Three years after President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law, the repercussions continue to resonate through the business community - with calls for reform, the explosion of compliance tools, and relief on the part of some shareholders.In the wake of the scandals at Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen, Sarbanes-Oxley was created to improve the financial reporting systems of American companies subject to Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements.

Culture is a system of shared beliefs.

The prediction that the number of users for CCH's Global fx suite, an Internet-based set of applications, will double by the end of tax season isn't a big deal. That is simply a jump from 4,000 users to 8,000.

Sage Software released the latest version of Sage Fundraising 100 - Rainbow Edition, offering United Way organizations a suite of fundraising management and development tools.

EmeraldKey Technologies Inc., which provides accounting applications for small and midsized businesses, has introduced Envision Accounting Software for accounting and financial professionals.

New integration features built into the CertiTax product suite from CCH Tax and Accounting will provide users with an easy interface between CertiTax and Great Plains, Axapta and Solomon products.

Nonprofit and financial software publisher Serenic Corp. named Michael Frost as its chief financial officer. In his new role, Frost -- who will be based in Edmonton -- will be responsible for corporate governance, finance, information technology, and operations.

Intuit Inc. will officially release QuickBooks 2006 this fall, marking the first major overhaul of the software's underpinnings since it was launched in 1992.

* COUGAR MOUNTAIN RELEASES SHIPPING SOLUTION: Nonprofit and point-of-sale software provider Cougar Mountain has released new shipping software called CMShip.

What exactly is a suite?

I recently experienced the most "differentiating" firm retreat (I prefer to call it a firm summit). It occurred in May at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. I know what most of you are thinking ... the partners must have had a great time.

Intuit Inc. announced that it will increase its commitment to accountants by rolling out a series of new and enhanced programs, including free technical support for QuickBooks ProAdvisors, an accountant-dedicated support team, and free in-person training seminars in 80 cities.

Paychex Inc. has launched Paychex Premier Human Resources, a new offering in the company's suite of human resource products and services.

Will the Certified Information Technology Professional designation survive?

Speaking to a conference of small technology partners in July, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer said that his company will continue to expand its small business software lines for a variety of industries, beginning with accounting.

Though among the least complicated computing applications in the accounting marketplace, payroll software and services continue to set the trends in both utilization of advanced technologies and business development for accounting firms.Payroll was one of the first practice areas to make a strong move toward the Web-based application service provider model. It was one of the first to encompass non-traditional practice areas, such as human resources and 401(k) plan management, enabling accountants to expand their services to clients. And it was one of the first areas to recognize the dangers of bypassing accountants in an effort to sell directly to small businesses - payroll systems and services now are almost all directed to using accountants as a primary channel to reach SMB customers.

Striving for objectives - such as a paperless office - generally results in attaining objectives that typically were not given consideration during the planning process.

NetSuite Inc., an on-demand business management software developer, unveiled their new release yesterday -- NetSuite Version 10.6.

There was a point where Comdex, the computer dealer show, reigned supreme. So did the dinosaurs. Both got larger and larger. Both collapsed.

Buoyed by double-digit increases in license and subscription revenue, non-profit software provider Blackbaud Inc. posted second-quarter profits of $8.5 million, compared with $5.3 million for the same period last year.