Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Westbrook, ME

Overview

Crossroads Bookkeeping Services is a small bookkeeping practice based in Westbrook, Maine, run by owner Robin Linscott. The firm works mainly with small companies and sole proprietors across Southern Maine, with a focus on owners who have tight budgets. Many of these owners only need a few hours of help each week, and the firm is built to provide that.

For buyers comparing accounts payable providers, it is a hands-on, owner-led service that handles day-to-day financial paperwork, including supplier bills. It is not a software vendor or an AP automation platform.

Accounts payable and bookkeeping services

Accounts payable is one of the core bookkeeping functions on the firm's service list. Under its popular outsourced model, clients send in vendor invoices, bills and deposit records by fax, scan or mail. The firm records the transactions, reconciles the accounts and queues bills so they are ready to be paid. Clients can choose daily, weekly or monthly service. The full range of services includes:

• Accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Outsourced bookkeeping and expense tracking
• Bank reconciliation
• IRS quarterly filings and tax preparation
• Clean-up of neglected or disorganized books
• Income statements, balance sheets, general ledger and custom reports
• Daily money management and personal bill paying for busy individuals
• QuickBooks setup, tune-ups, troubleshooting, training and consulting

How the firm works with clients

Work can be done at the client's premises, from the firm's own office, or through a secure remote connection. The firm also offers to pick up and deliver documents.

The site says it will coordinate with a client's outside CPA, with the goal of having the books in order before tax season so the accountant does not have to spend expensive time sorting records.

The firm describes itself as proficient in QuickBooks, and its setup and training services are meant to help owners keep managing their own records once they are back on track. The site also says the firm expects to receive messy paperwork and can turn it into an organized accounting system.

Background and experience

Robin Linscott graduated from the University of Maine in 1985 and has done bookkeeping for small businesses since 1986, according to the site. Her past work spans automotive, shipping, engineering and photography businesses, as well as both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

Before starting her own practice, she spent several years as bookkeeper and office manager at Boyko Engineering in Gorham, which supported the move and stayed on as a client. A family health crisis, her husband's liver transplant, led her to launch Crossroads Bookkeeping in 2013 with a small group of initial clients. The business's name comes from that turning point.

What sets it apart

The firm's main appeal is personal attention from an experienced bookkeeper who mostly serves very small Maine companies. Its stated aim is to take financial chores off owners' plates so they have more time for their business and their families. Buyers who need a large team, enterprise AP workflow software or high transaction volumes may find this practice too small.

Owners who want a dependable local bookkeeper to take care of bills, reconciliations and QuickBooks upkeep may find it a good fit.

Garand & Associates, P.A. is a small, independent CPA practice in Westbrook, Maine, a short drive from Gorham. It offers tax, accounting and business consulting services. Most of its clients are small and start-up businesses, along with individuals. For buyers looking at accounts payable support, the firm does not sell a dedicated AP automation platform. Instead, it handles payables as part of its broader bookkeeping, controllership and financial management work.

Accounting and payables support

The firm's main business offering is its small business accounting service. It takes over the owner's recordkeeping and produces regular financial statements, either monthly or quarterly. As part of this work, the firm looks at whether a business has started paying vendors more slowly. It treats that as an early sign that cash may be running short.

Balance sheets and income statements are prepared so they can be shared with lenders, investors and suppliers. The firm also says it spends time with clients so they understand what their numbers mean. Routine consultations are included in the fee rather than billed separately.

• Monthly or quarterly bookkeeping and financial statements
• Part-time CFO and controllership support
• Cash flow management and bank financing help
• Internal controls review
• Reviews and compilations
• New business formation and entity selection

QuickBooks expertise

A large part of the practice is built around QuickBooks, which the firm also helps clients buy. It sets up and installs the software correctly from the start. It then trains owners or their staff on how to use it for that specific business. Through a service called QuickAnswers, accounting staff can send software questions by phone or email.

The firm also offers a QuickTuneup service for existing company files that need cleaning up. For businesses that want to keep paying bills in-house on a well-organized system, this gives them a practical way to tidy up their payables process.

Planning, tax and advisory work

Beyond day-to-day accounting, the firm offers several advisory services for business owners. These include business valuation, strategic business planning and succession planning. Its tax work covers preparation and planning, along with help when problems come up. That help includes IRS audit representation, unfiled returns, back taxes and payroll tax problems. It also handles liens, levies, wage garnishments, offers in compromise and IRS payment plans. For individuals, the firm offers personal financial planning, estate planning and elder care guidance.

Background

The practice is led by its president, Marc Garand, a Bentley University graduate. The firm is a very small operation with a hands-on, personal style. It describes its rates as affordable. On its social media page, the firm says it has received a certificate of compliance for a written information security plan.

That plan follows IRS guidelines on protecting client data, which matters when sharing vendor and payment records. Buyers who want a local accountant to keep their books and oversee payables, rather than a software-only tool, may find the firm a good fit. This is especially true for those already using or planning to use QuickBooks.

Lambrides & Associates is a family-run bookkeeping firm based in Westbrook, Maine. It provides outsourced financial recordkeeping to small and growing companies, from sole proprietors to larger corporations. For buyers comparing accounts payable providers, it is a hands-on, people-driven bookkeeping service rather than an AP automation software vendor. Its website does not list accounts payable as a separate offering. Vendor-related work is handled within its ongoing bookkeeping engagements.

Services Offered

The firm groups its work under three headings: bookkeeping, accounting and payroll. It adds several planning and advisory services on top of these. Listed services include:

• Ongoing, recurring bookkeeping
• Accounting
• Payroll processing
• Cash flow analysis
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Business advisory services

The core bookkeeping service aims to give owners an accurate picture of their company's finances each month, so they have reliable numbers when making decisions about the future. A client testimonial on the site shows how far this support goes. At tax season, the team gathers the client's tax information for their outside accountant and issues the client's 1099 forms.

Vendor reporting of this kind is a common accounts payable task. The client describes having nothing left to do at year-end.

How They Work With Clients

Lambrides & Associates presents itself as a substitute for an internal accounting department. This suits small businesses that cannot justify hiring full-time finance staff. A Portland-area CPA quoted on the site says the team understands what outside accountants need from a client's books.

Another professional who shares clients with the firm says those businesses report their operations running smoothly thanks to the team's attention to detail. The firm says it puts relationships at the center of its work and listens closely to clients. It notes that many of its clients have stayed with it since the company was founded.

Appointments are arranged in advance, and the office keeps standard weekday hours.

Background and Team

The business was started by George Lambrides. His son, Mark Lambrides, joined as a bookkeeper in 2008 after college. Mark grew up in the greater Portland area and worked in the family's candy store as a youth. About thirteen years after joining, he bought the practice when his father retired, so the family business would continue.

Mark now serves as owner and bookkeeper. He works alongside Kathy Carpenter, a bookkeeper with more than three decades in the accounting field. Kathy earned an associate degree in accounting from the former Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland. She is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a notary public.

Together the team reports over 45 years of combined bookkeeping and accounting experience.

What Sets Them Apart

Buyers who want a small, personal team that knows their books, rather than a self-service platform, may find this firm a good fit. Its strengths are long client relationships, QuickBooks expertise and smooth coordination with outside CPAs.

Businesses in the Westbrook and greater Portland area that need routine bookkeeping, payroll and year-end vendor reporting handled together may want to consider it. Companies looking for dedicated AP automation technology or invoice-capture software should confirm directly how the firm handles bill payment workflows, since the website does not describe them.