Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Peoria, IL

Astute Bookkeeping Services LLC is an accounting and bookkeeping firm with a Peoria, Illinois office and a second location in Grand Junction, Colorado. It works with small and mid-sized businesses that want to hand off recordkeeping, payroll and tax work, and it takes clients from across the United States as well as near its two offices. Buyers looking for help with payables will find the firm offers bookkeeping in a broad sense, not a standalone AP automation platform.

Accounting and transaction work

The firm offers what it calls full-service accounting. This covers ongoing bookkeeping, reconciling bank accounts, posting journal entries and preparing taxes. Third-party listings also describe it setting up new books, doing data entry and managing transactions for clients.

For a company that needs routine payables and disbursement activity recorded accurately and kept in line with bank activity, this kind of outsourced bookkeeping is where the firm fits. Its website does not specifically name a dedicated accounts payable service, so buyers should confirm how vendor bills and payments are handled during an initial consultation.

Payroll and disbursements

Payroll is a core offering. Astute can take on the full payroll cycle, from calculating wages to producing employee checks and sending the related tax payments. For businesses that want one outside provider handling both their books and their regular outgoing payments, combining payroll with bookkeeping keeps these records in one place.

Software credentials

Much of the firm's work is built around QuickBooks. Its bookkeepers are QuickBooks ProAdvisors and hold certifications covering QuickBooks Online Advanced as well as the 2016 and 2017 Desktop editions. They can help a client install and configure the software, keep the books in it day to day, and bring in data from earlier systems. The firm also supports two related tools:

• Knowify, a job-costing application for contractors that connects to QuickBooks Online and covers estimates, bids, contracts, service calls, scheduling and time tracking
• TSheets, a QuickBooks-owned timesheet tool with GPS features and integrations with several accounting packages, for which the firm has Pro-certified staff

Industries and advisory services

Construction and trade contractors are a clear specialty, because the firm is a certified Knowify advisor and can set the software up around how a contracting business operates. Beyond bookkeeping, it has staff with MBA degrees who offer consulting on business development, change management, business intelligence, policies and procedures, business models and launching a new company. That mix may appeal to owners who want their bookkeeper to also advise on processes and reporting.

Working with the firm

The firm sells service packages sized to the client, and package consultations are offered at no charge. Prospective clients can ask for a quote or a call back to discuss bookkeeping, payroll and tax needs, or business services. The firm also publishes forms and flowcharts and short articles on topics such as financial reports and the reasons to bring in a bookkeeper.

Gordon, Stockman & Waugh P.C. is a certified public accounting and advisory firm located in Peoria, Illinois. It serves mid-sized and closely held businesses, offering bookkeeping-related reporting, independent assurance, consulting, and tax work. The firm says its goal is service that is high in quality, reasonably priced in terms of value, and delivered when promised.

Background and working style

The practice can be traced to the 1940s. In January 2004, the current firm acquired the accounting practice formerly run by Gordon & Sweetland, P.C. Today more than twenty professionals with differing talents work together, and the firm relies on a collaborative team approach so that each client benefits from a range of perspectives.

It presents itself as a business advisor first, not merely an auditor or preparer, and says it tries to bring value to clients proactively. It also says it stays reachable all year and prefers inventive, customized solutions to ready-made answers.

On the technology side, the firm works with several microcomputer accounting packages. Information from those systems can be brought in and tied directly to financial statements and income tax returns, so staff do not have to retype figures. The firm takes part in the AICPA Peer Review program and reports that its most recent review produced a clean opinion. It also says its audits are run efficiently so that a client's daily operations are disturbed as little as possible.

Tax preparation and planning

Besides preparing returns of every kind, the firm focuses on planning for closely held companies. It assists clients in choosing the structure of their company, a suitable retirement arrangement, or a plan for passing wealth to family. Returns prepared include:

• Individual returns for the federal government and all states
• S corporations and C corporations
• Partnerships and limited liability companies
• Trusts, estates, and gifts
• Nonprofit organizations
• Retirement plans
• Payroll-related and sales tax filings

Planning support covers tax research, representation when a return is examined, retirement planning, sales tax planning, and advice on acquiring or selling a business.

Audits, reviews, and compilations

The firm is certified to perform independent assurance engagements and helps organizations manage financial risk by matching the engagement to the assurance they want. The range runs from agreed-upon procedures, in which the client defines the work, to a complete audit of the financial statements under generally accepted auditing standards.

• Audit: the highest assurance the firm provides to clients and outside parties, confirming the work followed GAAS and the statements follow GAAP.
• Review: a lower level of assurance, stating that no departures from GAAP were noted. Audits and reviews both require the CPA to be independent.
• Compilation: preparation of statements under AICPA standards with no opinion or assurance, and no independence requirement.

Whatever the level, the firm treats each engagement as a chance to help clients improve their business processes.

Valuation and key people

The firm values private companies and has done so for gift and estate tax matters, mergers, acquisitions, buy-sell arrangements, divorces, and corporate planning.

• Andrew Ryon, CPA began at the firm in 2005, became an owner in 2013 after starting his career there, and graduated from the University of Iowa. He provides audit and assurance services for construction, governmental, and nonprofit clients.
• Matt Waugh, CPA, CVA is a tax specialist with a Bradley University undergraduate degree and a master's in taxation from DePaul University. He has worked solely in tax reporting and planning, including compliance, employee benefits, estates and trusts, and pensions, and is a certified valuation analyst.
• Steve Stockman, CPA graduated from Illinois State University and has served as client service coordinator on many engagements. He helps clients identify the drivers of profitability and value, drawing on work with manufacturers, contractors, and service companies.

White Income Tax Service Ltd is a tax and accounting practice based in Peoria. It works with individuals and small businesses across Central Illinois, including East Peoria, Morton, Washington, Pekin and Dunlap. The firm is best known for income tax work, but its bookkeeping practice also manages the payables side of the ledger for business clients.

That makes it an option for owners who want a local firm to keep vendor obligations organized, as opposed to adopting a dedicated AP automation platform.

Accounts payable within a bookkeeping engagement

The firm does not market standalone AP software or invoice-capture tools. Payables work is part of its Bookkeeping & Write-Up service. Staff maintain vendor records alongside customer receivables so that amounts owed by and to the business reflect actual activity. Related tasks in the same engagement include:

• Tracking payables and receivables with organized vendor and customer files
• Setting up vendors for 1099 reporting and supporting year-end information returns
• Reconciling bank, credit card and merchant processor accounts each period
• Cleaning up and standardizing the chart of accounts
• Catch-up projects for books that have fallen months or years behind
• Keeping fixed asset and depreciation records
• Producing profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow reports with period comparisons

Work can be scheduled monthly or quarterly, depending on transaction volume. The firm points out that accounting software alone does not guarantee accurate books. Its staff confirm that loans, bank accounts and processors agree with the file, and they correct misclassified entries.

How engagements run

New bookkeeping clients start with a review of their existing files and workflows so the firm can estimate scope. The team then tidies categories, links accounts and confirms opening balances. Each ongoing cycle covers reconciliations, payables and receivables, and a concise reporting package. Quarterly reviews look at trends and line up estimated tax and sales tax obligations.

A year-end close passes clean figures to the tax preparation team. Clients can meet at the Willow Knolls office or send statements and receipts through a secure online portal.

Connected services

Payables, payroll, accounting and tax work all sit under one roof, so the same set of numbers feeds every filing. Payroll Services cover processing payroll, depositing payroll taxes, filing payroll returns, issuing W-2 and 1099 forms, and handling multi-state situations. The Accounting Services hub adds:

• Financial statements prepared for lenders
• Registering for and filing Illinois sales tax
• Quarter- and year-end tie-outs
• Packets for banks and lenders
• Consulting on entity choice, pricing, margins and cash planning

Tax preparation spans individual returns, LLCs and S corporations, amended returns and IRS notice support. The firm also prepares estate and trust returns in coordination with attorneys, and offers notary services at its office.

Background

The firm describes itself as a local team that knows Illinois rules and provides guidance throughout the year, not only during filing season. It emphasizes a low-pressure style and strong client retention, and keeps office hours on weekdays and Saturdays. It suits small and mid-sized Peoria-area businesses that want vendor bills, 1099s and reconciliations kept current by people rather than automated workflows. In short, it offers a hands-on, bookkeeping-led approach to accounts payable.