Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Skokie, IL

Blumenfeld Miscinski & Assoc., Ltd. is a certified public accounting firm based in Skokie, Illinois. It focuses mainly on smaller companies, from new ventures to long-established operations, and also advises individuals and families on personal finances. Buyers looking for help with payables will find that the firm does not sell a standalone AP software platform. Its payables-related work is delivered through outsourced bookkeeping, controllership and cash flow services, all handled by an accounting team rather than a technology vendor.

Bookkeeping and Controllership Support

The firm's main back-office offering is outsourced accounting and bookkeeping. It is designed to scale, so the level of help can grow as a client's transaction volume grows. The firm says it pairs this record-keeping with controllership services and expense monitoring. The stated aim is to help owners keep costs in check and keep cash moving steadily.

For companies weighing an outside party to manage vendor bills and disbursements, this model offers access to experienced accounting professionals instead of a self-service tool. Prospective clients should confirm exactly which payables tasks are included in an engagement.

• Outsourced bookkeeping and general accounting
• Controllership and expense oversight
• Cash flow management, budgeting and forecasting
• Preparation of easy-to-read financial statements
• QuickBooks setup, training and ongoing support
• Cloud-based accounting with round-the-clock data access

Technology and Reporting

The firm uses technology to cut the time owners spend on financial administration. It sets up cloud accounting so that clients can view current figures at any hour. It also installs QuickBooks and coaches users on faster ways to enter transactions, which matters for teams recording a steady stream of supplier invoices. Rather than handing over raw reports, the staff explain what the results mean so owners can act on spending trends and growth opportunities.

Assurance, Advisory and Tax

Beyond day-to-day books, the practice performs audits, reviews and compilations of financial statements for public and private companies in many industries, as well as for nonprofits. Its reviews follow AICPA standards (SSARS). Where needed, it also provides due diligence, risk management work and recommendations for stronger internal controls.

Those control recommendations can be useful to organizations tightening approval and payment procedures. The firm also offers business consulting, incorporation and new-business advisory, and proactive tax planning and preparation. IRS problem resolution is available as well.

Background and Approach

The firm describes itself as a hands-on partner that takes a genuine interest in each client's company and acts as a sounding board for ideas. It says it has served individuals and families in the area for many years. On the personal side, it offers retirement, estate and trust planning.

For businesses, it covers succession planning, buy/sell agreements and employee benefit arrangements. The firm maintains a peer review page, a secure client portal and file-sharing tools, and it offers a free initial consultation to new businesses and individuals. Its office on Old Orchard Road serves Skokie and nearby North Shore communities such as Evanston and Wilmette.

Overview

Chicago Accounting Professionals, which also operates as BASCO Accounting LLC, is an accounting practice with an office on Golf Road in Skokie, Illinois, and a second location on West Belmont Avenue in Chicago. The firm combines bookkeeping, accounting and tax work under one roof. It serves owners of companies, corporate executives and self-employed professionals, as well as individual households.

For companies evaluating outside help with payables, the relevant offering is the firm's outsourced bookkeeping and small business accounting work. It does not offer a dedicated AP automation platform. The website does not describe a stand-alone accounts payable product or a specific invoice-processing workflow.

Its bookkeeping clients range from self-employed people running a business from home to smaller and mid-sized companies that carry staff on payroll. When a company hands its books to the firm, it receives individual attention from the team, along with current technology and payroll software.

The small business accounting service is aimed at owners who would rather spend their hours on operations and growth than on recording transactions themselves. That recordkeeping is typically where routine handling of vendor bills and expense records sits.

Services relevant to payables and finance operations

• Outsourced bookkeeping for sole proprietors through growing employers
• Small business accounting, with the firm maintaining the client's books
• Payroll processing and help resolving payroll tax issues
• Cash flow projections to help companies avoid a cash shortfall
• Reviews of internal control systems with recommendations for improvement
• Part-time CFO support from an experienced finance lead
• QuickBooks setup, training, tune-ups and software purchasing
• Business tax preparation, planning and IRS representation

Several of these services touch the payables side of a business indirectly. The internal controls engagement looks at how efficient and effective a company's operating procedures are and then produces recommendations. That can be useful for owners concerned about approval and payment processes. Cash flow management centers on building projections so management can see shortfalls coming.

The part-time CFO arrangement gives companies access to financial leadership without a full-time hire. The firm also works heavily with QuickBooks, offering setup, training, troubleshooting support and discounted purchasing of the software. Clients that keep their payables in QuickBooks may therefore find a natural fit.

Industries and clients

The firm names construction as a specialty, covering construction management companies, general contractors, subcontractors, residential developers and businesses in related trades. It also works with dental practices on payroll and tax compliance. Non-profit organizations are another client group, since correct classification of revenue and expenses matters for keeping tax-exempt status.

Beyond business clients, the firm handles personal tax returns, estate and trust taxation, estate and retirement planning, elder care and personal financial planning. It also runs a broad tax resolution practice addressing liens, levies, wage garnishment, back taxes, unfiled returns, payment plans and offers in compromise.

Working with the firm

Prospective clients can ask for a no-cost first meeting with an accountant. Existing clients exchange documents through a secure client portal that the firm describes as having a 14-layer security setup, and a file-sending tool is available on the site. The firm also publishes a monthly newsletter and maintains guides, financial calculators and tax reference material.

Buyers looking for a dedicated AP automation tool or high-volume invoice processing should confirm scope directly. The website presents payables support as part of general bookkeeping rather than as a separate service line.

N.B. Allen & Associates, Ltd. is an accounting and tax practice located in Skokie, Illinois. It works mainly with small businesses across Chicago's northern suburbs, including Evanston, Glenview, Northbrook, Highland Park, Wilmette and Winnetka. Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should view the firm as a hands-on outsourced accounting partner rather than a dedicated AP automation vendor. Handling of payables falls within its broader bookkeeping, transaction processing and controllership work. It is not offered as a separate software product.

Engagements are scoped to each owner's situation and can grow as the company does. For some clients the firm runs the complete accounting function, acting as a nearby outsourced finance department. Other clients keep basic bookkeeping in-house and rely on the firm for more advanced work, such as financial analysis, forecasting, financing and strategic planning.

Whatever the level of involvement, clients can reach an advisor by phone when questions arise. New business clients may begin with a free initial consultation, and Neville Allen is the named point of contact for discussing requirements.

Back-office and payables-related services

Services most relevant to organizations seeking help with payables and day-to-day finance include:

• Outsourced controllership
• Ongoing accounting and bookkeeping
• Payroll processing
• QuickBooks setup, training and continuing support
• Financial statements, compilations and reviews
• Budgets, projections and cash flow monitoring
• Business loan assistance and debt restructuring

The firm stresses giving owners a regular flow of financial information so they can track spending, manage cash and make informed decisions. Its periodic and on-request reports are designed to support lending applications, measure performance and show how a business develops over time.

On the tax side, it prepares corporate, partnership, multi-state and individual returns, as well as returns for trusts and estates. It also handles alternative minimum tax planning, e-filing and IRS problem resolution, and advises on payroll, sales and property tax matters.

Industries and specialties

Real estate and healthcare are the firm's stated areas of specialization. It serves real estate professionals and property managers throughout the Chicago area, and it shapes its healthcare work around the circumstances of individual medical practices. It also works with law firms, taking on the routine recording of transactions those practices generate so that attorneys stay in control of their finances.

For new ventures, the firm helps owners choose between S corporation, C corporation, partnership and LLC structures. Its incorporation package includes quarterly tax planning. It also reviews the entity choices of established companies to check whether they still fit and whether available tax benefits are being used. Additional advisory work covers business plan development, succession planning, and mergers and acquisitions.

The practice's main distinction is its local, relationship-driven approach, which pairs routine accounting support with tax strategy and business advice from one Skokie office. Companies that want a nearby team to handle bookkeeping, payables and reporting alongside tax work may find it a good fit. Those seeking a standalone AP automation platform should note that the firm's website does not describe one.