Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in North Charleston, SC

Accounting Services Plus, LLC is a CPA practice based in North Charleston, South Carolina, that works mainly with small business owners, along with individuals and non-profit organizations. Owner Mark Shaurette, a licensed CPA, runs the firm himself. It handles tax work, ongoing accounting and business advice from one local office.

For buyers comparing accounts payable providers, the firm fits best as a hands-on outside accountant who keeps a company's books up to date, rather than as a dedicated AP automation software vendor.

Background and Credentials

Mark Shaurette brings more than three decades of work in tax and accounting to the practice. The firm describes its main goal as helping smaller companies succeed financially and helping owners deal with complicated money questions. It says much of its recent growth has come from referrals by existing clients.

Three stated values guide its work: quality, prompt replies to clients, and professional conduct. The firm also aims to act as an available advisor whose guidance helps owners make sound financial decisions.

Business Accounting and Payables Support

The core business offering is recurring accounting on a monthly or quarterly schedule. This work keeps a company's financial records organized throughout the year. The firm presents this regular upkeep as the base for more accurate tax returns and for planning ways to lower costs later. It says its approach goes further than simple record keeping and receipt tracking.

Clients get direct, one-on-one contact with the CPA and quick replies. The firm does not publish a separate accounts payable service or a specific AP automation platform. Companies that want vendor bills and payments recorded and reconciled as part of their regular books would arrange that through this recurring accounting work.

• Monthly and quarterly business accounting
• QuickBooks services and guidance on choosing software
• Business and individual tax services
• Tax and accounting planning
• Business consulting
• Help resolving IRS tax liens
• Accounting for non-profit organizations
• Personal financial and retirement planning

Software and Specialties

QuickBooks is one of the firm's listed specialties. It has published guidance to help owners decide between QuickBooks Pro, ProPlus and the online version. This can help a business that runs its payables inside QuickBooks and wants an accountant who knows that system. The practice also serves non-profit organizations. For individuals, it offers financial planning focused on retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, saving and investing. On the tax side, it offers free consultations to people facing IRS lien problems.

How the Firm Works With Clients

The firm runs from a single office in North Charleston and offers a client portal for sharing documents securely. Because the owner handles client relationships personally, it suits small companies that want one steady advisor instead of a large team.

Buyers who need high-volume invoice processing, multi-level approval workflows or automated vendor payment software should ask directly what the firm can provide in those areas. Its published services center on general accounting, QuickBooks support and tax work rather than standalone payables technology.

Sara L. Lemstrom, CPA, LLC is a small certified public accounting practice in Charleston, South Carolina, led by CPA Sara L. Lemstrom. It offers tax, accounting and business consulting. The firm works with self-employed people who run businesses from home, with small and mid-sized companies that have staff, and with executives and independent professionals. For buyers in the Mount Pleasant area who want accounts payable handled outside the business, the firm's outsourced bookkeeping service lists payables processing by name.

Accounts payable and bookkeeping support

The firm's bookkeeping page names accounts payable as a core task, covering both recording vendor bills and paying them. This sits within a wider back-office service, so a client can hand over most routine transaction work to a single provider:

• Accounts payable entry and bill payment
• Accounts receivable, including invoicing, deposits and collections
• Bank reconciliations and general ledger maintenance
• Year-end vendor reporting on Forms 1099 and 1096
• Inventory management and cleanup of neglected books
• Payroll processing, including direct deposit, check printing and paying third-party withholdings such as insurance

For new businesses, the practice sets up recordkeeping and reporting systems and builds in checks and balances. Its internal controls service looks at how well a company's operating procedures work and then recommends improvements. Its small business accounting work also covers controls aimed at preventing fraud. This matters to buyers whose main worry is approving and paying bills safely.

Wider financial management

Beyond payables, the firm offers part-time CFO services, cash flow projections to help clients avoid a cash shortfall, budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning for owners who want a clearer direction. It also prepares monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements, handles sales and use tax, and helps with new business formation. On the tax side, it prepares individual and business returns, does tax planning, and represents clients with the IRS on audits, unfiled returns, payroll tax problems, liens and levies.

Technology and working style

The firm works mainly in QuickBooks. It offers setup, training, tune-ups and answers to day-to-day questions for clients running the software. It says outsourced bookkeeping clients get individual attention along with current technology and payroll software. A client portal and a secure file-sending tool let clients exchange documents. Clients can start by booking a consultation.

Industries served

The site lists experience with construction, dental practices, healthcare, hospitality, law firms, manufacturers and real estate. It singles out real estate as an area of special knowledge. The practice says its work is guided by professionalism, responsiveness and quality.

Companies looking for AP help through a broader bookkeeping and advisory relationship may find the practice a good fit, because the same CPA can cover bill payment, reconciliations, payroll and tax. The firm does not advertise a standalone AP automation platform. Organizations that need high-volume invoice capture or dedicated payables software should ask how its QuickBooks-based process would handle their volume.