Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Laurens, SC

Overview

Love Bailey CPAs is a certified public accounting practice in downtown Laurens, South Carolina. Its formal name is Love Bailey & Associates Certified Public Accountants. The firm has been in business since 1982, is licensed in both South Carolina and Georgia, and works with individuals, privately owned companies, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

Buyers comparing accounts payable providers should know that it is a full-service accounting firm. Its help with payables comes through bookkeeping, payroll and financial management work. It does not sell a dedicated AP automation platform.

Payables-related support

The firm's small business accounting service is meant for owners who don't want to keep their own ledgers. Love Bailey staff maintain the books for these clients. Companies that want an outside accountant to record vendor activity would usually come in through this service, because the website does not list a separate accounts payable package.

The firm also handles vendor-side compliance. It prepares 1099 and 1096 forms for payments to contractors and helps with federal and state registration paperwork. QuickBooks support is listed as well, which may suit businesses that already track bills in that software.

Organizations that need more oversight can use the part-time CFO service. It gives growing companies an experienced financial manager without the cost of a full-time executive. The work can include:

• Setting up financial controls to reduce employee theft
• Writing company accounting procedure manuals
• Training and supervising in-house bookkeeping staff
• Cash management, budgeting and trend analysis
• Serving as the contact point with vendors, bankers, attorneys and insurers
• Designing collection policies and evaluating equipment purchases

The firm also prepares cash flow projections to help owners spot shortfalls before they become a crisis. This is relevant when deciding when and how to pay suppliers.

Payroll and reporting

Payroll is offered in three formats. In full-service processing, the firm prints checks on secure blank stock and provides direct deposit. In after-the-fact processing, it posts payrolls that the client prepared by hand. In online processing, clients enter hours themselves and print checks in their own office.

All three formats include EFTPS tax deposits, W-2 and W-3 preparation, new hire filings, and tracking of vacation and sick-time accruals. The firm can also prepare specialized reports, such as workers' compensation audits, unemployment claims, Social Security audits and child support audits.

Background and approach

Besides bookkeeping, the practice performs audits, reviews and compilations. It also offers individual and business tax preparation and planning, business valuation, help preparing for bank financing, strategic and succession planning, new business formation, and guidance for nonprofits on IRS revenue and expense classifications.

Clients exchange documents through an online client portal and a secure file-sending tool, and the firm publishes a monthly newsletter. New clients start with a free consultation to decide which services fit.

For Greenwood-area companies that want a local CPA firm to keep their books and payroll, rather than a software-only payables tool, Love Bailey offers in-person, relationship-based service backed by more than four decades in practice.