax & Business Services division of American Express, creating a combined firm with more than 5,000 employees and generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Much has changed at J.H. Cohn from its start 85 years ago in Newark, N.J., to its current status as one of the largest independent accounting firms in the country with offices in New York, New Jersey, California and the Cayman Islands.

Connecticut's Kostin, Ruffkess & Company LLC, a business advisory and accounting firm, will merge with Springfield, Mass.- based CPA firm Themistos & Dane, in September.

Risk consulting and internal audit services provider Protiviti Inc. acquired Philadelphia-based Lender Advisory Services, a unit of national CPA firm RSM McGladrey.

Immediatech Corp., the developer of GoFileRoom, a Web-based document management service for CPA firms, has had its GoFileRoom business acquired by the Thomson Corp.

New York-area firm Weiser LLP has merged in area CPA and business advisory firm Weiner, Dailey, Katz & Co., a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based practice that has forged a strong client niche in the auto industry. Terms were not disclosed.

Looking to accelerate its growth in the online and packaged software tax industry, H&R Block yesterday acquired San Diego-based TaxNet Inc., a provider of customized online tax services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.