The start of the New Year ushers in a series of new regulatory, compliance and legislative changes that could potentially affect every small business.

The Internal Revenue Service released instructions Friday to help employers implement the 2011 cut in payroll taxes that were included as part of the tax cut legislation passed by Congress late Thursday night, along with new income-tax withholding tables that employers will use during 2011 (see House Passes Extension of Bush Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits).

Approximately 13.4 million taxpayers who received the Making Work Pay Credit that was included in the economic stimulus bill may end up owing taxes, according to a new government report.

IMGCAP(1)]Several months ago, I got an e-mail from a young CPA asking my advice about whether he should stay with his firm, or leave to start his own. He was depressed. He had lost respect for his partners during the recession, when the firm made what seemed like overreaching layoffs. In addition, they'd stripped away perks like telecommuting that he and many of his colleagues valued. And at the end of 2009, the firm leaders quietly celebrated a "very profitable year." Deeply saddened by this behavior at a firm he once loved, he wondered if it was time to move on.

While flexibility at work and work/life balance remain important for young staff in CPA firms, advancement opportunities and compensation rank higher on a list of what they want out of their job. They also want their partners to communicate better about what success means.

Former President Bill Clinton stood alongside President Barack Obama at a news conference and endorsed Obama’s deal with congressional Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc. has acquired online payroll processor SurePayroll for an undisclosed amount.

A net 2 percent of CFOs said they plan to hire full-time accounting and finance professionals in the first quarter of 2011, according to a new survey.

After a dramatic drop last quarter, CPA executives regained modest optimism in the past three months about the prospects for the U.S. economy, but still believe the recovery will be slow and are cautious about expansion and hiring plans.

After 38 years at the Big Four firm Deloitte, with the last seven of them as chairman of the board, Sharon Allen is retiring from her post in May 2011.

CBIZ found a 0.44 percent decrease in its Small Business Employment Index in November, after posting an increase of 0.73 percent in October.

The U.S. economy gained only about 39,000 jobs in November, far fewer than expected, sending the unemployment rate up two-tenths of a percentage point to 9.8 percent, and putting more pressure on Congress to pass an extension in federal unemployment benefits.

Small business employment continued to show growth in November, according to a payroll report by Intuit, although wages were down and hours worked remained flat.

Employment in the private sector rose by 93,000 from October to November on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to ADP’s National Employment Report, released Wednesday.

In this Generational Viewpoints, RLB LLP (www.rlb.ca), a Guelph, Ont.-based accounting firm with over 60 employees, shares views on firm specialization from the perspective of Gen X partner Jason Gibbons, born in 1974, and Baby Boomer partner, Michael Manera, born in 1959.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 151,000 in October, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Paychex, a provider of payroll, human resources and benefits outsourcing services for the small and midsized business markets, elevated company veteran Neil Rohrer to the post of vice president of core payroll services in the Eastern U.S.

Economic confidence is rising among CFOs, according to a new survey that found 57 percent of them saying they plan to hire additional employees in the next six months.

Accounting and finance employees are feeling less confident in the economy and the job market, but optimism about their own personal employment situation has increased, according to a new survey.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find something egregious about the fact that the resident idiots of the reality show "Jersey Shore" receive roughly $30,000 per episode while the median annual earnings for someone aged 25 in the labor force hovers at about $32,000.