Payroll

After months of wrangling, congressional leaders appear to be close to a deal on extending the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, and the so-called “doc fix” for Medicare physician reimbursements through the end of the year.

Payroll processing company Payroll City has developed an interface module to help users transfer all of their payroll data with QuickBooks

Small business owners’ optimism about the economy held steady in January, according to payroll provider SurePayroll.

Small business-focused cloud accounting software developer Wave Accounting has released its first online payroll tool, Wave Payroll, initially targeted toward Canadian users, with a U.S. version planned for mid-2012.

Private sector employers added 170,000 jobs in January, according to the monthly national employment report from payroll giant ADP, which saw most of the gains in small and midsized businesses come in the service sector.

Payroll provider Paychex is offering a free federal and state tax practice sheet that accountants can pass along as a tax season gift to their clients, branded with the CPA practice’s own name.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex has acquired Icon Time Systems, an online and PC-based time and attendance products concern for small businesses.

CBIZ’s Small Business Employment Index increased sharply in December, the largest jump in two years.

The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as employers added 200,000 jobs.

The private sector added 325,000 jobs in December, according to payroll giant ADP, the largest monthly gain since December 2010.

Small businesses added 55,000 new jobs in December and employees worked longer hours last month, according to figures from Intuit.

Sage North America has released Sage Simply Accounting 2012 English/Spanish, with new features geared towards providing payroll processes with increased efficiency and compliance for bilingual small businesses.

Optimism among small business owners grew significantly in December, according to the latest survey by SurePayroll.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to issue additional guidance on the temporary two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, including how a new “recapture” provision for high-income employees will be implemented.

Both the House and Senate passed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, and the “doc fix” for preserving the current Medicare reimbursement for physicians by unanimous consent on Friday morning, sending the measure to President Obama’s desk.

Bowing to pressure from fellow Republicans, a leading House Republican said Thursday he would introduce a bill Friday to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for two months.

President Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., pressed House Republicans on Thursday to agree to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, even as Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, insisted he was ready to negotiate.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, has come under increasing pressure to pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut.

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.