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In its relationship with H&R Block, accounting firm McGladrey & Pullen took a highly unusual course regarding the press releases issued about the firm's initial statement it would end its Administrative Services agreement with Block and then that it and Block had come to terms. It removed them from its Web site after posting them.

The loss of jobs at client companies helped push Paychex revenue to $496.6 million for the second quarter ended November 30, down 5 percent from $524.2 million a year earlier. And the company reiterated its view that continued economic weakness would leave its revenue for the year ending May 31 off by 2 percent to 5 percent. However, CEO Jonathan Judge issued a statement that key indicators were stable for the second straight quarter.

Accountants are far more likely to share documents online than their clients, according to an online survey conducted by YouGov survey in October and commissioned by CCH. And the gap in attitudes raising some questions for firms that want to make documents available via Internet portals.

Although he emphasized the company has not made that decision, Mint.com founder Aaron Patzer envisions that "If you use Mint, half your taxes would be done before you used TurboTax." He also predicted that the 1.7 million users of Mint.com would double in the next eight months.