Taxes and financial intricacies are a business constant and recession or no, Central Valley accountants continue to be busy and profitable despite the economic slump.

“Business has been pretty stable,” said Mark Croce, partner in Croce & Co., Accountancy Corp. in Stockton. “But real estate development and construction slowed down quite a bit.”

The basic question firms ask themselves in today’s economic marketplace is, “How’s business?” and in the case of payroll services, the answer is, perhaps surprisingly, “Business is good.”

Of course, how a payroll service company fares depends on those companies using payroll services during challenging economic times. Such considerations are on the mind of Bettye Smith, Owner/President/CEO of Payroll People, Inc. headquartered in Modesto.

President Barack Obama signed legislation that will cut taxes and provide credit help for small businesses, calling it an essential step for job growth in a slow economy.

Small businesses “have borne the greatest brunt of this recession” because of lower demand from consumers and less available credit, Obama said.

U.S. financial regulators should avoid, “one-size-fits-all‚” disclosure rules for state and local municipal bond issuers in order to be of the most use to investors, according to California Treasurer Bill Lockyer.

“Disclosure standards need to recognize the differences between issuers, the types of municipal debt issued, and the relative security of the investment,” Lockyer said in remarks prepared for delivery at a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hearing in San Francisco.

California, whose power bonds received a credit-rating boost, plans to borrow $1.9 billion to refinance debt sold to purchase electricity for cash-strapped utilities during the state’s power crisis a decade ago.

The California Department of Water Resources was upgraded one step to AA by Fitch Ratings today, third-highest, and a level above the AA- from Standard & Poor’s.

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