H&R Block registered a 5-percent increase in revenue from assisted tax preparation for the year ended June 30, despite a 1.3-percent decline in return volume year-over-year. Both assisted and do-it-yourself return revenue benefited from an increase in the net average charge per return.

Payments software vendor Bill wants its accountant channel to engage in more cross-selling of its products.

 Xero is narrowing its product focus to its basic functions. The cloud software company will concentrate on core accounting, payroll and payments, Diya Jolly chief product and technology officer said at the company’s recent Xerocon conference.