Monthly bookkeeping checklist
The month-end sequence — every bank and card account reconciled, bills and invoices current, payroll tied out — in the order that catches errors earliest.
OpenIllinois · Bookkeeping Services
Illinois bookkeeping that keeps the IDOR’s math clean.
Reconciliation, clean categorization, sales tax recorded by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates), Illinois net income tracked for the PPRT, and Chicago’s lease/cloud tax captured — delivered in your own QuickBooks file by your TechBrot team. Fixed-fee, all 102 counties.
Monthly bookkeeping: $500–$2,500+ a monthWhat sets the price
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
State rule
Illinois rule: Form IL-941 is filed electronically each quarter, by the last day of the month after the quarter, even if no tax was withheld; each quarter the payroll withholding liability in QuickBooks ties to the IL-941. Source: IDOR Publication 131.
§ The short version
Illinois bookkeeping services from TechBrot reconcile your accounts and close the books monthly in your own QuickBooks file, for a fixed fee of $500–$2,500+/mo. Sales tax is recorded by jurisdiction (6.25% state plus local), Illinois net income is tracked for the PPRT, and Chicago’s 15% lease/cloud tax is captured where it applies.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 01 · Illinois tax realities your books must capture
Three Illinois facts good bookkeeping never misses.
Bookkeeping in Illinois isn’t generic — these three obligations decide how transactions, income, and Chicago sales are recorded.
6.25% + local
Sales tax baked into the books, by jurisdiction
Illinois sales tax is 6.25% state plus county, home-rule and transit add-ons by location — the transit (NITA) portion rose 0.25 points in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties on August 1, 2026 — destination-based. Bookkeeping that records the right combined rate by jurisdiction is the difference between an ST-1 that ties and one that doesn’t.PPRT
Illinois net income for the PPRT
The Personal Property Replacement Tax is computed from Illinois net income (2.5% C-corp / 1.5% pass-through). Clean bookkeeping is what makes the PPRT supportable — even pass-throughs owe it at the entity level.Cloud tax
Chicago’s lease/SaaS tax, captured
If you sell SaaS or lease equipment to Chicago customers, the Chicago lease/“cloud” tax (15% as of Jan 2026) must be recorded — separately from sales tax. A line generic bookkeepers miss entirely.§ 02 · What Illinois bookkeeping covers
Clean books, every month, by one dedicated team.
Scoped to your business and delivered in your own QuickBooks file by your TechBrot team.
01
Reconciliation & categorization
Every account reconciled and every transaction categorized to a clean, Illinois-correct chart of accounts each month.Monthly bookkeeping
02
Sales tax recorded right, by jurisdiction
Combined sales tax (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates) recorded by jurisdiction so the IDOR ST-1 ties — no manual cleanup at filing time.Sales tax help
03
PPRT net income tracked
Illinois net income tracked cleanly so your CPA can compute and support the Personal Property Replacement Tax.Replacement tax help
04
Chicago cloud tax captured
Chicago’s 15% lease/SaaS tax recorded separately from sales tax for providers with Chicago customers.Sales tax help
05
CPA-ready statements
P&L, balance sheet, and cash-flow delivered monthly in a format your CPA can file from directly.Financial statements
06
Advisory, when ready
Once the books are clean, fractional-CFO advisory on the global team — forecasting and PPRT/PTE planning.Fractional CFO
§ 03 · The scope
What we do — and what we don’t.
What TechBrot does
- Reconcile every account and categorize every transaction each month
- Maintain an Illinois-correct chart of accounts
- Record combined sales tax correctly by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates)
- Track Illinois net income for the PPRT
- Capture Chicago’s lease/cloud tax separately where it applies
- Produce CPA-ready monthly financial statements
What your CPA does
- File Illinois income tax, the PPRT, or sales tax
- File Chicago city taxes or the PTE election
- Represent you before the Illinois Department of Revenue or the City of Chicago
- Provide legal or tax advice
- Step 1
Free file review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your QuickBooks file and Illinois situation at no cost. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
Within 3 business days you get a written scope and fixed fee. No hourly billing. - Step 3
Cleanup, if needed
If the file has fallen behind or missed the Chicago cloud tax, we bring it to a CPA-ready standard first. - Step 4
Monthly cadence
Your senior bookkeeper keeps the file reconciled and current every month.
§ 05 · The advisory line
Automation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
Bookkeeping is where Illinois tax compliance is won or lost: the combined sales tax has to be recorded by jurisdiction as transactions happen, the PPRT is only as accurate as the Illinois net income behind it, and the Chicago cloud tax is a line generic bookkeepers skip. Clean bookkeeping makes all three a non-event.
Start with accurate books, then extend — when you’re ready — into fractional-CFO advisory including PPRT/PTE planning, in coordination with your CPA.
§ 06 · Around this page
Around Illinois.
Illinois QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Illinois tax terms in one place.Bookkeeping services, nationally
The national engagement this page is the Illinois version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.Also in Illinois
Illinois cities
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Illinois compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 07 · Around the engagement
Before you engage anyone.
Bookkeeping cost calculator
An estimate of the monthly fee from your transaction volume, accounts, and payroll — the same inputs a written scope uses.
OpenTechBrot bookkeeping pricing
What the engagement costs — the fixed-fee bands by scope, and what moves a quote up or down, before the discovery call.
OpenIllinois small-business accountant
Bookkeeping is the monthly work; this is the person who reads it back to you — what an Illinois small-business accountant does beyond keeping the books current, and when you need one.
Open§ 08 · Common questions
Illinois bookkeeping services questions.
What's included in Illinois bookkeeping services?
Reconciliation, clean categorization to an Illinois-correct chart of accounts, combined sales tax recorded correctly by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates), Illinois net income tracked for the PPRT, Chicago’s lease/cloud tax captured where it applies, and CPA-ready monthly statements — all in your own QuickBooks file, by your TechBrot team, with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
Why does Illinois bookkeeping have to be Illinois-specific?
Because the combined sales-tax rate varies by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates, which differ between Chicago and downstate) and must be recorded right for the IDOR ST-1 to tie, the Personal Property Replacement Tax is computed from Illinois net income (and even pass-throughs owe it), and Chicago’s lease/cloud tax on SaaS is a separate line generic bookkeeping ignores. Missing any of those creates filing problems your CPA has to untangle.
Do you work in my existing QuickBooks file?
Yes — your file, your data, in QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop, with a senior bookkeeper assigned to your file, and every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you. We can set up or migrate the file if needed.
Can you clean up a messy file first?
Yes. If the file is behind, or sales tax was set to one rate instead of by jurisdiction, or the Chicago cloud tax was never recorded, we scope a one-time cleanup to a CPA-ready standard, then move into monthly bookkeeping so it stays clean.
How much do Illinois bookkeeping services cost?
Fixed-fee against a written scope, never hourly. Monthly bookkeeping runs $500–$2,500+/mo by volume and accounts; one-time bookkeeping cleanup runs $1,200–$15,000+. Exact fee in writing within 3 business days of a free discovery call and the file information needed to quote.
Checked against the Illinois Department of Revenue and the City of Chicago Department of Finance.
Illinois businesses start here