The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance and forms that employers can use to claim a newly-expanded tax credit for hiring veterans. Employers will also be given more time to file a certification form for employees hired on or after Nov. 22, 2011 and before 2012. Some tax-exempt organizations that hire unemployed veterans during that period are now also eligible for the credit.

Nonprofit vendor Blackbaud is considering the establishment of a CPA program. While the company is not ready to provide details of a proposed plan, it has begun bringing one firm on board in the new effort. The company is also likely to begin recruiting resellers after a lapse of several years.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has imposed a $2 million civil money penalty on Ernst & Young and barred two partners from being associated with a registered public accounting firm.  It is the largest penalty ever imposed on a CPA firm. The action stemmed from the firm's audits of financial statements of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., which sells drugs for pediatric asthma and skin conditions.The board also censured E&Y and two other partners.