our company (cinderella cleaners) and myself and entire family all use checks and balances and are very happy. my son and two daughters (all out of town) use checks and balances and could not be happier with the knowledge and service we all receive from kathy gilbert art cohn read more

DO NOT USE THIS WOMAN!!!!!! I wish I could give no stars. I'm very late writing this review. In 2016 and 2017 Kathy did my taxes. The first year went well so I used her again. Years later, I got audited for 2017 taxes. She claimed that I owned a small business which I don't causing me to pay back owed taxes to the tune of $5,000 between 2019-2022 because of her incredibly large mistake. You would think she would want to rectify her error but instead repeatedly said she would take care of it and call me back. She never called me back once. I continued to call her over and over leaving messages asking for her guidance and help. Eventually she stopped taking my calls and never did a thing. The IRS recommended I report her so that is my next step. I cannot implore you enough to not give her your business and if you've used her in the past, change immediately to someone who knows what they're doing and won't stick their head in the sand when they've made a mistake. DO NOT USE THIS WOMAN FOR YOUR TAXES! SHE IS A BAD BUSINESS WOMAN AND A WORSE TAX ACCOUNTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

I am really trying to give Cathy the benefit of the doubt. She has given me the runaround over and over again and now I'm receiving letters and notification from the IRS stating that my taxes weren't done correctly. I'm calling and calling and she is not answering I'm leaving her voicemails and when I do walk over to her office she blows me off I'm gonna call you I'm gonna call you but she never does. I'm trying to really give her that benefit but it's becoming really hard especially when I keep getting notification from the IRS in the mail in reference to the Balington she did read more

Kathy is a wonderful human being and an excellent accountant. We have been very happy with Kathy's work for at least the last 15 years, after having difficult accountants for 20 years prior to finding Kathy. There is no nicer or more competent accountant in Chicago, and her command of her industry and services are top notch. Gata D.'s review is totally unfair and not representative of Kathy at all. The fact that all of Kathy's good reviews are hidden and this one bad review shows up is a failure of Yelp's review system. There is no accountability, and Yelp shouldn't allow unverified reviews like that. It makes Yelp's credibility questionable at best. Other review sites for small service type businesses require the reviewer to prove they had a contract with the business. Those sites are more credible for these types of services than Yelp, which essentially allows anyone post anything, legitimate or not. read more

Awful human being!! While my mother was dying of cancer she said she was filing irs extensions and taking care of our finances. She was not. She took hundreds and thousands of dollars from us. My poor step father is not only paying for millions of dollars in hospital bills which he is glad to pay because it gave us more time with mom. But now he is losing our home. My moms home. Our memories of her because of this terrible person. She trusted you Kathy. She sent people to you. Why would you do this to a friend. Why. Not only have we lost the most wonderful person now we are losing everything because you were too lazy or just didn't care. I will pray for you Kathy but I will never forget read more

My (late) husband and I have been going to Kathy for many, many years. Kathy's services are excellent and impeccable! After Richard's passing, I continued to reach out to Kathy. She has and continues to be extremely helpful, knowledge of tax-laws, compassionate and has guided me through some very overwhelming financial situations. Kathy has gone above and beyond and continues to this day -- to help my family and I ... I can never thank her enough! I trust Kathy and will forever be grateful and thankful. I will continue to seek her advice and services! Thank you Kathy! Gail V. read more

Kathy has been doing my taxes for two years now and it is quick and problem-free. She is friendly, thorough and very accommodating. I hope Yelp's review system does not affect Kathy's reputation because based on my experience, she in fact does a great job and is a wonderful human being. Thank you Checks and Balances and Kathy for your accounting expertise. read more

Best Accountant ever !! I've been working with Kathy for over 20 years and I consider her part of the family.. Thanks Kath for all you do... read more

I've been going to Kathy for my taxes my whole life. What I love about Kathy is her professionalism and how easy going she is. With our crazy work schedules it can be hard to set an appointment but she is always accommodating and always in a good mood when we call or show up at her office. She does great taxes and always provides helpful tax advice. read more

On Monday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. I called to find out if I could get wills witnessed and notarized. I spoke with Kathy Gilbert, gave her my name and told her we'd be there at 9:00 a.m. the following morning. When we arrived around 8:50 a.m. the office wasn't open even though the website says they open at 8:00. About 5 minutes later another woman arrived, completely ignored us, opened the door, turned on the lights and went into her cubicle. Finally, a man appeared and we explained to him that Kathy knew we were coming and he said that he left a message on her voicemail. After that, we just sat there until 9:30 and finally left. All we wanted was a very simple service and if that's how clients are treated we certainly wouldn't give them any future business and would not recommend them to several of our friends who also live in River North. read more