An 11-percent decrease in revenue from the Accounting/Finance division pulled down the top line for SmartPros for the third quarter ended September 30. The education vendor turned in a 6.4-percent increase in its loss on a 7-percent decline in revenue for the most recently ended period. Accounting/Finance revenue fell to $2.64 million, down $291,000 from last year's total. The damage was done principally by a $246,000 decline in live training revenue. Read more...

Intuit has introduced a pilot program for QuickBooks Online Accountant a version of the web-based QuickBooks application that is designed for accounting professionals. The company said pricing would be established when the program is launched commercially.

Two sisters, who operated a tax preparation firm in Rialto, Calif., have been permanently barred from preparing federal tax returns. A federal court took the action against  Karen Berry, Carla Berry and their tax preparation business, N.C.K. Services. The case goes back to a 2004 indictment of five individuals including the sisters and their father Matthew. Carla and Karen Berry were sentenced to six years of prison each in October 2009.