From Chicago to Aurora, Naperville to Springfield, Tides Bookkeeping provides remote bookkeeping, payroll support, and monthly financial reporting for small businesses across Illinois. Clean books. Real results. No commute required.
No setup fees · Cancel anytime · 100% Remote
Illinois has one of the largest and most diversified economies in the Midwest, anchored by Chicago — a global center for finance, futures and derivatives trading (the CME Group), and corporate headquarters. The state is a national transportation and logistics hub, with O'Hare International Airport and a dense rail network moving freight across the country. Downstate, Illinois is an agricultural powerhouse and a top producer of corn and soybeans, and home to major manufacturers and food and pharmaceutical companies, from Deere & Company in the Quad Cities to Abbott and AbbVie in the Chicago suburbs.
Illinois pairs a flat income tax with some of the highest property and sales taxes in the country. The individual income tax is a flat 4.95% (as of 2026 — confirm the current rate before filing), and businesses organized as corporations or partnerships also owe a Personal Property Replacement Tax on top of that. The state sales-tax base is 6.25%, but local add-ons push the combined average near 9%, and Chicago's 10.25% is among the highest big-city rates in the nation. Illinois property taxes are also among the highest anywhere — a major cost for business owners who own real estate. The flat income rate is simple; the surrounding tax burden is not.
Seven core services designed for small businesses across every industry in Illinois — all delivered remotely, all handled by our team.
Your most important foundation. We categorize every transaction, reconcile your accounts, and deliver clean P&L and balance sheet reports every single month — so you always know exactly where your business stands.
Months or years behind? We clean it all up — systematically organizing your past transactions so you can get current and stay compliant.
Starting fresh or inheriting a mess? We connect all your accounts, configure your chart of accounts, and set everything up correctly from day one.
Every account, every month. We match your books to your bank statements and flag any discrepancies before they become problems.
P&L, balance sheets, and cash flow statements delivered monthly in a format you can actually read and act on.
We track what you owe and what's owed to you — keeping your cash flow picture clear and your vendor relationships clean.
We ensure your payroll expenses hit your books correctly every pay period — including local Illinois municipal withholding — working alongside your payroll processor to keep everything reconciled.
From Chicago and the collar counties to Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, and Champaign — 100% remote, clean books every month. We track your sales tax by jurisdiction and keep your books ready for the Personal Property Replacement Tax. Explore by county:
From Chicago professional services and trades to Rockford manufacturing to Downstate agriculture, we understand the financial rhythms of Illinois's most common industries.
Job costing, subcontractor payments, material expenses
COGS tracking, tip payroll, inventory & vendor management
Commission tracking, rental income, property expenses
Consultants, attorneys, agencies — clean P&L every month
Inventory, merchant fees, platform reconciliation
Insurance billing, payroll, HIPAA-aware practices
Fleet expenses, fuel costs, driver payroll
Job costing, inventory, multi-city payroll withholding
We're not a local firm that added remote services. We were built remote-first, which means our process, communication, and delivery are optimized for businesses that never need to meet in person.
Tides is based in Greenville, SC and serves clients across the country. We know Illinois's business climate cold — the flat 4.95% income tax with the Personal Property Replacement Tax stacked on top for entities, and layered sales taxes that run from 6.25% at the state to over 10% in Chicago — and the industries that drive Chicagoland and Downstate.
No hourly billing surprises. You pay one flat rate each month based on your transaction volume — and you always know exactly what you're getting.
We don't just hand you a spreadsheet. We deliver clean, readable financial reports each month with plain-language summaries so you can make decisions — not just file paperwork.
Your CPA will thank you. Our books are consistently maintained at a level that makes tax season — federal, state, and local — faster, cheaper, and less stressful for everyone involved.
We earn your business every month. There are no lock-in agreements — just great service that makes you want to stay. Cancel anytime if it's not working.
"I run a small HVAC company out of Aurora and take jobs all over Chicagoland. Tides got my books completely caught up, keeps my sales tax straight across every home-rule rate, and now I get a clean report every month without lifting a finger. I finally understand my numbers."
Book a free 15-minute call. We'll look at where your books stand and tell you exactly what they need — no pressure, no sales pitch.
Schedule a Free Call →Official government resources for registering, filing, and staying compliant in Illinois. Tides handles your books; these help with the rest.