I've had my taxes done here for 15 years. Personalized service. Prompt attention. Asks great questions. Gives advice.

We've been doing our taxes through Porte Brown for years, and their team has always been exceptional. They consistently provide high-quality work, are incredibly thorough, and take the time to truly understand our business. You can really see the value in their expertise and attention to detail. It's reassuring to work with a firm that's professional, reliable, and delivers year after year. We highly recommend Porte Brown to anyone looking for quality and long-term value. read more

We have been using Porte Brown for decades. Since 2018 we have been fortunate to keep our relationship going when we moved out of Illinois. Kelley Hare and her team have taken care of us for years. During Covid the IRS felt we owed much more than we paid due to some deferred compensation reporting. Kelley and her team had lengthy conversations with documented evidence. The IRS kept changing the amounts they thought we owed... in the end we received a substantial refund from the IRS. Fortunately our returns are much easier, and we continue to get the detailed personal service. Very thankful. read more

Our company have been using Porte Brown for over a decade. Megan Angle has been with us every step of the way for all of our accounting needs. We have been grateful to have them as a business partner for all these years and look forward to a continued relationship for the years to come. read more

SMALL BUSINESSES BEWARE!!!!! Would Give ZERO stars if I could. Hired them for our small business. The initial quote came in fair priced (higher than some and less than others). We chose them because they seemed eager to get the job done and honest. Upon hiring them, they changed the pricing over and over, resulting in our cost being FOUR TIMES higher than the initial quote. (Nothing changed as far as the job/needs of our business during this time.) They were rarely available, when they were it was short time frames. The accounting software was never fully set up by them, the "training" they offered (and sold us on) was 1hr long and didn't cover anything other than entering daily income. Had to pay and hire an outside company just to file our taxes. After paying Porte-Brown a small fortune. From day one it was a HORRIBLE experience. This company Is FAR from honest and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM AT ALL!!! read more

Porte Brown's offered services makes them a one stop shop for accounting and tax matters. They have helped my business tremendously over the last 4 years in matters of tax advice, RnD tax credit, WIP reporting, book keeping help and countless random questions that have come up. Steve Garrels is the best, very responsive and all around great guy to deal with! -Mark Pfeiffer CEO / Automation Specialist Services read more

Porte Brown has been a great addition to our extended team. We look forward to a long partnership as they help us avoid pitfalls during our rapid growth. Anita Camara is a joy to work with, on top of being responsive and professional. When was the last time someone said that about their CPA? When was the last time you said that about yours? read more

Porte Brown is an excellent firm for any company's audit and other accounting needs. We have been using their services for 2 years now and I could not wish for a better partner! I highly recommend their services! read more

Not sure why there are so many bad reviews on here. My Company has been using Porte Brown for 12 years. They keep getting better and better. I think they are great for manufacturing businesses. Perfect size firm and they are always growing in capabilities and ways to help their customers. I am only speaking from a Manufacturing background, and they are excellent in that arena. read more

I have used Porte Brown's tax services for over 10 years now and have had the best experience! They are very responsive and helpful! Highly recommend using their services! read more

Very disappointed with my first time experience using their tax services. In the end, they did the job I needed them to do but it came at an extremely huge cost that was not correctly or professionally communicated to me throughout the process. Up against a tax deadline could be a general blame but I'll blame it on the blind trust and faith I had walking into the situation with one of their recommended senior accountants only to walk away with a literal bill of mistrust and zero faith in his work ethic, reporting experience and general moral principals. read more

I have used Porte Brown for multiple businesses over a 9 year period and in the beginning they were good. They know what they are doing in terms of accounting, etc. However, they, like many other companies, have lost their understanding of what makes good customer service. The term doesn' t exist for these guys. I received a bill for a few thousand dollars for work done by our assigned accountant...it said ACCOUNTANT NAME - XYZ $3,XXX or whatever. That's it. Nothing descriptive. So, I emailed one of the partners and asked what in the world this bill was for and after having no answer for a lengthy time, I finally got one that said that can give us another person if the bill is too high because our person happened to be a senior accountant. Huh? What does that have to do with my question asking for details of the particular invoice and the corresponding work? They are completely out of touch with reality. About a year later, our accountant was now promoted to a Supervisor. His rate when up by nearly $80 per hour. In a customer oriented business, a reasonable client would expect that they'd have some sort of communication that there was a rate change for our person, or simply would have offered to grandfather in the prior rate so that we can keep the continuity of the original accountant working with our muliple businesses. No - instead, we received more invoices with single line descriptions and no details of the work done. At tax time, instead of charging us for the time it takes to complete the three different business tax returns, they charge us extremely high rates. One business was newly incorporated and they had a zero return that I could have filled out mysef. When I asked if they would just handle that, of course they said yes...but for the same fee as doing a full active business. This is their response to a client that has been with them for years and years. Obviously, we are shifting our business to another firm (hence why I'm here on yelp and while searching for a new one one, writing this review of our prior firm). read more

What a shame. This organization bought the firm my long time accountant belonged to. I went back this year as under the new regime of Porte Brown, same accountant. I file individual tax returns every year, nothing crazy. While I thought they were overpriced before, I felt comfortable using my accountant and team (pre-Porte Brown). This year I got a bill for $1000!!! For an individual tax return. When I asked, I was told they put in 'at least 5-6 hours into it. It was a lot of work.' Daaaaanng, 5-6 hours?!?I hope they got a lunch break in there. It was explained that they had to look at my spreadsheet for itemized deductions (which was labeled and dated with the appropriate categories). I figured an accounting firm would know how to use Excel. It was also explained that I didn't fill out all the fields on their tax discovery doc (so their intern can just enter everything in). If I wanted that, I'd just do it myself. That's the point of paying a premium for using accountants/tax preparation people. I didn't realize Porte Brown was a law firm. National averages for tax returns are around $250-275 for an individual. Nothing against my accountant, but PB sure think they're something special. The review that said they were on par must have a target on their head. NOT ON PAR with anything. You'd think that I'd at least get a ton of money back from all their 'hard work'.....I end up owing still. H&R Block minions would've probably done as good a job for less. I just had to tell my long time accountant good bye. There is no way I can justify going back to them. I can't imagine what would happen if I got married or had a kid. That might take 7 or 8 hours! The world could come crashing down, and they'd no longer be able to keep the lights on.....madness would ensue. Do yourself a favor and let Porte Brown do what it does best: bending over small businesses and suckers. They clearly don't want individual business. read more

Beware of hidden fees! For the first time, I used Porte Brown in McHenry, based on a recommendation of a family member. We had been using another accounting firm in Skokie for many years, but thought we would try someone local. After several emails with the accountant who came highly regarded, we met for a consult. Very nice man, went over the basics of our return (it's a simple joint tax return), and when I asked the fee I was told they charged $475.00 to prepare our taxes. I thought that was high but went with it. Shortly after that I received a consult fee for $100.00. Never mentioned in our conversation or emails. Fast forward to tax time. I was pawned off to a staff accountant (that's not who we hired), and she needed to do some "research". Post taxes, we have received a bill for $700! Another $150.00 in consult fees and $75.00 for her "research". Isn't research a part of the procedure? And if the CPA who consulted with me (hey, I paid a fee for that!) had actually prepared my taxes, I'm thinking maybe he would have already known the answers! I feel duped. No transparency. Never again. Jamie Jones Wauconda Illinois read more

I went in to have my taxes done (obviously) at one of their satellite locations...I was looking for a professional to handle my taxes since I've always handled them on my own. Since I completely procrastinated on 2012, I had to file those first before filing my 2013's with my husband. I wasn't married yet in 2012, so my tax situation was simply this: a single woman with a 1099misc (and corresponding receipts), mortgage interest, property taxes, one VERY small trust fund withdrawal (schedule k), and that was about it except for my deductions. I called ahead to get a ballpark figure for what this might cost. The "partner" I spoke with told me about $150-200, and that I'd be able to use a $75.00 discount as a new customer. Fair enough for a simple tax situation. When I went in to file, I was there for about two hours. The accountant I had was very nice, and made small talk with me to build the relationship/kill time between entering numbers on forms. We got all done and he told me the tax preparation fee would be $385, but since I was a new customer they'd give me the $75 new customer discount....making it $310. That's $110 higher than the high end of the "ballpark figure" I'd called asking about. I didn't say a word about the cost, thinking I had some pretty complex tax issues going on, but once I got home and really went over it, this was the exact same thing I could've done with HR Block or TurboTax.....in my pajamas...on my couch. SO, that being said, unless you have some SUPER complex very hairy tax situations (a business, major investments, etc), don't waste your time or money. read more

I have been working with Porte Brown LLC since 2004 and I recommend them highly. They are there for you whenever you need them, whether its their admin or one of their partners...always there, always willing, always professional! If you are in need of a CPA because you don't have one or maybe unhappy with who you work with now, call Porte Brown LLC and I guarantee you will be happy and continue to use them and refer them for years to come. read more

Great firm. Skilled in all areas of accounting. Stand behind thier clients all the way. Great follow through all year long.