House Republicans blocked the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits on Tuesday, setting up a confrontation between the two chambers.

Bolstered by the additional revenue generated by the acquisitions of SurePayroll and ePlan Services, payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex posted a 7-percent rise in second quarter revenue to $545.7 million for the period ended November 30.

Ninety-two percent of financial professionals believe that businesses will either maintain their current employee headcount or increase their employee count in 2012, according to a survey of U.S. accounting firms.

Career growth opportunities ranked as the number one inducement for staying at or joining an accounting firm, according to a new survey by the American Institute of CPAs.

The Senate has passed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, but House Republican leaders and some Democrats balked at the short-term extension.

Congressional leaders in both parties signaled they were working on a deal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for at least two months, while also agreeing on a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown.

Hiring of finance and accounting employees is expected to improve in the first quarter of next year, according to a survey of CFOs by staffing company Robert Half International.

House Republicans have passed an extension of the payroll tax cut for another year, but Senate Democrats have vowed to defeat the bill when it comes up for a vote Wednesday.

Plante Moran has hired 135 accounting, tax and consulting interns and professionals and entry-level staff who are slated to start January 1.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex has unveiled BuildMyBiz.com, a Web site providing tools and other resources to help start, manage and grow small and midsized businesses.

Small business hiring is trending is slightly higher, according to payroll provider CBIZ.

Optimism among small business owners stayed relatively the same in November as in October, according to payroll provider SurePayroll.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered Monday to compromise on how to pay for the payroll tax cut extension in an effort to convince more Republican lawmakers to vote for the bill.

The nation’s unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 8.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009.

Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to muster the necessary number of votes to pass two competing bills to extend the expiring payroll tax cut on Thursday night.

Offering payroll services to clients has long been seen as either a reluctant necessity or an essential service for CPA firms.

Accounting firms are going back to basics in their retention efforts, with renewed focus on establishing and building a quality culture.

Senate Republicans are offering their own legislation to extend the payroll tax cut while avoiding an extra surtax on millionaires.

Employees at small businesses made less money in November than in October and were working fewer hours, even though 55,000 new jobs were added at small businesses in November, according to Intuit.

Jobs in the private sector shot up by 206,000 in November, according to payroll giant ADP, outperforming most forecasts.