Bookkeeping and controller services in Chicago.
Clean monthly books and controller-level insight for growing Chicago businesses. Remote-first, on your schedule, with the same team every month.
Built for how Chicago actually operates.
Chicago is manufacturing and distribution, professional services, healthcare, and a restaurant and hospitality sector operating at real scale.
From the Loop out through Naperville, Schaumburg, and Oak Brook, businesses operate across a metro that spans multiple counties and two state lines.
Common Chicago industries we work with: manufacturing and distribution, professional services, healthcare, hospitality and restaurants.
What we do here
The same service lines as every market. Nothing about the work changes with the postcode — what changes is what your books have to cope with.
Bookkeeping
Monthly reconciliations, a clean chart of accounts, and a close you can rely on.
Bookkeeping →Controller
Close ownership, margin visibility, KPIs, and driver-based forecasting.
Controller →Strategic Planning
Operating plan, rolling forecast, and scenario modelling.
Strategic Planning →Systems & Automation
QuickBooks, payroll, and AP/AR connected so data stops being re-keyed.
Systems & Automation →Inventory and distribution decide the margin here
Chicago's manufacturing and distribution base means cost of goods is where the year is won or lost. Inventory valuation, landed cost, and shrink have to be maintained monthly rather than counted once and trued up.
For businesses moving goods across the Indiana and Wisconsin lines, nexus and liability tracking by jurisdiction is a records question long before it is a filing one.
Where your books get complicated
We organise by how a business gets paid, because that is what decides how the close actually works.
Frequently asked
Do you serve businesses outside metro Chicago?
Yes. We support clients across the Midwest — Naperville, Schaumburg, Oak Brook, Evanston, and the wider region. Engagements run remotely with calls on your schedule.
Do you handle tax filing?
No. Averan is not a CPA firm and does not file returns. We keep the books in the condition your CPA needs and work alongside them. Tax filing stays with them.
Can you work with our existing bookkeeper?
Often, yes. Some Chicago clients keep an internal person for day-to-day entry and bring us in at the controller level above them.
What software do you work in?
Primarily QuickBooks Online and Desktop, where we hold ProAdvisor certification. We also handle migrations between platforms.
How does pricing work?
Pricing is scoped to the work rather than billed hourly, and quoted after we have looked at the books. Cleanup of historical records is quoted separately as a one-time piece.
Areas we serve around Chicago
Naperville · Schaumburg · Oak Brook · Evanston · Aurora · Elmhurst
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. See our QuickBooks and systems work →
Want the books off your plate?
A short call, no pitch. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.
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