Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Columbus, GA

Overview

Justice Accounting & Consulting is a family-run accounting and tax practice in Columbus, Georgia. It works mainly with small and mid-sized companies and also serves some individual clients. Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should see it as a full-service small business accountant. It handles bill payment and vendor payments as part of a wider bookkeeping, payroll and advisory relationship. It is not a stand-alone AP software vendor.

Accounts payable and related services

Through its CFO services offering, the firm helps owners pay vendor bills on schedule so nothing falls behind. It notes that franchise owners often deal with many suppliers and customers. Handing that coordination to the firm can free up time that would otherwise go to back-office work.

The firm says it has helped clients manage payments to their vendors, and it tracks how many invoices it has paid for clients. Its core bookkeeping keeps the payment side of the ledger accurate:

• CFO-level support, including paying bills on time and coordinating with vendors
• Entry of financial data from bank, credit card, mortgage and lease statements
• Monthly reconciliation, including follow-up on outstanding checks, which the firm notes become void after 180 days
• Daily monitoring of bank balances to guide decisions on inventory, asset purchases and collections
• Preparation and analysis of financial statements to spot discrepancies
• Payroll accounting, withholding filings and state sales tax returns
• Tax preparation, entity formation, HR onboarding and business consulting

How the firm works with clients

The practice describes its approach as a mix of in-office and cloud-based service. Clients can send monthly paperwork by email or fax, upload documents through a secure online client portal, or ask the firm to pick up materials in person. This saves them a trip to the office.

The firm says it uses modern accounting software to speed up processing and offers secure ways to exchange sensitive records. It promises to respond to inquiries sent through its website within 24 to 48 hours.

Background and team

Michelle Justice started the firm in May 2009 after more than thirty years in accounting. Her son, Terry D. Justice II, earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Columbus State University in 2017 and trained under her at the practice. His father, Terry Justice Sr., died in 2020, and Terry II then took over daily operations. Ownership passed to him in 2021. Since then the firm has added tax preparation and HR onboarding to its services. Michelle has since retired.

The firm reports that it has served more than 300 personal and business clients, whose combined annual revenues exceed $35 million. It also says 97 percent of its clients have obtained small business loans in their company's name.

It bases its work on GAAP and on guidance from the FASB and AICPA, and its culture rests on three core values: respect, integrity and excellence. One thing that stands out is its willingness to tell clients when they are wrong instead of simply agreeing with them. The firm treats this kind of honest advice as part of being transparent.

For small businesses and franchisees in the Columbus area, it offers one local accountant to handle bill payments along with their books, payroll and taxes.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, McConnell & Jones LLP is a CPA and consulting firm that entered the Georgia market on January 1, 2025, when it took over Taylor CPA & Associates, which had offices in Columbus and Atlanta. What used to be the Taylor practice is now the firm's Columbus branch on Brookstone Centre Parkway.

Organizations across the Chattahoochee Valley therefore get the resources of an accounting firm operating in several states while still dealing with people nearby. Anyone shopping for help with vendor bills should know that this capability is housed in the firm's Client Accounting Services unit. It is not offered as a separate payables software product.

Outsourced bookkeeping and vendor bill handling

Client Accounting Services targets owners of expanding businesses who would rather devote their energy to clients and employees than to routine recordkeeping. Paying suppliers is presented as a central element of the offering. That work is paired with ledger upkeep and reporting so that amounts owed stay correct and fully matched to the records.

Each engagement is shaped around the individual client and draws on proven methods for smaller enterprises. A business can delegate just a few tasks or transfer a larger share of its finance operations. Offerings the firm describes include:

• Settling invoices and managing disbursements to suppliers
• Closing the books each period and reconciling bank accounts every month
• Upkeep of the account structure used to classify transactions
• Running employee pay cycles and preparing related payroll reports
• Controller-level oversight and guidance for leadership
• Financial statements, reports tracking key performance figures, and help meeting lender requirements

Software and internal safeguards

The firm's books are kept in QuickBooks Online, and clients are given access to Bill.com to simplify disbursements and the reporting tied to them. McConnell & Jones says it is an approved reseller of both tools. Buyers can therefore obtain the applications and the staff who operate them from a single provider.

The firm also notes that bringing in an external team to examine and process transactions creates a separation of responsibilities. This safeguard helps smaller organizations lower their risk of employee theft when they do not have enough people to split authorizing, paying and recording among different individuals.

Sectors served and wider expertise

Outside of client accounting, the firm performs audits of businesses, employee benefit plans, charities and government bodies. It also handles tax work for companies and individuals, tax matters for people living abroad, risk consulting and internal audit, and technology consulting. Other offerings include workflow improvement, process outsourcing, grant administration and transaction due diligence.

Sector coverage includes building contractors, firms that buy and sell power and fuel commodities, hospitals and medical providers, industrial producers, companies supporting drilling and well operations, exchange-listed issuers, and buyout and investment funds. The firm also serves federal, state and municipal agencies, schools and colleges, and charitable organizations.

This range can benefit entities whose bill-paying processes must support audit preparation, grant obligations or reviews of internal controls.

History and leadership

Established in 1987, the firm has locations in Houston, Austin, Plano (serving Dallas), Durham, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Columbus. It describes itself as owned by a military veteran and certified as a HUB supplier. It is also a member of PrimeGlobal, a network of independent accounting practices.

Partners named for client accounting are Tené Thomas, CPA, who leads tax and accounting; William Taylor, CPA, CFP, PFS, who founded the Georgia practice that was acquired; and Tenesha Hartgrove, CPA, EA, PFS, CFP. For file sharing, clients can use a ShareFile portal, and tax clients have their own separate login.

Newell & Newell, PC is a Georgia-licensed certified public accounting firm in Columbus that focuses mainly on accounting and tax work for small and closely held businesses. For buyers looking for help with accounts payable, the firm is a general CPA practice rather than a dedicated AP outsourcing or automation vendor.

Its site does not list accounts payable as a separate service. Instead, payables work would fall under its bookkeeping, small business accounting and accounting software support, alongside payroll and cash flow advice.

Services relevant to AP and finance operations

The firm's business services that relate most closely to managing payables and the wider finance function include:

• Outsourced bookkeeping and small business accounting
• Setup and support for Sage and QuickBooks
• Payroll processing and help with payroll tax problems
• Cash flow management and help preparing for bank financing
• Reviews of internal controls
• Part-time CFO engagements
• Audits, reviews and compilations of financial statements
• Forensic accounting and litigation support

Beyond these, Newell & Newell handles business and individual tax preparation and planning, estate and trust tax work, cryptocurrency accounting, business valuation, succession planning, new business formation and non-profit accounting. It also offers a broad tax relief practice, including IRS audit representation, unfiled returns, back taxes, liens, levies, payment plans and offers in compromise.

Industries and clients

Clients include both individuals and businesses in the Columbus area. The firm lists industry experience in construction, dental practices, healthcare, hospitality, law firms, manufacturing, non-profits and real estate. A Georgia Society of CPAs referral listing adds churches and ministries, restaurants, retail and wholesale distribution to the sectors it serves.

Background and team

Two CPAs founded the practice. Silvia C. Newell is the managing partner and has more than twenty-five years of experience in tax, accounting and business consulting. She mainly advises small and mid-sized privately held companies and holds an accounting degree from Columbus State University. Thomas E. Newell, Jr. is the other founding partner.

He has a long background in auditing and teaches continuing professional education seminars for the AICPA, the Georgia Society of CPAs and other state societies. He has also consulted for large corporations, government agencies and CPA firms, and has served on the Georgia Society's peer review committee. Both partners belong to the AICPA and the Georgia Society of CPAs.

How they work with clients

The firm presents client relationships as long-term partnerships. It stresses confidentiality under the profession's code of ethics, clear communication, and assigning each task to the staff member who can do it at the most reasonable cost. Fees are set by the time and expertise each engagement needs, and they are agreed at an initial meeting.

New clients can start with a free consultation. Files are exchanged through a ShareFile client portal, and invoices can be paid online. Companies that want a local CPA to handle payables as part of full bookkeeping and controls oversight may find a good fit here. Companies that need standalone AP automation software would likely need to look elsewhere.

Robinson, Grimes & Company, P.C. is an accounting and advisory practice headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. For upward of nine decades, it has served companies, families and institutions in Columbus and the surrounding region. Although the firm offers a broad menu of services, organizations seeking an outside partner for payables should look mainly at its Client Accounting Services (CAS) unit. That group takes on routine finance responsibilities for businesses that prefer not to staff those duties internally.

Outsourced Payables and the CAS Team

Rather than appearing once each tax season, the CAS unit operates as a continuing extension of a client's finance department. The services it lists address the essentials of payables: entering supplier invoices and sending out payments.

The team also manages the software behind the process, including implementing cloud-based bookkeeping systems and linking supplementary tools for payables, receivables, employee spending and stock tracking. It also streamlines and automates routine tasks.

A number of its accountants are certified in QuickBooks Online and assist with getting new users started, configuring systems from scratch and bringing neglected books up to date.

• Entry of supplier invoices and disbursement of payments
• Linking of payables, receivables and employee spending software
• Bookkeeping entries and period-end closes on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis
• Income statements, balance sheets and cash flow reports each month, along with tailored reports for management and comparisons of results against budget
• Running payroll, submitting employment tax returns, and producing year-end wage and contractor forms for staff and vendors
• Supervision of internal safeguards and bookkeeping procedures, along with projections of future cash position

The Firm's Approach to Client Relationships

According to the firm, its CAS arrangement lets businesses tap seasoned accounting professionals without the expense of maintaining an in-house team. The scope of work can expand alongside the client, and the emphasis extends beyond reporting past results to offering guidance about what lies ahead. Individual attention and a stable, long-term relationship sit at the heart of the firm's philosophy.

In most cases, a single assigned partner works with each client and builds familiarity with its operations over the years. Complementary offerings include general business consulting, proactive tax strategy, planning for estates and ownership transitions, and audit and assurance engagements for heavily regulated entities.

Professional Standing, Systems Expertise and History

Robinson Grimes participates in two practice sections of the national CPA professional body: one for firms serving publicly registered clients and one focused on privately held businesses.

Membership obliges the firm to undergo an outside review of its audit and accounting work once every three years, to follow the organization's quality control requirements, and to ensure each professional completes no fewer than 120 hours of continuing education across every three-year period. Robinson Grimes additionally belongs to the state's own association of certified public accountants.

Its leaders have served in prominent positions within professional bodies at local, statewide and national levels. As part of the CPAmerica network, the firm can call on experts at independent accounting practices throughout the country and, by way of CPAmerica's partnership with Crowe Global, overseas as well.

In addition, the firm operates a dedicated technology consulting arm known as The Systems Group. This unit delivers managed IT services for Windows-based setups, including administration of networks and servers, virtualization, help choosing systems, backup and data safeguarding, and cybersecurity. Businesses modernizing how they handle payables can therefore obtain both accounting help and technology support from a single provider. In its company overview, the firm highlights specific expertise in real estate, wholesale distribution, government, nonprofits, construction and health care.

Service CPA is the web presence of Behar, Reid, Melton and Brown, a certified public accounting and consulting practice based in Columbus, Georgia. The firm opened its doors in 1977 and has worked for more than four decades with individuals, companies, trusts, estates and nonprofit organizations. It describes itself as a progressive general practice.

That means a client can have bookkeeping, payroll, financial reporting, tax filings and advisory work all handled by one local team instead of spreading them across several vendors.

How it fits an accounts payable search

Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should know that Service CPA is a traditional accounting firm, not an AP automation software company. Its website does not advertise a dedicated invoice-processing platform or a branded AP product. What the firm does highlight is a sizable bookkeeping operation alongside payroll processing.

For many small and midsize businesses, that is where routine back-office work usually sits, such as recording vendor bills and keeping the general ledger current. Organizations that want to hand off their day-to-day books to a nearby CPA team, and have those records flow straight into tax and reporting work, may find this arrangement useful.

Prospective clients should confirm the exact scope of bill-payment support in an early conversation.

Services offered

• Bookkeeping for business clients
• Payroll processing, with a separate online area for payroll clients
• Audits, reviews and compiled financial statements
• Tax preparation for individuals, businesses, trusts, estates and nonprofits
• Ongoing consulting and proactive tax planning
• Estate planning
• Support for mergers and acquisitions
• Litigation and mediation engagements

Industries and specialties

The partners name three areas where they consider their expertise especially deep. The first is automotive businesses. The second is professional service providers such as law offices, medical practices and dental offices. The third is retail. Companies in these fields can expect advisors who already understand the reporting patterns, cost structures and tax questions common to their industry.

Background and team

The firm currently has 18 people on staff, four of whom are licensed CPAs. It is led by four partners: Robert Behar, Marc Reid, Karen Melton and Don Brown. Clients can reach individual partners directly as well as the wider staff.

The practice describes its size as a deliberate balance: it has enough depth to take on complicated business matters, yet it stays compact enough for every client to receive personal attention. Clients have access to a secure online login, and payroll customers have their own portal on the site.

The firm also keeps a community page and shares glimpses of office culture, such as seasonal staff events.

For a Columbus-area company that wants bookkeeping-based handling of its payables tied closely to tax, audit and advisory services, Service CPA offers a long-established, partner-led option with a single office in the city.