Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois
Your bookkeeper and your tax pro, in one place
Latonia Farris-Jenkins is a Certified Public Bookkeeper, an Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor and an IRS Enrolled Agent. The person who keeps your books current is the same person who files your return, and the same person who can represent you before the IRS.
20+
Years in practice
Latonia has been keeping books since long before QuickBooks moved online.
3
Credentials held
Certified Public Bookkeeper, Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor, IRS Enrolled Agent.
12
Cities served
Across DuPage and Cook County, from Oakbrook Terrace into Chicago.
1
Point of contact
The person who keeps your books is the person who files your return.
Sound familiar?
Most people call us when the books are behind
That is a normal place to start. Latonia has cleaned up files that were two years out of date, reconciled accounts nobody had touched since the business opened, and sorted out notices that had been sitting unopened in a drawer. Nothing you bring will be the worst she has seen.
Last year is still not closed
QuickBooks does not match the bank
Receipts are in a shoebox
A letter arrived from the IRS
Payroll filings are late
No idea what April will cost
What we do
Six ways we keep you straight
Bookkeeping and tax under one roof, so nothing falls between two providers who never speak to each other.
Monthly bookkeeping
Accounts reconciled every month, a clean set of statements, and a straight answer when you ask how the business is doing.
Read moreBookkeeping cleanup
A one-time project to bring a neglected or mis-set-up file back into line, with a defined start and a defined finish.
Read moreTax preparation
Individual, business and non-profit returns, prepared by an Enrolled Agent who already knows your books.
Read moreTax planning
Decisions made in October instead of April, so the bill in spring is one you already knew about.
Read morePayroll and sales tax
Payroll run on schedule, filings made on time, and sales tax returns that match what you actually collected.
Read moreCFO advisory
Pricing, cash flow and growth decisions worked through with someone who reads the numbers every month.
Read moreWhere we work
Oakbrook Terrace, the western suburbs, and into Chicago
The office is on Butterfield Road in Oakbrook Terrace. From there Farris Fair serves twelve communities across DuPage and Cook County, Chicago included. Most work is handled remotely, so distance rarely decides anything.
Downtown Chicago, about eighteen miles east of the office.
Latonia Farris-Jenkins, founder
Latonia Farris-Jenkins
Twenty years of books, and the credentials to file on them
Latonia founded Farris Fair Bookkeeping & Tax to give owner-run businesses one person who handles the whole picture. She is a Certified Public Bookkeeper and an expert in QuickBooks, holding the Advanced ProAdvisor credential. She is also an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent, which means she can prepare returns and represent clients directly before the IRS.
Certified Public Bookkeeper
Advanced QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor
IRS licensed Enrolled Agent
Women owned and minority owned
What clients report
The point of clean books is the decisions they let you make
20%
Average increase in profitability reported by clients working with Farris Fair.
50 hours
Given back to the average client each year, by taking the books off their desk.
In their words
I have worked with Latonia for three years. She has been incredibly helpful and professional.
Katie T.
Getting started
How the first month goes
01
A free call
Twenty minutes on the phone or at the Oakbrook Terrace office. You describe the state of things, Latonia tells you what it will take.
02
A look at the file
She reviews your QuickBooks file and last filed return, then comes back with a written scope and a fixed price.
03
Cleanup, then rhythm
Anything behind gets brought current first. After that the work settles into a monthly cycle you can forget about.
04
Filing without the scramble
Because the books are already right, the return is a short conversation instead of a three-week panic.
Questions
Things people ask before they call
Do you work with businesses outside Oakbrook Terrace?
Yes. Farris Fair serves twelve communities across the western suburbs and into Chicago, including Oak Brook, Villa Park, Lombard, Wheaton, Oak Park and Downers Grove. Work can be done remotely or at the Oakbrook Terrace office, whichever suits you.
What does an Enrolled Agent do that a tax preparer cannot?
An Enrolled Agent is licensed by the IRS and holds unlimited rights of representation. That means Latonia can speak to the IRS on your behalf about audits, collections and appeals, not just file the return. Most bookkeepers cannot do this, and most tax preparers do not also keep your books.
My books are badly behind. Is that a problem?
It is the most common reason people call. Cleanup is a defined project with a start and an end: Latonia reviews the file, quotes the work, brings it current, and then you decide whether to carry on monthly or take it from there yourself.
Do you only work in QuickBooks?
QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are where most of the work happens, and Latonia holds the Advanced ProAdvisor credential for it. She also works in Quicken and TurboTax, and regularly pulls reporting out of Excel and Access for clients whose systems were never built to talk to an accounting package.
How much does it cost?
Monthly bookkeeping is quoted after looking at your file, because a one-person consultancy and a twelve-employee contractor are not the same job. Cleanup is quoted as a fixed project price before any work starts. You will not get an open-ended hourly bill.
Get in touch
Book twenty minutes with Latonia
No charge, no pitch. Bring your questions and the state of your books.
Phone
Office
18W140 Butterfield Rd, Suite 1500
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Hours
Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm Central
Sat, 9am to 2pm Central