Accounts Payable Services & AP Automation Providers in South Burlington, VT

Associates in Accounting, PLC is a certified public accounting practice based in South Burlington, Vermont. It works with small and mid-sized companies, as well as private individuals, across the Champlain Valley and in other parts of the state. Buyers looking for help with accounts payable will find that the firm does not sell AP software. Instead, it offers outsourced bookkeeping and accounting, where a CPA-led team keeps the company's books, including recording and tracking the bills it owes.

Services for businesses

The firm's business work is meant to make owners more productive while reducing what they owe in taxes. Its services can be scaled up or down, so a growing company can get more bookkeeping help without hiring someone in-house and adding fixed payroll cost. The firm's main business services include:

• Outsourced accounting and full bookkeeping support
• Business consulting and advisory work
• Tax planning throughout the year
• Preparation of business tax returns
• Advice on choosing and setting up a business entity, such as an S corporation
• Business valuations performed by a Certified Valuation Analyst

For buyers interested in AP, the key offering is outsourced bookkeeping. The practice handles routine record-keeping so owners can focus on running the business, and the books it keeps feed directly into its tax and planning work. Companies that want one local adviser for transaction records, tax compliance and planning may like this arrangement more than a separate payables-only vendor.

Services for individuals

The firm also prepares personal tax returns and helps clients resolve problems with the IRS. Its wealth management work covers financial advice and investment management, and it coordinates with a client's attorney, insurance adviser, trust officer and bank. It also offers estate planning. The firm encourages clients to think about taxes all year rather than only at filing time.

Background and approach

The practice opened in 2004. Its sole owner, Craig E. Isvak, holds both the CPA and CVA credentials. He studied at Northeastern University and then the University of Vermont, earning a BSBA in professional accounting in 1992. Before starting his own firm, he worked at local public accounting firms.

He was later a vice president and CPA manager at American Financial Resources in Saint Albans, served as controller for Harrington's of Vermont in Richmond, and was briefly CEO and controller of ABX Title in Essex. He has prepared thousands of individual and business tax returns, and at one point his client base numbered more than 1,300.

The firm describes its style as combining a small office's personal attention with seasoned professional skill. It says good client relationships start with listening and are built on trust and respect, and it aims to give owners practical financial guidance to help their businesses grow. The firm says its staff has low turnover.

For Vermont companies that want hands-on bookkeeping that includes payables, along with tax and advisory work from one local CPA, the firm is a service-based option rather than an AP automation platform.