Payroll

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex reported that third quarter profits rose 17 percent to $130.6 million, on a 5 percent rise in total service revenue to $520 million for the period ended February 28.

Accounting software developer CYMA Systems has released CYMA Business Insight, a Microsoft Excel-based financial reporting tool that integrates with CYMA’s existing payroll and HR database to allow users to extract wage, benefit, tax and other labor costs for reporting purposes.

Optimism among small business owners increased since the previous month, according to SurePayroll’s Small Business Scorecard for February 2011, reaching 71 percent in February 2011.

The February CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by 0.25 percent through the month, after posting a decrease of 2.62 percent in January, almost a 3 percent upswing in net month over month hiring.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 192,000 in February, and the unemployment rate dipped by one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.9 percent.

In a good news-bad news scenario, half of small business owners are optimistic about their growth prospects in 2011. However, 47 percent reported that recent government regulations have slowed or prevented growth, according to a small business survey from payroll and benefits outsourcing concern Paychex.

Private sector employers added 217,000 jobs last month, including 100,000 jobs at small businesses, according to payroll data from ADP.

Small business employment and hours worked continued to grow in February, but the level of wages generally remained flat, according to figures from Intuit.

Halfpricesoft.com has added data import and upload features to the new edition of ezW2, its software for filing W2 and 1099 forms.

Whether or not the Obama administration budget proposal to add some clarity to worker classification sees the light of day, the employee vs. independent contractor issue will surely be undergoing increased scrutiny.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex said it has completed its previously announced acquisition of online payroll concern SurePayroll.

CBIZ said its index of small business employment suffered its largest drop in employment last month since January 2010.

The Obama administration is expected to propose a way for states to raise more money in payroll taxes to pay for the cost of unemployment insurance.

Private sector employers in the U.S. added 187,000 jobs last month, according to the latest monthly payroll figures from ADP.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing concern Paychex has named Andrew Childs as vice president of marketing and Laurie Zaucha as vice president of human resources and organization development, effective immediately.

Small business employment continued to show growth in January, with hours worked and wages also showing modest increases, according to payroll figures from Intuit.

The Treasury Department launched a pilot program Thursday to provide tax refunds on prepaid debit and payroll cards.

Private-sector employment increased by 297,000 from November to December on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest report from payroll giant ADP.

Small business employment continued to show growth in December with hours worked up and wages flat, according to the latest update of the Intuit Inc. Small Business Employment Index.

Government data and service software developer Legal Data Research LLC has released Track1099.com, a Web-based service for 1099-MISC e-file and recipient e-delivery.