H&R Block had reached an agreement with its bank to provide refund anticipation loans for the upcoming tax season. But that agreement was wiped out by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency which has barred HSBC from providing funding for both RALs and refund transfers. The decision gives Block's competitors Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax a big advantage in the upcoming tax season as both will be offering refund loans.

Paychex, which plans to keep SurePayroll operating as a separately entity, is looking at incorporating the payroll package in its CPA program once the purchase of the online payroll company is complete. Moreover, Paychex sees SurePayroll as the vehicle for reaching do-it-yourselfers who use pen or pencil to handle payroll filings, according to CEO Martin Mucci. Mucci also noted that SurePayroll will get a bigger push as Paychex ramps up marketing overall.

Paychex reported a 6-percent increase in net income on 3-percent increase in net income for the second quarter ended November 30. Those results were a factor in the company's outlook for the current fiscal year with Paychex anticipating payroll services revenue will rise by 1 percent to 2 percent and human resource services revenue by 10 percent to 13 percent.

Dean Yamagata, the audit partner of a prominent California CPA firm, has been suspended from practice before the SEC after that body found he accepted representations by management of a company that incorrectly recognized millions of dollars in revenue even after the firm found, in a 2004 audit, that it couldn't rely on the client's internal control. The SEC censured Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer & Torbet, which was more recently part of Frazer Frost, over the audit.The firm and Yamagata must disgorge $100,000 of audit fees and pay $29,500 in pre-judgment interest.