H&R Block suffered a big setback this week as a federal judge has halted its purchase of 2SS Holdings, the owner of the TaxAct tax preparation software line. The U.S. Justice Department had opposed the deal, arguing that it would violate anti-trust laws. Just over a year ago, Block agreed to buy the smaller company for $287.5 million in cash.

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XCM Solutions and eFileCabinet are working to integrate their cloud-based applications with release of those capabilities scheduled for next year. That information was disclosed as the two companies said they were partnering to deliver workflow-based applications to accountants. XCM markets worfklow applications and eFileCabinet offers document management systems. Read more...

Automatic Data Processing has raised its revenue estimates for fiscal 2012 as the company reported a 9-percent rise in net income on 13-percent revenue growth for the first quarter ended September 30. The company pushed its revenue projections to the top of the previous range for both Employer Services and Professional Employment Organization services.

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