Cochran, Head & Co. PC in Kansas City, Kan., will merge with the smaller Prestia Vick & Associates LLC based in Kansas City, Mo.

Financial planning concerns, Wedel & Associates and The Yanker Group have combined to create a single entity -- Four Seasons Wealth Management.

Crowe Chizek and Co. LLC announced that it will combine practices with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Madsen Sapp Mena Rodriguez & Co. CPAs & Advisors.

Outsourcing company Accenture will acquire the assets of software and services vendor Savista , in a bid to expand its back-office business process outsourcing capabilities.

Rehmann Financial, a unit of CPA and business advisory firm the Rehmann Group, has merged with financial services concern the Advisor Group Inc., of Troy, Mich.

Risk management and internal audit services provider Protiviti Inc. has acquired P.G. Lewis & Associates, a data forensics firm specializing in corporate investigations and litigation support for civil, dispute and regulatory matters.

Six-person accounting firm Abo & Co. LLC of New Jersey has merged with the office of Morrisville, Pa.-based CPA Earl Sigmund. Both firms will operate under the Abo & Co. name.

The Management Summit conference, the oldest independently-owned symposium for accounting firm executives, was sold by Atlanta-based Hudson Sawyer to the Growth Partnership, of St. Louis.

Risk management and internal audit services provider Protiviti acquired Creative Options and Radius, both Waterloo, Ont.-based companies specializing in loss prevention and risk management services in the retail sector.

The Sage Group will enter the credit card and check payment-processing field with the $323 million acquisition of Verus Financial Management Inc. from Financial Technology Ventures.Located in Nashville, Tenn., Verus specializes in payment processing for small and midsized businesses, with a customer base of 100,000-plus merchants in the United States. The all-cash deal will be completed within the next month, subject to regulatory approvals.

TimePlus Payroll Inc., a provider of payroll, tax filing and benefit services, announced the acquisition of Los Angeles-based Payroll Perfect Inc.

Steve Samek, a 30-year veteran of the accounting profession, recently took over the helm of UHY Advisors Inc. after six months of consulting work for the accounting firm consolidator.

Neuman, Ranft & Co. LLC will merge its practice into Denver-area CPA firm The Seff Group PC.

RSM McGladrey has acquired the non-attest practice of Stauffer & Co. LLC. In a separate deal, McGladrey & Pullen LLP acquired the attest practice of Stauffer.

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a provider of tax and accounting information, software and services, has acquired the "Property Tax Reference" from Vertex Inc.

Lakewood, Colo.-based McCutcheon & Co., an accounting firm specializing in nonprofits, has merged with accounting and consulting firm Anton Collins Mitchell.

Smart and Associates LLP has acquired the compensation and benefits tax practice of KPMG. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Midwest business and technology consulting firm Socius has acquired the consulting division of Bruner-Cox LLP, BC Technology Ltd.

Larger CPA firms have traditionally been interested in acquiring smaller firms, creating what might be termed a seller's market, and that situation still exists today.

One day into a recent four-day tour throughout India, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates announced that Microsoft would invest an added $1.7 billion into its Indian operations over the next four years.The increase in funding will nearly double the workforce Microsoft already has in place within India, from 4,000 to 7,000 employees.