Drake Software is readying SecureFilePro, a file exchange portal that will be ready for tax season. Franklin, N.C.-based Drake says the product will launch next month. SecureFilePro gives tax professionals a customized web address and the ability to brand the site with their businesses' name and logo. Taxpayers will also be able to upload documents such as tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service has established standards for organizations to become IRS-approved Continuing Education Providers. The agency also set requirements for IRS CE Accrediting organizations.This is part of the process for implementing continuing education requirements for tax return preparers. Those required to take the Registered Tax Return Preparer competency test before the end of 2013 must complete 15 hours of courses next year.

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Intuit has spent two years of promoting a practice management system for accountants that hasn't hit the market as a final product. And this week, it was announced that BigTime Software is going to embed its core time, billing and practice management functionality into Intuit's yet-to-be-fulfilled development for in that arena. The Intuit product was supposed to hit the market in May, but instead it moved into a second phase and the product's name went away with Intuit's decision to drop the ProLine brand.