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Intuit Inc. and Electronic Clearing House Inc. have agreed to scrap a deal that would have seen Intuit pay $142 million for the debit and credit card processor.Intuit had announced the acquisition plan in mid-December, after the boards of both companies approved the proposed deal. The companies announced late in April that it would be in their mutual best interest to terminate the proposed agreement.

The oversight body for the International Accounting Standards Board said that Olivier Servais will serve as team leader for the organization's Extensible Business Reporting Language initiative.The IAS Committee Foundation said that Servais will coordinate all XBRL-related activities by the foundation, working closely with private and public organizations involved in the advancement of online financial reporting, as well as advising users and preparers of internal standards in considering the appropriateness and timing of XBRL adoption.

Development or growth - what is the difference? Has your firm been growing at a rapid pace? Many firms just completed their best years by financial measurements, but they're still challenged with finding quality staff and increasing their capacity to handle market opportunities. Because of financial results, it's often difficult to convince partners that they need to change for the firm's long-term development.Authors David Norton and Robert Kaplan suggest four perspectives in their writings about the Balanced Scorecard and strategy maps. Most companies focus on the financial perspective. Professional service firms are no different.

"Segmenting" is nothing new in the accounting profession. It's another term for dividing a marketplace into well-defined groups of likely buyers. It's the foundational step in developing a firm's industry niches and service lines.Although segmenting and then developing niches is a commonly recommended strategy, many CPA firms remain relatively unsophisticated regarding this technique. The result is that potentially remunerative service lines and industries die on the vine. Niches get stuck in ditches and potential opportunities become road kill!

Software, Hardware & ServicesAUTOMATING AUTOMATION

ALABAMADonaldson, Holman & West PC, Birmingham, has joined CPAmerica International.

JUNE3-6: Fundamentals of Insurance Planning Program, The American College. Bryn Mawr, Pa. Contact: (610) 526-1209 or www.theamericancollege.edu.

FAF APPOINTS PAIR TO GASBNORWALK, CONN. - The Financial Accounting Foundation, overseer to both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, appointed Girard Miller and Jan I. Sylvis to five-year terms on GASB.

Big Four firm KPMG LLP announced that a team of four students from the University of Virginia had won the inaugural six-week national audit case competition sponsored by KPMG International's Global Services Centre and the KPMG Foundation.The Accounting Department of the University of Virginia received a cash prize of $25,000. Cash prizes of $15,000 and $10,000 were also awarded to the accounting departments of the University of Georgia and the University of Wisconsin for their respective teams' second- and third-place finishes.

Today, most firms realize the importance of marketing and are more than willing to invest in various activities to drive growth. In accounting, this anxious desire to jump in and "do something" often leads to opportunistic growth, in directions unintended by firm leadership.In this article, we'll focus on the key elements of marketing that will drive your firm's strategic growth and profitability. These are commonly referred to as the Five Ps of Marketing, and are listed below in my suggested priority order.