What does it take to rise to the position of partner in an accounting firm?While the criteria vary from firm to firm, I believe it is an interesting and generally difficult question for firms to answer. I have asked existing partners to list what they require in a new partner, and they tend to come up with a list of skills and criteria for which many of them probably would not qualify. Most managing partners readily admit that too many people were made partner for the wrong reasons over the past 20 years. The most common answer is, "We were afraid he or she would leave."

Taxware, a tax calculation and compliance software developer and First Data Corp. company, has unveiled a new integration with Oracle's PeopleSoft.

Why does a company like Microsoft plan a launch for an ambitious new low-cost software package and then steal its own thunder?

Serenic Corp., an international publisher of financial and operational software, has acquired the software product OneCare from accounting firm Clifton Gunderson LLP.

PayCycle, a provider of on-demand payroll services, announced that accounting and tax software company ATX has selected its product for its base of 55,000 customers.

CBIZ Accounting, Tax & Advisory Services LLC and Mayer Hoffman McCann PC will offer temporary employment opportunities to qualified and eligible accounting industry professionals who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The Seven-Second Egg

BQE Software Inc. unveiled a new PayPal payment button within BillQuick 2005, the company's flagship billing and project management software.

Creative Solutions and PPC, both tax and accounting software providers and part of the Thomson Corp., unveiled a new integration between tax prep software UltraTax CS and PPC's IRS form preparation software 1040 Deskbook.

Microsoft Corp. announced that its new accounting software for small businesses will hit retail shelves priced at $179 for a standalone copy, but ship with a $30 mail-in rebate.

RIA, a provider of technology and tax and accounting information, has been working to implement a recovery plan for customers impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Until this week, most people would probably say that Sage Software had the most confusing name change in the history of mid-market accounting. Microsoft has decided to give Sage a run for its money.All of this makes sense from the corporations' points of view. But pity the poor resellers trying to sell software and the end users who are trying to separate out competing claims.

Trustfile, a manufacturer of electronic state sales and use tax e-filing and payment technology, announced a reselling agreement with Independent Systems and Programming, a developer of sales and use tax calculation software, databases and forms.

ARMANINO MCKENNA ABSORBS RESELLER: Armanino McKenna, a large California-based CPA firm, has acquired Thibault Associates Inc., an independent reseller of hardware and software in northern California. The merger would create an IT consulting practice of more than 40 professionals. The majority of TAI's employees, mostly based in the East Bay area of San Francisco, will transition to Armanino McKenna's headquarters in San Ramon, Calif.

During one hectic tax filing season, the Philadelphia-based CPA firm of Asher & Co. Ltd. managed their clients' tax return forms the same way most firms do - by placing them in piles on the floor or shelves.

You return to your office from an afternoon meeting and decide to check e-mail. An hour later, having downloaded your messages, selecting those you should read, deleting junk, crafting replies and filing others that you want to work on later, you wonder where your day went. It was like that when you arrived at work this morning, and tomorrow, unfortunately, promises to be no different.

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.