Maybe any company that’s still in the reselling business after the last two years should be categorized as a star. Because where once VARs were focusing on growth, the last two years has been more about surviving Although some have been some real stars that bucked the trend, this has been a period in which even good organizations took a big hit.

But first, it is necessary to define a VAR Star. In this case, candidates have a practice involving the sale of mid-market financial software. While most derive significant revenue from other sources, accounting software is the core to their business.

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The Internal Revenue Service should postpone the imposition of new requirements for non-signing tax preparers because of a lack of clarity and guidance regarding the term "preparer", according to the the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council. The body also urged that former IRS employees not be automatically granted Enrolled Agent status. These were among a broad range of recommendations made as part of the IRSAC's annual report.

CCH is working on a hosted version of its Knowledge Connect, a knowledge management program, after the next tax season. But overall, it's a program probably hasn't had the impact on the market the company has hoped. One reason was the program hit the market during the worst of the economic problems and it was viewed as a discretionary purchase.