Wheaton & Buffalo Grove, Illinois · Since 1988
Accounting, payroll, and tax for small businesses around Chicago.
We are a seven-person CPA firm. We keep the books, run the payroll, file the returns, and stay in touch through the year so nothing lands on you in April that you had not heard about. Most of our clients own the business they run, and some have been with us since 1988.
- 1988
- Established
- 6
- CPAs on staff
- 2
- Illinois offices
1988
The year we started
By Irvin Jacobs, Wayne Jacobs, and Ed Newmark
2
Illinois offices
Wheaton, DuPage County · Buffalo Grove, Lake County
30+
Longest client relationships
In their own words, on the record
7
People at the firm
Six CPAs and an office manager
Why this matters now
Most firms this size are being bought.
Small and mid-sized accounting practices are being consolidated into larger groups at a pace the profession has not seen before. The pattern is consistent: the partner a client has worked with for twenty years signs a deal, stays for a transition period, and leaves. The client keeps the firm's name and loses the relationship it was paying for.
Jacobs & Newmark has been independently owned since the day it was formed. Wayne Jacobs joined his father's practice in 1981. Ed Newmark joined in 1988. Both are still here, and the firm is not for sale.
That is not a marketing position. It is the reason clients from 1988 are still clients, and it is the thing most worth knowing before you hand a firm your books.
What we specialize in
Some books are not like the others.
A veterinary practice, a broker-dealer, and a framing contractor need three different accountants. We have all three on staff, and the person who leads your account is named here.
Edward P. Newmark, CPAFounding Partner02Broker-Dealers & Securities FirmsA partner who holds FINRA Series 27 and Series 99 and has served as CFO and FINOP at a broker-dealer.
Anthony Di John, CPAPartner03Construction, Manufacturing & DistributionStatements that banks and bonding companies accept, job and inventory costing, and the reviews and compilations these trades are asked for.
John Whiston, CPACertified Public Accountant04Real EstateMultiple entities, family partnerships, lender reporting, and the personal return that has to agree with all of it.Edward P. Newmark, CPAFounding Partner05Closely-Held & Family BusinessThe firm's core practice since 1988. Owner-operated companies where the business and the owner are one decision.
Wayne I. Jacobs, CPAFounding PartnerServices
Everything an owner-managed business needs.
- 01General Bookkeeping
- 02Financial Accounting & Statement Preparation
- 03Reviews & Compilations
- 04QuickBooks Setup, Training & Cleanup
- 05Payroll & Sales Tax Compliance
- 06Cash Flow Management
- 07Bank Financing & Lender Reporting
- 08Strategic Business Planning
- 09Business Succession Planning
- 10New Business Formation
- 11Business & Individual Tax Preparation
- 12Tax Planning
- 13Tax Problem Resolution & IRS Representation
Our approach
We talk to you through the year, not just at filing time.
Most accounting relationships run on a once-a-year rhythm: records go over in February, a return comes back in April, and the decisions that actually determined the outcome were made the previous June with nobody to ask. We work the other way round.
01
A named accountant, not a queue
Every account is led by a CPA from our team whose experience fits the industry: Ed for a veterinary practice, John for a contractor, Anthony for a securities firm. You get their direct email. You do not get reassigned each year, and you are not explaining your business to someone new every February.
02
Year-round, not filing season
The work that changes an outcome is planning, and planning has to happen before the year closes. We stay in contact through the year so that the equipment purchase, the compensation change, the new partner, or the sale gets discussed while there is still a decision to make.
03
Reporting you can act on
Financial statements are only useful if the person running the business can read them. We prepare statements that satisfy a bank, a bonding company, or a buyer, and then go through what they say about the business in language that survives being repeated to a spouse or a partner.
04
One firm for the business and the owner
For an owner-operated company the business return and the personal return are the same decision written twice. We prepare both, which is the only way to see the whole position rather than half of it.
Clients, on the record
Two of these have been with us more than thirty years.
“We have been with Jacobs and Newmark for over 30 years. Our success is directly related to our relationship with Jacobs and Newmark. They know us and they care about us and it shows in their work. I would recommend Jacobs and Newmark to anyone who is looking for an accounting firm that offers personalized service. They can help through the ups and downs of being in business over the long haul.”
“Ed Newmark is one of our most trusted advisors and a team member. He does a professional job preparing our financial statements and tax planning for our 4 separate corporations. We respect Ed for his sound, practical advice on issues from buying or lease a piece of equipment to relocating.”
“Whether it's handling a bank, IRS or union audit, balancing the monthly journals, filing quarterly taxes or giving sound financial advice, and explaining it all in terms we can understand, Jacobs & Newmark accounting services have been an essential asset to the success and growth of our business for more than 30 years.”
The team
Seven people. You will know which one is yours.
Anthony Di John, CPA
Partner
Securities and broker-dealer finance, healthcare, private equity, and employee benefit plans.
Michael Feuerstein, CPA
Partner
Tax across individual, corporate, retirement, and estate levels, plus audits, reviews, and compilations.
John Whiston, CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Assurance and consulting for construction, manufacturing, distribution, technology, and insurance.
Wayne I. Jacobs, CPA
Founding Partner
Thirty years of public accounting across retail, service, construction, wholesale, and manufacturing.
Edward P. Newmark, CPA
Founding Partner
Closely-held businesses, real estate, and more than twenty-five years in the veterinary industry.
David Ellison, CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Highly regulated industries, SEC reporting, and companies in transition, from startups through public filers.
Michele Valenta
Office Manager & Accounting Paraprofessional
Client accounting, payroll, and return processing, and the person most clients speak to first.
Tell us about the business.
A first conversation is about what you run, how the books are handled now, and what prompted you to look. If we are the right firm we will say so, and if we are not we will say that too.
- DuPage County
- Wheaton, IL
106 E Liberty Dr., Suite 201 - Lake County
- Buffalo Grove, IL
100 Lexington Dr., Suite 210 - Hours
- Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm