Newly (again) public MYOB has acquired New Zealand-based Ace Payroll Plus for about $10 million. MYOB also separately announced it is developing a new generation of online payroll products for New Zealand customers. Ace is said to serve about 1.3 million Australian and New Zealand SMBs. I mention this because even though MYOB does not operate in the United States, the fact it is ramping up in Xero's home country of New Zealand makes the worldwide battle of online accounting software providers interesting.

When Xero announced of CEO Douglas Jeffries hiring on January 29, it also announced Matt Jefferson as sales director for the United Kingdom. Jeffries left after eight weeks with no job in hand and websites show Jefferson listing himself as interim sales director from January through March. He is now concentrating his efforts on his company, Jefferson Sales. North American CEO Peter Karpas resigned in September after six months in office.

Highjump Software has acquired Nexternal, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based ecommerce platform provider. It is the latest move by Minneapolis, Minn.-based HighJump under the ownership of Accel-KKR. HighJump, which makes supply chain management software, did not disclose terms. "The acquisition of Nexternal adds important commerce capabilities to further deliver upon HighJump's omni-channel vision and provides new options for HighJump's 14,000 global customers," HighJump CEO Michael Cornell, said in a prepared statement.