RSM McGladrey saw tax services revenue fall by 6.8 percent for the third quarter ended January 31 as sluggish client demand led to lower rates and fewer chargeable hours. The tax services revenue is part of Block's Business Services segment, which is comprised by RSM McGladrey and RSM EquiCo. The latter, a separate reporting unit, assists clients with capital markets transactions. Tax services revenue dropped to just under $73 million in the quarter end ended, down from $78.3 million a year earlier.

Among other sectors, revenue from accounting services dropped to $11.9 million in the most recently ended period, down 14.6 percent from $13.9 million. The drop stemmed from the same factors pushing the tax income. Total Business Services revenue fell to $178.5 million, down 3.6 percent from $185.2 million a year ago.

The same patterns held for the nine-month totals with revenue from tax services falling to $251.3 million, down  5.2 percent from $265.2 million in last year's first third quarters. Revenue from accounting services to $35.9 million for the fiscal year to date, down 10.8 percent from $40.3 million. Business consulting revenue rose to just over $192 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2010, up 2.5 percent from $187.1 million a year ago.