Parsippany, N.J. - Jackson Hewitt Tax Services, which got blindsided by the exit of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Co. from the refund loan business in December, has renewed its own loans and said it would cut 15 percent of its jobs. The company made $90 million in loan payments while its lenders changed their credit terms and it avoided a possible default. A prepared statement said Jackson Hewitt has retained Moelis & Co., one of its advisors in the credit negotiations "to assist Jackson Hewitt in examining a range of strategic and financial alternatives going forward." Read more...

In a down economy, one of the classic places that laid-off employees seek work is by starting their own businesses. Even though the credit crunch has truncated the usual numbers of new businesses formed during a recession, these organizations continue to form and to have their own needs. Read more...

Client portals are becoming a lot more than a place to post document. Vendors are revving them up as places to distribute invoices and collect payments, to blast out client information and to provide access to hosted applications. More immediately, they loom as a way to deal with state bans on emailing sensitive application. And the process is moving ahead very quickly.

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