AI consulting · Bookkeeping & accounting

Put AI to work.
Keep the books in order.

Custom AI solutions and optimization consulting for small businesses — built to hand back the hours that disappear into repetitive work. Plus the bookkeeping and tax work behind it, across St. Charles, IL and the Fox Valley.

Zerby Group is one firm with two practices — AI consulting and accounting — helping small businesses across the greater Chicago area automate the work that eats their week and keep their books in order. One standard of work across both.

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Local to St. Charles11+ yrs operating experienceFounder run
One firm, two services

Two practices, one standard of work.

Zerby Group brings together the two sides of a modern small business under one roof: putting AI to work, and keeping the books in order. Start with the service you need most, or lean on both. Serving small businesses across St. Charles, the Fox Valley, and the Chicago suburbs.

Service 01

AI Consulting & Optimization

Custom-built on the tools you already use

We find the work quietly draining your week — chasing leads, booking appointments, answering the same questions, pushing paper — then build custom AI to handle it. It runs on the tools you already have, and we train your team to drive it. The point is hours back for the work only you can do.

  • Capture every lead and respond instantly, day or night
  • Automate scheduling, reminders, and customer follow-up
  • AI chat and inbox triage for common customer questions
  • Automate invoicing, data entry, reviews, and reporting
Explore AI & Consulting
Service 02

Accounting & Bookkeeping

Run by an experienced accountant

Clean books, on time, every month, plus the executive-assistant help that keeps the back office moving. Run by an experienced accountant, so your books stay accurate and current.

  • Monthly bookkeeping, reconciliations, and close
  • Reporting that shows where the business stands
  • Cleanups, catch-ups, and executive-assistant support
Explore Accounting

The tools we build on

ClaudeChatGPTZapierMakeQuickBooksNotionAirtableExcelGoogle WorkspaceClaudeChatGPTZapierMakeQuickBooksNotionAirtableExcelGoogle Workspace
Industries we serve

Built for the businesses that run the Fox Valley.

The busywork is different in every trade, but the fixes rhyme: capture the lead, book the job, answer the question, handle the paperwork. We tailor AI and clean books to how your industry actually works.

Home services & trades

Instant lead response, quoting, booking, and review requests for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and contractors.

Professional services

Client intake, document drafting, and inbox triage for law, insurance, real estate, and financial firms.

Healthcare & dental

Scheduling, reminders, and patient intake that cut no-shows and free up the front desk.

Restaurants & hospitality

Reservations, online-order questions, reviews, and social content handled automatically.

Retail & e-commerce

Product listings, customer chat, and email marketing that scale without adding staff.

Manufacturing & distribution

RFQ and order handling, document processing, and sales follow-up on autopilot.

Auto & service

Booking, service reminders, and review requests for repair shops and dealers.

Nonprofits

Donor communications, grant drafting, and admin, so more time goes to the mission.

How we work

A short, honest path from first call to running system.

01

Assess

We learn your business, map where time leaks, and pick the work with the clearest payoff.

02

Build

We implement the automations, assistants, or bookkeeping systems, scoped and priced up front.

03

Train

Your team learns to run it with plain playbooks, not a manual nobody opens.

04

Support

We stay on to refine, reconcile, and keep everything running as you grow.

Why Zerby Group

Small enough to care. Experienced enough to trust.

Experienced

Hands-on, every month

You’re working directly with an experienced accountant — real accountability behind the numbers, not a faceless template and a login.

Proven

11+ years in the field

Over a decade running real e-commerce, marketing, and operations before we ever pitched you.

Direct

Founder-run

You work with the people doing the work. No handoffs to a junior you never met.

Practical

Ships, not slideware

We measure success by systems that run after we leave, not decks that sit in a drive.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Two things. We help small businesses put AI to work through automation, custom assistants, and hands-on training, and we handle bookkeeping, accounting, and — new for the 2026 tax year — tax preparation, so the financial side stays clean, current, and filed right. You can hire us for either or both.

Small businesses and owner-operated companies that want the leverage bigger companies get from technology and want their books handled by someone who knows what they are doing. If you are drowning in manual work or chasing your own numbers, you are who we built this for.

We are based in St. Charles, Illinois and work in person across the Tri-Cities and Fox Valley, including Geneva, Batavia, Elgin, Aurora, Naperville, and the western Chicago suburbs. Because both sides of what we do are digital, we also work with clients remotely.

It depends on scope, which is why we price every project up front after a short discovery call. Most first engagements are a defined, fixed-price project focused on one or two high-impact workflows, not an open-ended retainer, so you know the cost before any work starts.

It varies by industry, but the highest-return uses are consistent: capturing and responding to leads instantly, booking appointments and sending reminders, answering common customer questions, and automating invoicing, data entry, and review requests. We apply these across home services, professional services, healthcare and dental, restaurants, retail, and manufacturing.

Every engagement starts with a short, free conversation. From there we scope the work and price it up front, so you know what you are getting and what it costs before anything begins. No open-ended retainers you cannot predict.

No. We build on the tools you already pay for and know, whether that is your inbox, your CRM, your spreadsheets, or QuickBooks. We only recommend a change when it clearly earns its place.

Yes. Your data is treated as confidential and handled with care by an experienced accountant. We are happy to walk through exactly how your information is stored and accessed before you commit.

Let's talk

Tell us where the time goes.
We'll tell you what we'd automate first.

A short, free conversation. No pitch deck, no obligation. Just a clear read on where AI and clean books could help your business.

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