Bookkeeping and controller services in Chicago
Updated 24 September 2026
Manufacturing, logistics, professional services, and a restaurant economy with thin margins.
What filing here actually involves
- Illinois charges corporate income tax plus a personal property replacement tax, which is a second filing owners often forget.
- Chicago layers its own taxes on top, including a lease transaction tax that reaches cloud software subscriptions.
- Restaurant and hospitality businesses face city-specific taxes on top of state sales tax.
Rates and thresholds move. We confirm what applies to your entities at onboarding and keep the books in the condition those filings need.
What we see in Chicago books
The layering is the problem here. Owners are usually current with the state and behind with the city.
- Books current, reconciled, and closed on the date agreed
- Location- and entity-level P&Ls built on one chart of accounts, so units compare
- A cash forecast that carries the months the season or the project cycle takes out
Who we work with here
Across the metro, including Evanston, Naperville, Oak Park, Schaumburg. The engagement runs remotely, with calls on your working hours.
Questions we get asked
Do you need to be in Chicago to do our books?
No. The work runs on your accounting file, your bank feeds and scheduled calls. What needs local knowledge, Illinois filing rules and local obligations, is a matter of knowing the jurisdiction.
What Illinois filings do you track?
We track the liability and keep the books in the condition your filings need. Illinois charges corporate income tax plus a personal property replacement tax, which is a second filing owners often forget.
Which Chicago businesses do you usually work with?
Mostly manufacturing and distribution, restaurants and food service, professional services. If your business earns the way those do, the mechanics are the same whatever the label.
Do you work across the metro?
Yes, including Evanston, Naperville, Oak Park, Schaumburg. Engagements run remotely across the region and in every state.
Want the books off your plate?
A short call. We'll give you an expert view of your situation. (202) 538-1348
Free Consult →Nearby
- Indianapolis
- Minneapolis
- Kansas City
- Bookkeeping, monthly close on a date you can count on
- Controller, when the numbers need reading as well as recording
- All locations
If you want this done for you
What happens next
Filing rules are the part nobody warns you about. We keep the books that sit underneath them, wherever the business is.
- The call takes thirty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We give you an expert view of your situation, and what we would start with. There is no pitch deck.
- We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
- We send a written scope and a priceIt lists what we do each month, what you get, the date it lands and the fee. We agree it before anything starts, and it does not change unless you agree.
- We take over the books and close the first monthWe set up access and systems and enter the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.