Liberty Tax has hired Edward L. Brunot as chief operating officer effective June 1. His appointment follows a tax season in which the number of returns dropped 16.4 percent from the 2016 season. Also during the last year, Liberty has continued to be hurt by fraud reported at some Baltimore, Md., store operators in 2016 which hampered the effort to recruit franchisees.

Thomson Reuters has introduced Checkpoint Marketing for Firms Emerging Tax and Regulation Alerts. The alerts are designed to enable accounting firms to provide clients with information about new and proposed tax legislation and regulatory changes.

Bill Cobb, the CEO of H&R Block will leave the tax services company on July 31. He will by replaced by general counsel and chief administrative officer, Tom Gerke, who will serve as interim president and CEO. The board of directors will consider both internal and external candidates.