Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Duluth, GA

Overview

Accounting Partners, Inc. (API) is an outsourced accounting firm with its headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, close to Johns Creek. Since its founding in 1996, the firm has acted as an extension of its clients' finance departments. It handles bookkeeping, payroll, tax and advisory work for small and mid-sized organizations.

Buyers looking for accounts payable help should see API as a full-service outsourced accounting provider. It can manage payables as part of a wider engagement, but it does not sell standalone AP automation software.

Accounts payable and accounting services

The firm's main offering is outsourced accounting. A company can hand over its entire accounting operation or just selected tasks. For AP buyers, this means a business that already has an in-house bookkeeper can pass specific duties to API, such as reconciliations or processing vendor bills, and keep the rest internal. The team's listed experience covers payables, purchasing, receivables, collections, general ledger work, treasury management, budgeting, and sales and property tax compliance. Services described on the firm's website include:

• Full or partial outsourced accounting
• Accounts payable and purchasing support
• Billing, collections and bank reconciliations
• Financial statements and budget preparation
• Acting CFO and controller services
• Payroll processing
• Tax preparation for businesses and individuals
• QuickBooks setup, cleanup, consulting and training
• NetSuite support
• Start-up consulting and employee benefits liaison

How they work with clients

API does not move clients onto a proprietary platform. Its accountants work directly in the client's own QuickBooks or NetSuite file. Owners can see their records at any time and can check performance during the month instead of waiting for the books to close.

Companies that already employ accounting staff can have API train that team to use QuickBooks more fully. API can also take over areas that internal staff don't have the time or specialized skills to handle. Because the work is outsourced, clients pay for the help they use and don't have to add full-time employees.

Industries served

API's clients include manufacturers, associations, distributors, nonprofits, consulting firms, medical practices, real estate companies, international businesses and organizations that operate in several states. Its tax practice prepares returns for partnerships, LLCs, C and S corporations, nonprofits and individuals.

Background and team

Jay Orzech, President, and Paul Romig, Jr., Vice President, co-founded the firm in June 1996. Both had previously worked at Plantation Pipe Line Company for well over a decade. Orzech rotated through that company's finance group, covering payables, receivables, ledger work, payroll, and sales, use and property taxes. He later joined a PeopleSoft implementation team.

He earned his accounting degree at Georgia State University. Romig oversaw a capital and operating budget of $100 million and prepared federal and multistate tax filings. He holds an accounting degree and an MBA in finance from Virginia Tech. Both partners have experience as CFOs and controllers and fill those roles for some clients.

The staff directory also lists several senior accountants and accounting specialists, and the team holds QuickBooks ProAdvisor credentials.

API may suit Johns Creek businesses that want a nearby firm to process their payables by hand alongside bookkeeping, controllership and tax work. It offers a staff-based alternative to software-only AP automation tools.

The Atlanta CPA Group LLC is a certified public accounting firm in Duluth, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta. It handles accounting, tax, payroll and advisory work for individuals and for small and growing businesses. The firm used to operate as MLN Accounting & Tax Service and has been in business since 2011.

Besides its Gwinnett County office, it uses secure virtual tools to serve clients across the country. Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should know that the firm handles payables as part of an outsourced bookkeeping engagement. It does not sell a standalone AP automation software product.

Accounts payable and bookkeeping support

Payables work is part of the firm's recurring bookkeeping service, which is carried out by certified bookkeepers. Under this arrangement, the team records each day's transactions, tracks vendor bills alongside customer receivables, reconciles bank accounts and prepares financial statements every month.

The goal is to give owners reliable records and a clear view of what the business owes, without the need for an in-house accounting department. Companies whose records have fallen behind can hire the firm for a one-time cleanup project.

Afterward, they receive a package of reports, including an income statement, balance sheet, trial balance and ledger detail, and they can go over the results with a bookkeeper.

• Recording of daily business transactions
• Tracking of vendor payables and customer receivables
• Bank account reconciliations
• Preparation of monthly financial statements
• Bookkeeping cleanup with a complete reports package
• Payroll runs, direct deposit and payroll tax compliance
• Year-end W-2 and 1099 filings

Tax, payroll and consulting

Beyond bookkeeping, the firm prepares business and personal returns, provides tax planning and helps clients resolve IRS problems. It added payroll services in 2017, originally to keep its S-corporation clients compliant. Today this service covers processing, direct deposit, payroll tax filings and year-end forms. The consulting practice is aimed at owners who cannot justify hiring a full-time CPA or CFO. It draws on more than ten years of corporate finance experience to find cost savings and opportunities for expansion.

Industries served

The firm offers dedicated services to several client groups:

• Doctors and other healthcare practitioners
• Real estate agents and property investors
• Truckers
• Technology companies
• Entertainers

Background and credentials

The practice opened in January 2011 in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and at first offered only seasonal tax preparation. It added monthly accounting and bookkeeping in 2015 and now operates from its Duluth office. It is led by Maima Rita Noibi, CPA, who has more than 20 years of experience and holds licenses in Georgia and the District of Columbia.

She earned an undergraduate accounting degree at Georgia Southern University and a master's in business at Mercer University. Her professional memberships include the AICPA (including its Tax and Personal Financial Planning sections), the Georgia Society of CPAs, the National Association of Tax Professionals, the National Society of Black CPAs and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.

The firm stresses continuing professional education for its accountants and offers a secure client portal. It says it focuses on listening to clients and teaching them about their finances, and client reviews on its site often mention this.

Will Yu CPA LLC is a licensed Georgia certified public accounting practice based in Johns Creek. It works with small and mid-sized companies, non-profit groups and individuals. The firm does not sell a dedicated AP automation platform. Buyers looking for outside accounts payable help would get it through the firm's bookkeeping, small business accounting and QuickBooks services. Under these services the firm keeps a client's books for them, which covers tracking vendor bills and money the company owes.

Accounting and Bookkeeping Support

The firm's business services are aimed at owners who would rather spend their time running operations than recording transactions. Its staff take over routine bookkeeping and keep financial records accurate, so management has a reliable view of its obligations and cash position. Related services that support a well-run payables function include:

• Outsourced bookkeeping and small business accounting
• Payroll processing
• Cash flow projections to help prevent cash shortfalls
• Part-time CFO guidance from an experienced financial manager
• Reviews of internal controls, with recommendations to make operating procedures more efficient
• Help preparing for bank financing and loan requests

QuickBooks Expertise

Many small companies handle their vendor bills and payments in QuickBooks, and the firm offers a full set of services for that software. It can set up a new company file, train staff, answer day-to-day questions and run a tune-up on an existing file that has become disorganized. For buyers who want to keep payables in-house but on a cleaner footing, this support can sit alongside, or replace, fully outsourced bookkeeping.

Tax and Advisory Depth

Will Yu CPA LLC is a full tax practice as well as a bookkeeping provider. It prepares business and individual returns, does tax planning and handles estate and trust work, and it also offers cryptocurrency accounting. It places particular weight on tax problem resolution.

That work includes representing clients in IRS audits, payroll tax problems, liens, levies, wage garnishments, payment plans, offers in compromise and unfiled returns. Its broader advisory work covers business valuation, strategic planning, succession planning for family businesses, new business formation, non-profit compliance and litigation support. For individuals, it provides financial, retirement and estate planning as well as wealth management.

Industries and Client Experience

The firm says it has specialized knowledge in several sectors where payables can be complicated:

• Construction
• Dentists and healthcare practices
• Hospitality
• Law firms
• Manufacturers
• Real estate

New clients are offered a free first consultation so the firm can work out which services fit their needs. Ongoing work is supported by a secure client portal and a SecureSend tool for sending documents straight to staff. The firm also publishes a monthly newsletter, financial guides and a tax resource center.

For Johns Creek area businesses, its appeal is having bookkeeping, payroll, QuickBooks support, tax compliance and IRS representation under one local CPA firm, rather than a standalone AP software vendor.