Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Newnan, GA

Chuck Johnson CPA is a Certified Public Accounting practice based in Newnan, Georgia, organized as Chuck Johnson, CPA PC and holding a Georgia license. The firm mainly works with small businesses and their owners. It also serves individuals who need tax and planning help. For buyers comparing accounts payable providers in Coweta County, it is a local CPA option for outsourced bookkeeping, not a dedicated AP automation software vendor.

Who the firm serves

The practice works with clients across many industries rather than one niche. Its central idea is that smaller companies have the same core financial needs as large corporations. Those needs include financial statements delivered on time, budgeting, tax planning, and sound internal procedures and controls. Chuck Johnson brings experience at the level of a Fortune 500 company to owner-operated businesses, at fees set with smaller budgets in mind.

Accounting and bookkeeping services relevant to AP

The firm doesn't advertise a separate accounts payable or AP automation package. Businesses looking to outsource vendor bill handling would most likely do so through its bookkeeping and small business accounting work, and should confirm the exact scope directly. Its accounting services include:

• Ongoing bookkeeping for small companies
• General small business accounting and financial reporting
• Payroll processing and the related payroll tax filings
• Sales tax and property tax return preparation
• Consulting for newly formed businesses
• Setting up QuickBooks and training staff to use it
• Peachtree accounting software setup and training

The software setup and training services may appeal to companies that want to keep payables in-house. These clients can have their accounting system set up properly and their staff trained, while the CPA stays available for oversight and year-end work.

Tax and planning services

Beyond day-to-day accounting, the firm prepares income tax returns for both business entities and individuals. It also offers proactive tax planning and represents clients before the IRS. Other services include personal financial planning and estate planning, so owners can handle business and household finances with one adviser.

How the firm works with clients

The practice stresses personal involvement in every client engagement, whatever the size of the client or the kind of business. Professionalism, responsiveness and quality of service are its stated priorities. Services are tailored to each company rather than sold as fixed bundles. This approach suits small firms that want a consistent, direct relationship with their accountant instead of a large outsourced processing center.

Credentials and affiliations

The firm belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Georgia Society of CPAs. It is also a member of the Newnan Coweta Chamber of Commerce, which reflects its ties to the local business community. Its single office is on Newnan Crossing Bypass in Newnan, and it offers online payment and file uploads for client convenience.

Higgins & Smith LLC is a certified public accounting firm in historic downtown Newnan, Georgia, that works with small and mid-sized companies, self-employed owners, nonprofits, individuals and trusts. For buyers comparing accounts payable providers, its relevance lies in an outsourced bookkeeping practice where vendor bill entry and payment processing are handled together with the recordkeeping, payroll and tax work a growing company usually needs from a single firm.

Accounts payable and bookkeeping support

Within its bookkeeping offering, the firm lists payables work that covers both recording incoming bills and paying them on the client's behalf. This sits next to receivables handling (invoicing, deposits and collections), bank reconciliations, general ledger upkeep and inventory tracking.

Because vendor payments drive year-end information reporting, the team also prepares 1099 and 1096 filings, tying AP activity directly to compliance. Owners whose records have fallen behind can engage the firm for a cleanup project, while newer ventures can have reporting structures designed from day one, with internal controls built into the workflow.

• Accounts payable entry and bill payment
• Accounts receivable, invoicing and collections
• Bank reconciliations and general ledger maintenance
• Bookkeeping cleanup and outsourced bookkeeping
• 1099 and 1096 preparation
• Payroll processing

Technology plays a supporting role. The firm assists clients in getting more value from QuickBooks, in both its desktop edition and its cloud-hosted version, which suits businesses that want payables tracked in software and cash flow reports available when needed.

Documents can be exchanged through a secure file-delivery page and a client portal, and payroll clients have separate online access for employers and their staff. Beyond day-to-day accounting, the firm offers part-time CFO support, business advisory work, succession planning, new business formation, nonprofit accounting, tax preparation and planning, and IRS audit representation.

Background and team

Tim Higgins and Anne Smith founded the practice in 2007 with the aim of building a CPA firm centered on listening to clients and responding promptly. In 2009 the firm bought and restored a downtown building that had operated as the Newnan Seed Store for 53 years, earning a 2010 preservation award from the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society.

The firm is licensed in Georgia, is also a Registered Investment Advisory firm, and has its internal systems examined through independent peer review under AICPA standards.

Tim Higgins, CPA/PFS, is the managing member, brings more than three decades in public accounting and is licensed in Georgia and Alabama. Anne Smith, CPA, gained earlier experience at a nonprofit organization, in restaurants and at a different CPA practice.

Jackie Satterfield, CPA, has over ten years of experience centered on tax, payroll and bookkeeping for small companies and sole proprietors, and Katie Sterling, CPA, adds over 22 years in public accounting across several states along with a tax-focused master's degree. Staff member AJ Human earned the Fundamental Payroll Certification in 2025.

The firm describes its approach as grounded in professionalism, responsiveness and quality, with clients receiving direct attention from professional staff and relationships treated as long-term partnerships, an arrangement likely to appeal to local owners who prefer to hand off payables to a CPA team they can meet in person.

The McClendon Group, CPA, PC is a certified public accounting practice in the historic downtown district of Newnan, Georgia. Rhonda D. McClendon owns and leads the firm. It works mainly with small businesses and individuals in Coweta and Fayette counties. For companies in the South Fulton area looking for outside help with payables, it is a local CPA option that combines bookkeeping with tax and advisory work. It is not a dedicated AP automation software vendor.

Services for Business Clients

The firm's service menu covers the core financial functions a growing company usually needs. Its bookkeeping and general accounting work is where routine payables tasks would fit, such as recording vendor bills and keeping the books reconciled. Its website does not describe a separate, stand-alone accounts payable outsourcing program, so buyers should confirm the scope of payables work directly. The firm's main areas of work are:

• General accounting
• Bookkeeping
• Business consulting
• Forensic accounting and forensic auditing
• Tax services for businesses and individuals
• Retirement planning

Rhonda McClendon holds the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor credential. This may matter to companies that already run their ledgers and vendor records in QuickBooks and want a CPA who knows the platform. The firm also lists membership in the Georgia CPA professional community among its credentials.

Background and Approach

From the start of her career, the owner has focused on two goals for clients: helping their businesses grow and keeping their tax burden low. The firm says it keeps a full-service accounting staff, which it presents as unusual among Newnan practices. This means clients can work with a team rather than a single practitioner.

Its forensic accounting background is also worth noting for buyers. Experience in examining financial records can be useful when a company wants a closer look at disbursements, vendor activity or irregularities in its books.

Client comments on the website describe long relationships. One person has relied on the firm for personal returns for over a decade and later brought a new business to the same team. Another client describes years of support through both good and difficult business cycles. A senior attorney highlights the owner's work as a forensic accountant. Together these comments suggest a firm that often handles both personal and business finances for the same owners over many years.

Service Area

Most of the firm's clients are based in Newnan, Peachtree City, Senoia and Sharpsburg. However, the practice has worked with clients in many other parts of Georgia, and much of that growth came from referrals by existing clients. The office recently moved to a new location on Greenville Street in downtown Newnan.

It is open on weekdays during standard business hours. Small and owner-managed companies in South Fulton that want bookkeeping, payables recordkeeping, tax work and consulting from one local CPA firm may find it a practical fit. Larger organizations looking for invoice-capture software or high-volume AP processing would probably need a specialized automation provider instead.