Canada Local product
Bench

Bench

Canada Local product

What Is Bench?

Bench is for small business owners who want to focus on their business, not their bookkeeping. Every month, Bench turns your data into tax-ready financial statements. You can monitor your business's financial health, download your financial statements, and chat with your team any time via the Bench app. And at the end of the year, Bench provides you with everything you (or your CPA) will need to file your taxes.

Who Uses Bench?

Small business owners who want to focus on their business, not their bookkeeping.

Bench Software - Unlimited support from a Bench bookkeeping expert. You’ll receive real support from real humans, allowing you to take the guesswork out of running your business.
Bench Software - Simple to use anytime and anywhere. Forget about spending hours learning new software. The Bench platform makes it super simple to view your financials, update information, or check in with your team.
Bench Software - Powerful financial reporting. See how your business is doing, master your spending, and make smarter decisions with your money every step of the way.
Bench Software - Tax season, minus the stress. No more year-end surprises—get your overdue books caught up, taxes filed on time, and access to year-round advisory services.

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Reviews of Bench

Average score

Overall
4.7
Ease of Use
4.7
Customer Service
4.7
Features
4.5
Value for Money
4.5

Reviews by company size (employees)

  • <50
  • 51-200
  • 201-1,000
  • >1,001
Chris
Chris
Co-Founder in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Telecommunications, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Love Bench!

5.0 3 years ago

Comments: Bench is the easiest way to manage our books online. It's been a huge time and money saver over the last few years.

Pros:

I've been using Bench for years now and it's so simple to see and manage my books. When something isn't categorized correctly, I add a comment and it's moved over to the right one. It's been great and easy to use.

Cons:

The monthly income statements are behind often. I have to ask to get them on time. I wish it integrated with Quickbooks as my CPA can easily manipulate the data for reports.

Bench Accounting Response

3 years ago

Thanks, Chris! We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and feedback. We've passed your comments to your team as well! Wishing you all the best.

Guy
Guy
President in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Marketing & Advertising, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Life and Business Changing

5.0 2 years ago

Comments: In the wake of COVID I left the agency I was at to do my own agency. While I had my business as a side-agency for a number of years and applications like Freshbooks and then Quickbooks Self-Employed helped me manage things I dreaded tax season and all the work I needed to do every year. During COVID I had to get my business up and going, get clients, execute projects, and get things done. I had zero time for managing my books. When the end of the year came up I dreaded the work that was ahead of me with several big projects in progress. Then, through the service I use to pay my contractors, I found out about Bench and it has changed my business AND my life. Bench took 15 months' worth of books that needed to be done and assigned them to a "catch-up" accountant. He went through everything, classified all my expenses, and had a simple way to ask me to review anything they need clarification on. They pulled difficult things to deal with like my processing fees from Stripe and instantly accounted for them. On top of that, having an honest to goodness accountant and accounting team to know how to PROPERLY set up a Chart of Accounts and classify expenses was game-changing. This service easily pays for itself in the time it saves me and the peace of mind it gives me.

Pros:

- An accounting team to get me on track. - Tax resources with their Bench Tax service. - A beautiful interface that is easy to understand and use. - Superb customer service with timely replies to any questions you have. - An easy way to review anything your team needs clarification on, I rarely spend more than 5 minutes a month classifying expenses for them. - EXPERTISE, Bench isn't just software to do your books, THEY are doing your books, understand small businesses and bring accounting expertise at a very affordable price. - Completed my taxes easily and reduced my tax burden, it was the most painless tax process I've had in years.

Cons:

- Communication early in Bench Tax could be improved but I mostly put this on me for being behind. - Having a separate signon for Bench Tax is a bit of a pain but not a big deal.

Bench Accounting Response

2 years ago

We appreciate you taking the time to share this positive experience with us, Guy! We're so happy to hear that the Bench platform, the expertise of your bookkeeping team, and timely client support have taken the burden of bookkeeping and tax filing off of your plate. Thank you for being with Bench, Guy!

Jose
Owner in US
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Family

5.0 2 months ago New

Comments: Like family

Pros:

The all ways there when I need them.Ever time I asked a question one day later I had a answer

Cons:

When I was doing my taxes with bench they were on a separate platform

Bench Accounting Response

2 weeks ago

Hi Jose, Thank you for the wonderful review! We are so glad to hear that your team is always there when you need it! Additionally, we want to let you know that moving forward, Bench Tax will be brought in-house, which means your taxes will be done on the same platform!

Marie
Founder in US
Photography, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Bench dropped the ball & gave me a partial refund.

2.0 3 years ago

Comments: I tested Bench out at the end of 2019 and then hired them for my entire 2020 books. In the beginning, they were on top of things. Then, mid-summer they dropped the ball. My account got passed to another team, and they didn't even touch my books for months. It was a mess. I reached out to customer service and they did give me 2 months of a refund, because the customer service rep (who was very kind & courteous) saw what I saw. In December, I requested for my bookkeeper to fix some miscategorized transactions and later asked, "Hey were those fixed?" She said she fixed them, which was a blatant lie! On top of all of that, it took them about TWO MONTHS to do my final end of year books that I could pass onto my CPA. I was told they were uploaded, but then they weren't there when I looked for them. I had to request, "Please upload them again." They apologized and did so right away, but by the time I saw them, thank goodness for the COVID extension, because I literally didn't have my deliverables from Bench until April 2020. My filings would have been late.

Pros:

Bench is easy to use and navigate. In the beginning, they were fantastic at answering questions I had to help understand how my bookkeeping was being handled. That's about the only good thing I have to say.

Cons:

I spent more time dealing with Bench all year long than when I was doing my own bookkeeping on a simple spreadsheet. I expected a learning curve in the beginning. They promised it would get easier "as we learn about your business and transactions," but I found month after month that the same transactions got flagged needing my input. Then, when I did thorough checks on my books, I found several transactions not in the right category. The other thing I didn't like was that my bank constantly needed to be reconnected. I truly felt like I spent more time handling Bench than I would've spend just doing my own bookkeeping.

Djabire Marwan
Manger in Burkina Faso
Internet, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Bench review

5.0 4 months ago

Pros:

Easy to master accounting software and programmatic marketing is a little easier and is practically with Bench

Cons:

One of the easiest software to find and use. No problem likely

Bench Accounting Response

4 months ago

We're so happy to be supporting you and your business, Djabire. It's great to hear that we've been able to give you valuable time back, so you can focus on growing your business!