Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Elgin, IL

Prince & Associates is a small accounting and tax practice in Elgin, Illinois. It works with individuals and with small and mid-sized businesses. Buyers comparing accounts payable support will find that the firm does not sell a standalone AP automation platform. Instead, payables work falls under its outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services. The firm describes its approach to clients as low-pressure, and it notes that it keeps a large share of its clients year after year.

Bookkeeping and the financial back office

For companies that have no in-house accounting staff, or whose current recordkeeping can no longer keep up with their growth, the firm offers full bookkeeping and write-up services. This is the work that usually covers recording vendor bills and keeping the ledger current. The firm aims to keep a business's finances running without disruption. As a client grows, the team helps plan how the accounting setup should change so that processes stay matched to the company's size and complexity.

Software selection and implementation

Businesses looking to modernize how they handle bills and other transactions can get help choosing and setting up accounting software. The firm reviews several things before recommending a system:

• the type of business and the transactions it processes
• the technology it already uses
• its plans for future growth and changing requirements
• its security needs, including cloud and software-as-a-service options

The goal is to set up a system that can be adjusted as the company evolves, rather than one that has to be replaced later.

Related services for business clients

Besides bookkeeping, Prince & Associates offers several services that affect cash flow and vendor obligations:

• Payroll processing, including updates on changes to federal, state and local rules
• Sales tax services
• Preparing financial statements for owners, lenders, partners and prospective buyers
• Financial analysis, including forward-looking scenarios to guide decisions
• Advice on choosing or changing a business entity type, such as an LLC, partnership or corporation
• Help with buying or selling a business, including valuation, screening buyers and due diligence

On the tax side, the firm prepares returns, does tax planning and represents clients before the IRS and other tax authorities during audits. Notary public services are also available. Clients can use an online portal and a payment page, and the website includes calculators, tax calendars, a record retention guide and a newsletter.

How the firm works

The practice says it is big enough to cover a wide range of accounting needs while staying small enough to give each client personal attention. It studies each client's circumstances before giving tailored advice, rather than offering one-size-fits-all packages. Much of its new business comes through referrals from existing clients.

Prince & Associates is best suited to local small businesses that want a hands-on accounting partner to handle bookkeeping and the related payables work. It also fits companies that want help choosing software. It is a less natural fit for organizations looking for a dedicated, high-volume AP automation product.

Tighe, Kress & Orr, known as TKO, is a certified public accounting firm in the northern Illinois area. Its main office is in Elgin and a second office is in downtown Chicago. The firm presents itself as a specialist in governmental audits, general accounting and business valuation. Its partners and staff have since joined EisnerAmper, a larger national accounting organization.

According to the firm, clients keep working with the people they already know, who now have the broader resources of that network behind them.

Relevance for accounts payable buyers

TKO does not sell AP automation software, and its website does not list accounts payable processing as a separate service. Its connection to payables work comes through its accounting and bookkeeping practice. That practice covers ongoing bookkeeping, help setting up QuickBooks and advice on using it, and compiled financial reports.

This may suit a small or mid-sized company that wants outside accountants to keep its books in order, set up its accounting software properly, and turn transaction records into reliable statements. A buyer who needs a dedicated, high-volume invoice processing operation or a packaged automation platform should confirm the scope directly with the firm before engaging.

Services

The firm groups its work into four main practice areas:

• Accounting and bookkeeping: routine bookkeeping, compilations and financial reporting, plus QuickBooks implementation and consulting
• Audit and assurance: audits and reviews of financial statements, agreed-upon procedures engagements, internal control work, and audits connected to the State Board of Elections
• Tax: business, individual, estate, trust, gift and international tax, general tax advisory, and representation before the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue
• Advisory: mergers and acquisitions, support for buying or selling a company, succession planning for owners, and business valuation

For finance teams reviewing their payables controls, the internal controls and agreed-upon procedures services are especially relevant. A company could use them to have an outside party test how invoices are approved and paid, separate from day-to-day bookkeeping help.

Industries served

TKO lists several industry focus areas. These are closely held businesses and professional service firms, construction companies and contractors, real estate, manufacturing and distribution, and not-for-profit organizations. Its emphasis on governmental audits also suggests experience with public-sector entities and the reporting rules they follow. Many of these sectors deal with large numbers of vendors, subcontractors and supplier invoices. Construction and distribution companies in particular often need careful bookkeeping and well-designed controls around disbursements.

Background and how the firm works

The firm works from two Illinois locations: an office on Point Boulevard in Elgin and a suite on South Riverside Plaza in Chicago. The Elgin office is the most convenient one for companies in the Fox Valley. TKO offers clients an online payment option and publishes a series of articles under the TKO Insights name.

Joining EisnerAmper gives clients access to a larger firm's specialists while their relationship with the local team continues. For a buyer comparing providers, TKO is best seen as a full-service CPA firm. It can handle bookkeeping, software setup, controls testing, tax and advisory work in one relationship, rather than acting as a specialized outsourced payables vendor.

Vohra Tax & Accounting is a tax and accounting practice in the Chicago area. It has two offices in Elgin, Illinois: one on Dundee Avenue and one at Clock Tower Plaza. Most of its work is tax preparation for households and companies. The firm also offers bookkeeping, payroll and IRS representation. That mix makes it relevant to smaller organizations that want outside help managing outgoing payments and expense records, rather than an enterprise AP automation platform.

Payables-related support

The firm does not market a standalone accounts payable product. Its payables support is part of its bookkeeping and payroll offerings. On the bookkeeping side, staff log a client's spending and bank activity as it happens and assign each cost to the proper category.

They also regularly match bank, credit card and loan statements against the books, so errors and mismatches surface early. On the payroll side, the team pays both employees and independent contractors and classifies each worker correctly. It also issues the year-end forms that go with those payments.

• Ongoing recording of expenses and bank activity
• Reconciliation of bank, credit card and loan accounts
• Expense categorization to reveal spending patterns
• Contractor payment handling and 1099 preparation
• Payroll runs with direct deposit and itemized pay stubs
• Federal, state and local payroll tax deposits and filings
• Cleanup of disorganized or overdue books
• Monthly or quarterly statements covering profit and loss, financial position and cash flow

How engagements work

Clients choose how often their books are maintained, anywhere from daily to quarterly. Payroll can run weekly, every two weeks, twice a month or monthly. Bookkeeping is handled in secure cloud-based software, so owners can view their figures at any time while the firm's staff do the processing. Because the same firm prepares taxes, the records it keeps can feed directly into returns. The team can also coordinate with a client's existing preparer. New clients begin by booking a consultation.

Who the firm serves

Vohra Tax works mainly with smaller and midsize companies, startups, freelancers and independent contractors. Its payroll materials name retail, hospitality, healthcare and construction among the industries it supports. The firm also serves individuals, including people applying for or renewing an ITIN. It offers service in more than one language, which may matter to owners who prefer to work in a language other than English.

Background and locations

Beyond its two Elgin offices, the firm operates locations in Arlington Heights, Carpentersville, Hanover Park, Mount Prospect, Waukegan and several Chicago neighborhoods. Each location has its own team of tax professionals. The firm says it supports clients throughout the year, not only during filing season, and emphasizes transparent pricing with no hidden fees.

Its Google listing shows a 5.0 rating across more than 1,000 reviews, many of which praise individual staff members at the Dundee Avenue office. Buyers who want a local partner that combines bookkeeping, contractor and payroll payments, and tax compliance may find it a practical fit.

Those who need invoice capture or approval workflow software should look at dedicated AP automation vendors instead.