The Robert Half Financial Hiring Index forecasts an increase in hiring during the fourth quarter, based on a survey of chief financial officers. Twelve percent of those surveyed expect to add full-time accounting and finance employees while 7 percent expect staff reductions. The five point net is up four points from the third-quarter study and is the highest projection in three years.

Liberty Tax Service, the nation's third largest tax chain, believes that it can add more than 6,000  locations to its national network. That's on top of the roughly, 3,900 franchised and company operations now operating and would make it a more formidable rival for leader H&R Block.

Liberty Tax Service is using CCH's CompleteTax for online preparation and offered a private label version of the CCH program during the last tax season. The company will utilize CompleteTax again during the 2012 season, according to documents filed by JTH Holding, the tax franchisor's parent company, in its registration for an initial public offering.