Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Aiken, SC

Arnold Advisors, LLC is an accounting firm based in Aiken, South Carolina, and licensed in the state. It works with small business owners, executives, independent professionals and individuals. Buyers looking for help with accounts payable will find the firm's payables support inside its broader bookkeeping, payroll and QuickBooks work. It does not sell a standalone AP automation platform. Its pitch is aimed at owners who would rather hand off back-office finance tasks and get back to running their companies.

Bookkeeping and payables support

The firm's small business accounting service is built for companies whose books have fallen behind or turned messy. Arnold Advisors takes over the recordkeeping so owners can spend their time on operations and profit.

For companies that pay contractors and vendors, the firm also handles year-end information returns, including Form 1099 and Form 1096 processing, as well as help with federal and state registration forms. Because much of this work happens in QuickBooks, the firm also offers software services to help clients get more out of the program:

• Guidance on why QuickBooks may suit a business
• Initial QuickBooks setup
• Training for owners and staff
• QuickAnswers support for specific questions
• QuickTuneup reviews of existing files

Payroll options

Payroll is one of the firm's most detailed offerings, and it comes in three formats. The comprehensive option covers all processing: checks laser-printed on blank, secure stock, direct deposit, EFTPS deposits, federal and state filings, W-2 and W-3 forms, tracking of accrued leave, and new hire reporting. The after-the-fact option suits companies that already run payroll by hand.

The firm enters those records into its own system and takes care of the tax filings and reports. The online option lets clients key in hours themselves and print checks in-house, while still getting the same compliance reporting. Extra reports such as certified payroll, union reports and workers' compensation reports are available.

The firm can also help with unemployment claims and with workers' compensation, Social Security and child support audits.

Tax and advisory depth

Beyond day-to-day accounting, Arnold Advisors prepares returns and does tax planning. It also has a sizable practice resolving IRS problems. That includes audit representation, unfiled returns, back taxes, liens, levies, wage garnishments, offers in compromise, payment plans and innocent spouse relief. The firm stresses payroll tax delinquencies in particular and advises business owners not to face the IRS alone on those matters. For individuals, it offers personal financial and estate planning, and business owners can get succession planning.

Working with the firm

Arnold Advisors sets prices for each engagement after learning about a company's needs, and it starts with a free consultation. Clients can send documents through a secure file portal and pay invoices online. The firm also publishes a monthly tax newsletter and an online tax center with due dates, forms and calculators. For Aiken-area companies that want local help covering bookkeeping, vendor reporting and payroll, it is a small, community-rooted alternative to dedicated AP software vendors.

Fliflet, Cassels & DuRant, PA is a certified public accounting practice headquartered in Aiken, South Carolina, and its formal licensed name is Charles R. Fliflet, CPA, PA. The firm marked its 35th anniversary in September 2020, which places its founding in 1985. It works with owner-managed private companies, physician groups and similar professional offices, nonprofit entities, and private individuals.

Companies that prefer to keep billing, recordkeeping and tax compliance under one local roof, rather than engaging a niche vendor focused solely on payables, may consider this practice a strong fit.

Accounting and Back-Office Support

The firm does not market accounts payable as its own distinct offering, nor does it provide software for automating vendor payments. Its small-business bookkeeping, however, produces the foundational records on which any system for handling bills ultimately depends. Anyone exploring a relationship with the practice should bring up vendor bills and outgoing payments at the very first conversation. Related offerings include:

• Ongoing recordkeeping and general ledger work for smaller companies
• QuickBooks setup, training and continuing help
• Processing of employee pay
• Tracking and projecting the movement of cash
• Reviews of internal controls
• Part-time CFO guidance provided as an outside resource
• Compilation of financial statements and help securing loans from banks
• Business startup assistance and guidance on choosing retirement plans

Tax Focus

Tax considerations sit at the center of each commercial relationship the firm maintains. Its compliance work covers corporations taxed under either Subchapter C or Subchapter S, pass-through entities organized as partnerships or LLCs, fiduciary entities such as decedents' estates and trusts, and private households.

Planning work is organized into four areas: choosing the right form of business entity, reviewing major deals before they are finalized, tackling specific concerns on a case-by-case basis, and running projections near the close of the calendar so that final results can still be influenced. Staff attend continuing education on taxation every year to keep pace with new laws.

The practice also assists people dealing with IRS audits or multiple delinquent years, starting with an assessment of the circumstances before proposing next steps.

Industries and Specialties

Alongside its broad base of commercial clients, the firm has worked with medical practices and other professional groups, high-net-worth families, and the equestrian sector. Its consulting reaches horse owners, farming and timber operations, and landowners evaluating conservation easements. The practice additionally handles fiduciary accounting, including income tax filings for trusts and estates, and offers some personal financial planning as a complement to its core accounting and tax work.

Team and Credentials

Founding partner Charles R. Fliflet, CPA, PFS, began his career in 1980. He holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and he serves on the outside advisory board of a local bank.

Partner Erin Noel DuRant, CPA, started in the field in 2011 and completed degrees in finance, accounting and accountancy at the University of South Carolina. Both partners belong to the AICPA and SCACPA. The staff also includes a senior accountant, two staff accountants and an office administrator.

The firm states that its team has a combined total of more than 75 years in the profession.

The firm characterizes its philosophy as offering big-firm know-how together with the individual service of a small shop. It stresses long-term relationships with clients and identifying compliance risks and planning opportunities ahead of time, before they turn urgent. Companies around North Augusta may see it as a convenient local option for outsourced accounting with a strong tax emphasis, although it is not a software-driven provider of automated payables processing.

Holley & Company is a certified public accounting firm in Aiken, South Carolina. It works mainly with individuals and small businesses. Accounts payable is not sold as a standalone product.

Instead, the firm handles it as part of its outsourced bookkeeping work, which suits owners who want a local accountant to enter and pay their vendor bills alongside their other financial records. It is a good fit for companies that want AP handled by an accounting professional they know, rather than through a separate automation platform.

Accounts Payable and Bookkeeping Services

The firm's bookkeeping offering for small businesses explicitly covers payables, both recording bills and paying them. This sits next to a wider set of transaction and reporting services, so a client can hand over most of its back-office accounting to one provider. Listed services include:

• Accounts payable entry and bill payment
• Accounts receivable, including invoicing, deposits and collections
• Bank reconciliations and general ledger maintenance
• Inventory management
• Clean-up of books that have fallen behind
• Preparation of 1099 and 1096 forms for vendors and contractors
• Payroll processing and fully outsourced bookkeeping

For new ventures, the firm sets up reporting and recordkeeping systems from the start. For established businesses whose records need repair, it streamlines existing processes and puts internal checks and balances in place. These controls matter to buyers who are worried about errors or weak approvals in how bills get paid.

Software and Advisory Support

Much of the firm's technology work centers on QuickBooks. It offers setup, training, troubleshooting and tune-up services so clients can make better use of the software's features, including its invoicing and online payment tools. Beyond day-to-day bookkeeping, it provides small business accounting that resembles having a part-time finance executive.

That work includes financial reports, cash flow reviews, budgets, forecasting and tax strategy, delivered through monthly, quarterly or annual meetings depending on what the client needs. For some sectors it also describes outsourced CFO-style reviews of accounting processes.

Industries and Related Expertise

The firm says it has specialized knowledge in construction, dentistry, healthcare, hospitality, law firms and real estate. For construction companies, for example, it prepares the financial documents that banks, suppliers and bonding companies require. Its tax practice covers business and individual returns, estate and trust filings, and IRS representation, including payroll tax delinquencies, liens, levies and payment plans.

Background and Approach

The firm is led by Richard O. Holley, a CPA who grew up in Aiken. He earned a financial management degree with an accounting minor from Clemson University, graduating cum laude.

He started his career in 2006 doing business valuation work at a regional firm in Augusta, earned the Certified Valuation Analyst credential there, and became a licensed CPA in 2011 before moving to the Aiken office. He is active in the local Rotary Club, where he serves on the board.

The firm says its work rests on three principles: responsiveness, reliability and authenticity. It emphasizes prompt communication and personal, one-on-one service, and clients can use an online portal.

Karen J Skiff CPA LLC is a certified public accounting practice based in Aiken, South Carolina, that has worked with local taxpayers since 2002. The firm serves two broad groups: individuals and families who need help with their personal returns, and small to mid-sized companies that want an outside accountant to handle tax compliance, bookkeeping and payroll.

Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should see it as a full-service local CPA office whose bookkeeping work covers day-to-day financial record keeping. It is not a company that sells AP automation software.

Bookkeeping and Back-Office Support

The practice offers ongoing bookkeeping. It also designs and sets up bookkeeping systems for businesses. A business without a dependable record-keeping process can have the firm build one and then keep the books for it on an ongoing basis.

Its website does not list accounts payable as a separate service, so buyers who want invoice capture, approval workflows or electronic vendor payment platforms should ask the firm directly what AP work it covers. The firm says its bookkeeping goal is to make record keeping simpler for owners, so that their books support accurate tax filings.

Payroll and Payroll Tax Resolution

Alongside bookkeeping, Karen J Skiff CPA LLC runs payroll for employers. It also represents businesses that have fallen behind on payroll tax deposits. The IRS treats this seriously because taxes withheld from employees' pay belong to the federal government. In these cases the firm explains to owners both their obligations and their rights, works toward fair settlements, and helps rebuild their tax management systems so the problem does not happen again.

Tax Services

• Business and personal income tax preparation and filing
• Year-round tax planning, using strategies such as splitting income, harvesting investment losses, retirement plan contributions and identifying tax-exempt investment income
• Advice on how life events, real estate deals and stock option exercises affect taxes
• Representation for clients facing an IRS audit
• Help with unpaid back taxes and settlement options
• Preparing and submitting returns that were never filed
• Fast cash refund options at filing time

How the Firm Works With Clients

The firm describes its approach as customized and personal, combining technical tax skill with responsive service. New clients can start with a free consultation, where the team reviews their situation and recommends the strategies that suit them best. The firm treats planning as a year-round job, not a once-a-year deadline.

It aims to keep clients up to date on current tax incentives and to help them avoid needless penalties. Work for both individuals and businesses is tailored to each client's finances.

Karen J Skiff CPA LLC is based in Aiken and focuses on clients in and around that community. Because it handles bookkeeping, payroll and tax representation in one place, it may suit local small businesses that want one accountant to keep their books, run payroll and deal with the IRS for them. Organizations that need high-volume invoice processing or a cloud AP automation product would probably need a separate technology provider as well.

SME CPAs, known in full as Serotta, Maddocks, and Evans CPAs, is a licensed public accounting practice serving businesses, families, nonprofits and governmental bodies across Georgia and South Carolina. The firm operates offices in Augusta and Aiken, and by its own account, few practices in the greater Augusta area have been around longer or have grown bigger.

SME also states that it holds the distinction of being Georgia's first professional CPA firm. Clients looking for support with paying vendors will typically work with its outsourced CFO team, which takes on day-to-day financial duties while staying in close contact with the firm's audit and tax professionals.

Vendor payments managed by outsourced CFO teams

SME does not sell a separate accounts payable software package. Instead, it treats payables as one component of a wider outsourced finance service directed by its virtual CFO professionals.

This team tracks incoming vendor invoices and outgoing payments, making sure obligations are settled when due, that expenditures stay within budget, and that clients are not hit with penalties for paying late. Receivables are managed under the same arrangement, so clients can see both incoming and outgoing cash in one place.

The team may work alongside a client's existing bookkeeping staff, step in temporarily when employees leave, or take over the full accounting function. Because several team members are certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors, SME can set up the software, train a client's employees and provide continuing support, which benefits companies that want to keep their bill-paying process inside QuickBooks.

• Management of vendor invoices and customer receivables
• Outsourced and virtual CFO arrangements
• Preparation and analysis of financial statements
• Payroll processing and oversight
• QuickBooks setup, employee training and continuing support
• Internal and external audits, along with reviews of internal controls
• Tax preparation and planning for businesses and individuals
• Succession and estate planning for business owners and families

Audit, controls and tax capabilities

Businesses that care about tight control over outgoing payments may get particular value from SME's audit practice. The firm performs internal assessments aimed at measuring risk, making processes more efficient and uncovering possible fraud. It also prepares clients for external audits demanded by lenders, investors or ownership.

A dedicated team handles Single Audits and Yellow Book engagements for municipalities, school systems, foundations, country clubs and various nonprofit organizations. SME belongs to the AICPA Government Audit Quality Center and follows its standards.

On the tax side, the firm assists with quarterly estimates, year-end planning, selection of an appropriate entity type, lowering liabilities for clients with multistate activity, cost segregation analyses, and locating credits and incentives offered by Georgia and South Carolina.

Sectors of focus

The firm has specialized teams serving construction, healthcare, real estate, restaurants and hospitality, nonprofit and governmental organizations, estates and trusts, and employee benefit plan audits. Construction clients, as one example, can draw on everything from traditional or outsourced bookkeeping to cash flow projections, budgeting and overhead allocation.

People and philosophy

SME characterizes its approach as cooperative and team-based, viewing clients as part of its community and working with them toward both near-term and long-range financial goals. The Aiken office is led by partners Wanda F. Scott, CPA, and Joel Stewart, CPA, together with manager Sandra Hunt, EA.

In Augusta, leadership includes partners Abram J. Serotta, CPA, and Rick Evans, CPA, backed by a larger group of directors, managers, supervisors and senior associates.

Organizations in the Aiken area that want a local CPA firm to oversee vendor payments, while also having access to audit, tax and advisory services from a single provider, may find SME well suited to their needs.

Swift Accounting is an accounting firm led by women and founded by its principal, Elizabeth Swift Bennett. It works with small businesses, nonprofits and community associations. The firm has two physical offices. Its flagship is in Cashiers, North Carolina, and its South Carolina office is in downtown Aiken, which is the closer one for organizations around North Augusta.

Clients can meet staff in person at either office or work with the team through secure remote arrangements. The firm says it supports clients across the United States and in the United Kingdom.

Accounts Payable Support

For buyers who want to outsource payables, Swift Accounting handles AP as part of its core bookkeeping work. It does not sell a standalone software product. The team pays vendors for the client, keeps cost of goods sold recorded correctly, and makes sure each incoming bill goes through the organization's own approval steps and is paid on the agreed terms.

The same people also manage receivables. That work includes producing invoices and sales receipts, turning tracked billable hours into client bills, and helping with collections, so one team looks after both sides of cash flow. Related vendor compliance tasks include tracking 1099 vendors, collecting W-9 forms, issuing year-end tax forms and helping with workers' compensation audits.

Beyond payables, the firm offers a wide range of accounting services:

• Bank reconciliations and monthly or quarterly financial reporting
• Payroll processing, payroll tax remittance and year-end documents
• Tracking, filing and paying sales tax and withholding tax
• Support with year-end tax preparation
• Budgets, forecasting, custom reports and KPI dashboards
• Fractional CFO engagements
• Reviews of internal controls and best practices, plus process optimization
• Forensic accounting and audit support

Nonprofit and Small Business Focus

Nonprofits make up a large part of the client base. For these organizations, Swift Accounting prepares financial statements for boards and grantors, tracks restricted funds and helps leaders compare actual results with the budget. Its audit support focuses on getting books organized and well documented before internal audits or audits that funders require.

It also gathers documents for outside auditors and posts adjusting entries. The firm notes that this work does not include representing clients before the IRS. Client testimonials on its site come from a biological research foundation, a condominium homeowners association and specialty food retailers.

One of those retailers says the team handles their QuickBooks and point-of-sale integration as well as payroll and taxes.

Team and Background

Bennett grew up in Aiken and earned degrees in accounting and German from the University of South Carolina. She worked as an auditor before founding the firm and has extra training in cost accounting and forensics. Her team includes accountant and payroll specialist Brooke Duncan, who has about ten years of accounting experience, five of them at the firm.

Senior account manager Rachel Stikeleather joined Swift in 2023 after 14 years in retail banking and management. Beth Love, also a senior account manager and payroll specialist, has a mathematics degree and an associate degree in accounting.

For AP buyers, the firm's distinguishing feature is that it pairs hands-on payables processing with internal control knowledge drawn from audit work. That can help organizations tighten their approval workflows and lower their exposure to fraud. Prospective clients should know that the firm describes itself as close to capacity and takes on new engagements selectively, based on fit and need.