Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Aurora, IL

Overview

Advantage Bookkeeping Professionals, Inc. is an outsourced bookkeeping firm based on 75th Street in Aurora, Illinois, serving small businesses in the Aurora and Naperville area. Rather than selling AP software, the company acts as an external accounting department. It handles the routine financial tasks that many smaller organizations struggle to staff internally.

For buyers evaluating accounts payable support, its offering is best understood as hands-on bill management delivered by people, combined with broader bookkeeping and advisory work. Clients are billed only for the hours actually spent on their files.

Accounts Payable and Core Bookkeeping

Within its first service tier, which covers ongoing day-to-day work, the firm takes over the full bill-paying cycle. Staff record incoming vendor bills, monitor what is outstanding, issue payments and put checks in the mail. All of this follows a schedule and priority order set by each client.

That makes the service a fit for owners who want to decide which obligations get paid first while handing off the clerical workload. The routine tier can be purchased as separate pieces or bundled into a complete package. It covers:

• Accounts payable entry, tracking, payment and mailing of bills
• Customer invoicing, receipt recording and optional inventory tracking
• Coordination with a payroll provider chosen by the client, plus related record updates
• GAAP-based entry review and periodic financial reports
• Bank reconciliations, check preparation and real-time general ledger upkeep
• Daily backup of electronic records

Project Work and Advisory Services

A second tier addresses companies whose books need repair. The team can rebuild computerized records from paper receipts. It can also examine prior entries against GAAP and post corrections, and assemble financial data to answer specific questions about where a business stands. A third tier focuses on systems.

It includes setting up new QuickBooks files or conversions, consulting at the client's own premises, and QuickBooks instruction delivered by the firm's ProAdvisors. Beyond bookkeeping, Advantage offers a startup package that helps entrepreneurs move from a concept to a formally established company.

It also supports operating businesses with collections, budgeting and cash flow issues, and conducts operations reviews for more mature firms. Clients can also be referred to a network of other professionals.

How Clients Work With the Firm

Each client is assigned a dedicated account manager who is supported by the wider group of accountants, so coverage continues when an individual is unavailable. Records are maintained away from the client's premises. The company presents this as a way to keep financial information confidential and to add internal controls that small businesses often lack.

Pickup and delivery of documents is offered at no charge to local clients, and the firm emphasizes quick turnaround on both work and questions. Outsourcing in this way removes the need to recruit, train and supervise in-house bookkeeping staff.

Background and Credentials

The business began in August 1999 as a home-based venture started by Shirley Fancher together with her daughter, Barb Kerry. Shirley, a former small business owner with an accounting degree, guided the company for more than a decade. When she retired in July 2012, Barb took over leadership. Barb also holds an accounting degree and is a CPA.

The staff includes degree-holding accountants, and the firm is registered in the QuickBooks ProAdvisor program. It also holds membership in the AIPB, a professional association for bookkeepers. For AP buyers looking for a local, service-based partner rather than an automation platform, these credentials and the firm's long operating history are its main points of distinction.

On The Mark Taxes & Services is a small tax, accounting and business consulting practice based in Aurora, Illinois. It works with individual taxpayers, small and large businesses, nonprofit organizations and other agencies. For companies looking at accounts payable support, the firm is not a dedicated AP automation vendor. Instead, it is a hands-on bookkeeping and advisory practice that handles payables as part of setting up and maintaining a client's QuickBooks books.

Accounts payable and bookkeeping support

Most of the firm's AP-related work comes through its QuickBooks services. When it installs QuickBooks for a business, the firm tailors the software to that company and can connect outside invoicing and bill payment tools. This lets vendor bills and outgoing payments run through one system.

After setup, the practice can take over the routine work of sorting and recording transactions on a monthly or quarterly schedule. It also reconciles the general ledger and individual accounts and produces the reports the business needs.

• QuickBooks setup and customization, including connecting third-party bill pay and invoicing software
• Monthly or quarterly transaction review, processing and account reconciliation
• Periodic tune-ups that clean up stray entries, customize reports and match subsidiary records to the general ledger
• Personalized training for owners and staff, at the client's site or the firm's office
• Support by email and phone for day-to-day QuickBooks questions

Advisory and specialty services

For businesses that need more than data entry, the firm offers part-time, outsourced CFO services. These give owners access to an experienced financial professional without the cost of a full-time controller or CFO. A related financial planning and analysis service helps company leaders turn their numbers into decisions about growth, revenue goals and cash flow.

The firm also has a nonprofit practice that covers outsourced accounting and compliance, including the annual Form 990, Circular A-133 requirements and tax on unrelated business income. Manufacturers are listed as another industry it serves. Beyond business work, the practice prepares taxes and offers wealth management guidance, coordinating with a client's other advisors such as attorneys, insurance agents and CPAs.

Background and team

The firm is run by its owner, Marta P. Corral, who describes herself as a bilingual senior tax consultant. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and has more than 25 years of tax preparation experience. Javier Burgos is also listed on the team page. The practice says its work rests on three principles: professionalism, responsiveness and quality. It credits much of its recent growth to referrals from existing clients.

Because it is an owner-led local firm, it is best suited to small and mid-sized organizations around Aurora that use QuickBooks and want someone close by to set up, tidy and keep watch over their payables and general ledger. Prospective clients can request a free initial consultation to discuss their needs. Buyers who need large-scale invoice capture, approval workflows or dedicated AP automation software will probably need to look at specialized vendors as well.