Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Athens, GA

Elite Accounting Services is an accounting and tax firm in Athens, Georgia. It works with small and mid-sized companies, self-employed professionals, nonprofit groups and individual clients. It is not a dedicated AP automation vendor. Instead, it handles accounts payable as part of its outsourced bookkeeping and controller-level services. That makes it a fit for businesses that want vendor bills recorded and paid by the same team that keeps the general ledger, runs payroll and prepares the tax returns.

Accounts Payable and Bookkeeping Support

The firm's bookkeeping service covers entering payables and paying bills for clients, along with matching receivables work such as invoicing, deposits and collections. Related tasks help keep payables accurate and compliant:

• Recording vendor bills and handling bill payment
• Preparing 1099 and 1096 forms for contractors and vendors
• Reconciling bank accounts and maintaining the general ledger
• Inventory management and cleanup of neglected books
• Payroll processing, including direct deposit, EFT and remittance of third-party withholdings such as insurance
• Setting up checks and balances and strengthening internal controls

For companies that need more senior oversight, the part-time CFO service includes managing payables and receivables. It also covers financial statements, forecasting and advice on improving cash flow and profitability. A separate cash flow management service is offered as well.

QuickBooks Expertise

Much of the firm's work is built around QuickBooks. When moving a client onto the software, the team designs the chart of accounts and configures payables, receivables, payroll and inventory modules. It enters open vendor balances as of the conversion date and checks the trial balance against the old system.

The firm also trains client staff, reviews QuickBooks data on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, and offers tune-ups for businesses that are underusing the software. Clients get a secure, password-protected online portal for exchanging scanned receipts, working papers and large QuickBooks files.

Industries and Clients

The firm says it serves a wide range of sectors, including:

• Construction and trucking
• Dentists, healthcare providers and therapists
• Hospitality and other service businesses
• Law firms and manufacturers
• Real estate
• Hairdressers and other self-employed professionals

It also works with nonprofit organizations and helps them stay within the rules needed to keep their tax-exempt status.

Background and Approach

The team describes itself as entrepreneurs who understand the daily pressures of running a company, and it cites decades of combined experience. Its pitch to clients is that outsourcing gives them an experienced accountant without the cost of an in-house department.

It stresses one-on-one service, a consistent point of contact and help available all year rather than only at tax time. Beyond bookkeeping, the firm offers audits, reviews and compilations, forensic accounting, business valuation, new business formation, succession planning, IRS representation and tax resolution. Prospective clients start with a consultation, where the team discusses their goals and plans out the year.

Peach BPO is an outsourced bookkeeping and back-office finance firm based in Georgia. Its headquarters is in Athens, it describes itself as local to Atlanta as well, and it works with clients across the United States. Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should know that Peach BPO is a service firm, not a software vendor.

It does not sell a standalone AP automation platform. Instead, its staff run the payables function for the client, using an internal workflow system the firm built and a team that reviews the work in several layers.

Accounts payable offering

The firm presents its AP service as taking charge of the whole payables cycle, not just keying in bills and logging payments. Its staff communicate with suppliers, get payments ready for release, organize how payables move through approval and processing, and send frequent reports so owners can see what is due and what has been settled.

The stated aims are fewer late or overlooked bills, smoother dealings with suppliers and less owner time spent on routine payables tasks. AP can be combined with the firm's other finance services:

• Accounts payable management, including supplier communication, payment preparation and AP workflow setup
• General ledger bookkeeping from start to finish, with custom financial reports
• Accounts receivable management, covering invoicing, client follow-up and collections support
• Payroll support, such as keeping employee records current, preparing year-end forms and helping with compliance
• Personal bookkeeping for individuals

How the work gets done

All client work runs through Peach 3.0, an operating system designed by founder and CEO Michael Howard. Each task passes through a series of stages that mix rule-based processing, AI-assisted steps and human review, so every figure can be traced from first entry to final approval. Staff are organized in what the firm calls its ABC structure.

Assistant Bookkeepers sort and record transactions and make sure source documents are complete. Bookkeepers check classifications, perform reconciliations, fix discrepancies and contact clients when they need more context. Custodial Bookkeepers do a final check for consistency and reporting accuracy before entries go into the client's books.

Quality assurance manager Jonathan Rivel maintains the internal tools and checks finished work before it moves on.

Background and credentials

Peach BPO holds ISO 9001:2015 certification for its quality management system, certificate number US4888. The firm says this certification shapes its documented procedures, regular reviews and ongoing improvement. Before starting the company, Howard held senior roles in finance, operations and strategy, including CFO of a Google Premier Partner with operations in the US and Asia.

He lives in nearby Bogart, Georgia. The firm argues that a dedicated bookkeeping provider is more cost-effective than a CPA firm, and it points to its in-house training and supervision as the reason. In addition to the Athens office, its website lists service areas in Atlanta, Macon, Savannah, Columbus and Augusta.

Industries served

The firm lists experience in these sectors:

• Dental practices and healthcare
• Franchises and startups
• Non-profit organizations
• E-commerce businesses
• Hospitality and breweries

Prospective clients can book a free consultation, download a bookkeeping guide, or use an online portal and needs assessment to see which services fit their business.

Founded in 1971, The Tax Shelter is an accounting and tax office in Athens, Georgia, run by the same family across generations and serving area residents and small companies. Anyone comparing accounts payable providers should view it as a general-purpose accounting firm for smaller businesses.

Its outsourced bookkeeping, payroll and annual reporting handle a large share of the everyday financial administration such companies require, but the firm's published materials do not mention a standalone accounts payable service or any AP automation tool.

Business offerings

Companies that prefer to delegate their recordkeeping can rely on the firm's accountants, who keep the books and generate financial statements for organizations both small and larger. Services available to business clients include:

• Recurring bookkeeping along with financial statement preparation
• Running payroll and filing the associated employment taxes
• Issuing 1099s and completing other annual reporting obligations
• Setting up LLCs and other business entities
• Help for new ventures, such as installing QuickBooks and teaching staff to use it, configuring payroll, and registering for federal and state electronic filing
• Income tax returns for corporations, partnerships and other businesses

The practice also completes personal and household returns, prepares filings for estates and trusts, submits extensions and amended returns, and deals with IRS correspondence for its clients. More recently, owner Ken Lill has introduced an AI consulting service.

It guides small companies in identifying worthwhile uses for artificial intelligence, configuring assistants that help with email, documents and research, automating routine administrative chores, and teaching employees responsible usage. Although this advisory work is not aimed at payables in particular, businesses hoping to make their back-office operations more efficient may still find it useful.

Client experience

Face-to-face, community-based service is central to the practice. Clients may stop by the Athens location, schedule time with a chosen staff member through an online booking tool, or reach out to their own preparer. Files can be shared through a protected online portal, and invoices can be settled electronically.

The firm characterizes its model as collaborative, with the entire staff backing each client rather than one person carrying the account alone, and it places weight on plain-spoken communication and forward-looking planning aimed at each client's financial objectives. The office keeps longer hours during filing season and reduced hours between May and December.

History and staff

The firm was launched on Baxter Street by John Lill and Johnny Fowler, operating at first under the corporate name National Tax, with Mary Lill overseeing bookkeeping, payroll and business work in its formative years.

Personal computers arrived at the office in the early 1980s, and the firm says it became the first Athens practice to provide electronic filing when it introduced that option in 1986. A move to Hawthorne Avenue followed in 1989, and in 2009 a second building went up on the neighboring lot.

Ken Lill, a certified public accountant, came aboard in 1996 and took over management in 2000.

Today the team numbers about ten people: two CPAs, an enrolled agent, a group of tax specialists (including one who speaks both English and Spanish), two accounting staff and a customer service representative. Long tenure is typical, with numerous tax staff counting twenty or more years at the practice.

Companies looking for a well-rooted local partner to handle bookkeeping and payroll should find the firm a good match, while those that require a dedicated AP system or invoice-processing support ought to verify the scope of services with the firm before engaging.

Based in Athens, Georgia, WBH Consulting operates from an office on South Milledge Avenue and delivers tax, accounting and advisory services under the direction of a certified public accountant. Bevan Hopper, CPA, an Athens native, launched the practice in 2017. Its client base spans small companies, founders, corporate executives and individuals filing personal returns. By the firm's own estimate, it works with several hundred clients, most of them located in the Athens region, with others scattered across the country.

Payables support as part of bookkeeping

At WBH Consulting, managing accounts payable is folded into the broader accounting engagement rather than sold as a standalone offering. The firm provides outsourced back-office bookkeeping, and payables processing sits within that package alongside payroll and the preparation of financial statements. The firm neither develops nor resells any proprietary AP automation tool.

Its staff instead performs the work inside QuickBooks Online, a cloud-based platform that gives clients secure access to their records whenever and wherever they need it. This model fits organizations that prefer to have one group manage their payables, maintain their ledgers, prepare their tax filings and offer financial counsel.

Companies seeking only a specialized AP software product will likely find a better match elsewhere.

• Payables management delivered through outsourced bookkeeping
• Payroll services
• Financial statement preparation
• Cloud-based bookkeeping using QuickBooks Online
• Tax strategy and return preparation for companies, executives and individuals
• Advisory services aimed at helping growing businesses sidestep costly financial missteps

Client engagement approach

Business clients pay predetermined fees at WBH Consulting. Under this arrangement, they can reach out by phone or email with questions without concern that each conversation will add to their invoice. The firm presents its staff as a group of finance specialists who regard clients as collaborators.

According to WBH Consulting, it takes time to understand each client's situation, shapes its services around that client's objectives, and walks them through the significance of their financial reports in plain terms. The firm also states that it relies on recognized security standards and rigorous controls to keep client data protected.

Leadership, qualifications and staff

Hopper completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Georgia in 2012, graduating cum laude. He went on to earn a master's degree in accounting, concentrating in taxation, also at UGA. Georgia licensed him as a CPA in 2014.

He holds memberships in both the Georgia Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs and completed the LEAD Athens program in 2016. His current board service includes First American Bank & Trust, State Mutual Insurance Company, Athens Country Club and the Athens Area Community Foundation. Beyond its founder, the firm's website identifies a staff of nine.

Three of those staff members are licensed CPAs, and one is an enrolled agent, giving the practice credentialed depth across both accounting and tax representation.

Distinguishing features

The firm's chief advantage for buyers in the Athens area is consolidation: payables, payroll, financial reporting, tax and advisory services all come from a single provider. Its founder is deeply rooted in the local community, and the practice combines flat-fee pricing with cloud-based operations.

WBH Consulting notes that Hopper takes particular interest in working alongside business owners and in understanding how various industries function. A testimonial featured by the firm comes from the owner of a Pure Barre studio in the area, who credits WBH Consulting with helping her maintain a clear view of her overall financial health.