Intuit's form 10-K for the year ended July 31 show that its Quicken business was sinking badly. In announcing results for 2015, Intuit said it will divest Quicken, DemandForce and QuickBase. The SEC report, filed this week, shows Quicken, perhaps not surprisingly, was the weakest of the lot. Revenue for the most recently ended year was $51 million, down 48 percent from 2014. Revenue for 2013 was $99 million. The product line lost $136 million before taxes in 2015 ($140 million after), compared to pre-tax earnings of $57 million the prior year.

Results in North America from acquired operations exceeded the expectations of Australia based UXC. The company recently gave that description in the release of its first half ended June 30. Net income from continuing operations was about $5.5 million for the most recently ended half, an increase of 94 percent from the prior year. Revenue was about $230.2 million, an 86.9-percent rise from last year's corresponding period. The company' s UXC Eclipse division was said to have a very strong half with a solid contribution from Australia and New Zealand with growth in the North American market. The integration of the former Tectura North America late in 2013 has proceeded well, enabling Eclipse to take on larger and more complex Dynamics projects.

Intuit plans to eliminate 249 jobs, mostly in the software company's Small Business Group. The company's decision this week follows its announced plans to sell its DemandForce, QuickBase and Quicken operation to concentrate on its core tax and accounting business. This follows the June loss of 399 jobs. Added together, the number cut are less than 1 percent of the nearly 8,000 employees reported when the fiscal year ended on June 31. Officially, Intuit said the layoffs will help it to enhance "focus on and investment in businesses that strengthen the ecosystem and align with two strategic goals: to be the operating system behind small business success, and to do the nations' taxes in the U.S. and Canada".

A suit by former shareholders of MYOB against the Sage Group has been dismissed. Sage said this week. Sage, based in the United Kingdom, was in talks to buy MYOB, based in Australia, in 2011. However, Sage pulled out of the negotiation. Funds advised by the Archer Group , which then were MYOB shareholders, initiated the lawsuit. MYOB was then purchased by Bain Capital. Reports at the time said the Bain offering was about $100 million (Australian) less than what Sage had offered. Sage issued a press release that statement all claims were dismissed on all counts and Sage would take action to recover costs it incurred in its defense.