H&R Block has named William C. Cobb, a former eBay executive, as its new president and CEO who will replace Alan Bennett, who is retiring in September. Meanwhile, the company said the number of returns it prepared for the tax season was up by 6.1 percent over the 2009 tax season, as the number of online tax returns increased. However, the overall growth lagged both rival chain, Liberty Tax, and sales of Intuit's TurboTax, which both rose by 11.1 percent for the same period.
Cobb, who joined the Block board in August, will take over on May 16. He served as president of eBay's Marketplaces division and was also responsible for eBays affiliated businesses, StubHub and Rent.com. He also held executive positions at Pepsico and Yum Brands.
The company said that between Nov. 1, 2010 and April 18, it prepared 20.8 million returns, compared to 19.6 million last year. Retail returns reached 14.4 million, up 4 percent, while digital tax returns rose 12 percent to 6.4 million.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind