Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in Pickens, SC

Cassell & Hendricks, CPA, PA is an accounting firm located in Pickens, South Carolina, only a few minutes from Easley. According to business listings, it has been working with area companies and households since 1983. Greenville-based Stokes & Company, CPAs, recently purchased the practice, and it now functions as the Stokes location in Pickens.

Because the existing employees remained in place after the sale, clients continue dealing with familiar faces while also gaining the resources of a bigger firm with a regional footprint.

Where payables fit into the firm's services

This is a full-service CPA practice rather than a company that sells AP automation tools. Organizations that need help with payables will find it folded into the firm's recurring bookkeeping and accounting engagements. Stokes & Company states that its accounting work for businesses includes maintaining the books, reconciling accounts and producing financial statements every month.

These routine tasks keep supplier invoices, outgoing payments and cash balances in order. Because tax and payroll assistance are offered alongside this work, a smaller business can consolidate a number of administrative functions with a single advisor.

• Bookkeeping and general accounting for businesses
• Reconciling accounts and preparing monthly financial statements
• Payroll services run through Paysmart, an internal division of the firm
• Tax return preparation and tax advice for companies and individuals
• Forward-looking tax strategy and advisory services for businesses
• Wealth management offered by the broader Stokes group

Client relationships and process

Most of the firm's clients are privately owned companies, the people who own them, and individuals filing their own returns. Files are shared through a secure online system called the CHCPA Doc.It portal. For business engagements, Stokes & Company quotes a set fee customized to each client.

This lets owners plan for regular accounting costs ahead of time rather than receiving hourly invoices. A separate group of specialists runs payroll, so it is not treated as a side task for accountants juggling other assignments. New clients move through three stages: getting started, configuring their accounts and services, and then ongoing oversight.

History and leadership

Donna Hendricks and Branden Daniels head the Pickens location and remain personally involved with the clients they serve, working together with the staff who were already in place. Stokes & Company dates to 1999 and has expanded over time by merging with other community accounting practices. Today it works with clients in both Carolinas from multiple locations, among them Greenville, Spartanburg and, most recently, Pickens. The merged organization names five guiding principles: excellence, passion, proactivity, integrity and collaboration.

Businesses near Easley evaluating options for payables support should weigh two distinguishing factors. The first is the Pickens office's roughly forty-year history in the area. The second is the payroll, tax and advisory expertise available through its parent firm. The practice is a strong match for small companies that prefer to have payables bookkeeping managed as part of a wider CPA relationship. It is less suited to organizations searching for an independent software product dedicated to automating accounts payable.