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.
What happens
A first year with us, in order.
01
A conversation about the business
What you run, how the books are handled now, who touches them, and what prompted you to look. No documents required for this part. If we are not the right firm for the situation we will say so.
02
We look at what exists
The current file, the last returns, the payroll setup, and whatever the prior accountant left behind. This is where most of the real findings are, and it is usually the first time anyone has looked at all of it together.
03
A named CPA takes the account
Matched to the industry — Ed for a veterinary practice, John for a contractor, Anthony for a securities firm, Michael across tax. You get their direct email, not a general inbox.
04
A reporting rhythm you can rely on
Books closed and statements produced on an agreed schedule rather than reconstructed in February. This is what makes everything after it possible.
05
Planning through the year
We come back to you before decisions are made, not after the year has closed. The equipment purchase, the compensation change, the new partner, the sale — those are conversations while there is still a choice in them.
06
Filing as the record, not the event
By the time returns are prepared there should be nothing in them you are hearing for the first time. That is the measure of whether the previous five steps worked.
Worth saying plainly
What we do not do.
We do not take on work we are not the right firm for. We are seven people; there is no capacity to be everything, and a client handed to whoever is free is the thing we are trying not to be.
We do not quote fees before understanding the work. Anyone who gives you a number for a business return before seeing the business is guessing, and the guess is either too high for them or too low for you.
We do not give a position on your situation in an email, a chat window, or a first phone call. Accounting and tax answers depend on the details, and an answer given without them is worth less than no answer. That is what the consultation is for.
And we do not sell the firm out from under our clients. That is the whole point of the previous page.
Working together
How documents and questions actually move.
Secure portal for documents
Tax returns, financial statements, and anything carrying account numbers or identification numbers go through the firm's secure client portal rather than standard email.
Phone, email, and video
Both offices are reached on one number. Meetings happen in Wheaton, in Buffalo Grove, at your place of business, or by video, whichever suits the work.
A person, not a queue
You have a named CPA and their direct address. Michele Valenta manages the office and is who most clients speak with first.
Office hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm. Both offices: (847) 537-0100. See the firm’s contact page for addresses.
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