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Bench by Employer.com Reviews & Product Details

Bench does your small business books for you. We'll connect you with one of our in-house bookkeepers. Then, they'll prepare your monthly and year-end financials—so you don't have to. Dedicated bookkeepers, just for you: Real humans. Perfect books. Your bookkeeping team imports bank statements, categorizes transactions, and prepares financial statements every month. Questions? Bench bookkeepers work in-house, and they respond within one business day. Data you can't do without: Monthly financial statements and expense overviews keep you in control of your money. At-a-glance visual reports help you see the big picture and give you actionable insights to help you grow your business. You’ll never be in the dark again. More hours in your day: Less time bookkeeping means more time to focus on what you really care about — like helping your business succeed. Try us out for free: Sign up for a trial, and get full access to Bench. We'll do a month of your bookkeeping and provide you with a set of financial statements for free.

Seller

employer.com

Discussions

Bench by Employer.com Community

Languages Supported

English

Product Description

Bench Accounting is a firm that automates accounting tasks to organize the financials of small businesses, independent contractors, and entrepreneurs.

Overview by

Rachel Alders

Pricing

Pricing provided by Bench by Employer.com.

Essential

$249.00

Per Month

Premium

$399.00

Per Month

View More Pricing Information

Top-Rated Alternatives

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Bench by Employer.com Media

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Real humans. Perfect books.

We'll connect you with one of our expert bookkeepers. They'll get to know your business, and deliver monthly books and year end financials.

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Your financial health at a glance

Visual reports inside Bench display your revenue, expenses, and profit over time. See your business’s financial health at a glance, and stay in control of cash flow. You’ll never be in the dark again.

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Insightful financial statements

Monthly financial statements help you understand where your money is coming (and going).

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Responsive Support

If you have questions about your financials, your team is always a quick message or phone call away. Bench bookkeepers work in-house, and respond within one business day.

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Detailed expense tracking

Helpful visual reports inside Bench show you where your money is coming—and going.

Bench by Employer.com Demo - Seamless data syncing

Connect your accounts to Bench, and you won’t even have to think about getting us your bank or credit card statements. We sync directly with all major banks to automatically pull your statements into Bench, and we have other simple solutions to get your monthly payroll or merchant statements each...

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Luke A.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/4/2024

"Used the Initial service to trap my into an AI driven software nightmare"

1.5/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

At first was a great, affordable service with friendly support and communicative bookkeepers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

Went from friendly startup to AI-driven nightmare now. Over $50k in miscategorized transactions after painstakingly labeling them for the bookkeeper. Will need to have another bookkeeper outside of bench re-evaluate and re-do the books. Waste of money. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Rachel Alders of Bench by Employer.com

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Hi, Luke. We’re sorry to hear about your experience and the issues you’ve faced. Please email us directly at client.care@bench.co so we can assist you further and work towards a resolution.

Verified User in Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/28/2024

"Unavailable accounting team, and they lock you into a contract"

0/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

I liked the perceived ease-of-use, and hands-off accounting service they advertised, but I have not received that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

It's a pretty expensive offering for what they actually provide. They are late to file for my end of fiscal year taxes and withholdings. They have been unresponsive for 30 days at a time. Theres no accountability for them either, they lock you into a contract and say good luck. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

Do not use Bench. They lock you into a contract, forget about you, and don't deliver on the promises they make over the phone. Quickbooks and any other accounting/tax preparation method will be a better option. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

Bench isn't helping me. They have organized my books, but really they've just provided an interface for me to organize things myself. Aside from categorizing my transactions, they have done nothing else. Really expensive for this type of support, just use quickbooks and give access to an accountant for way less money and way less headache. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Carl H.

Owner

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/26/2023

"Fraudulent Enron Style Bookeeping"

0/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

There is nothing to like about Bench. They are a fraudulent company and don't provide what was paid for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

They did my bookeeping for 8 years and its all wrong. There are months where they show 10 times more revenue than I actually had.

Bench wants me to pay more in taxes than I had in income.

Bench refuses to fix this. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

They don't match up accounts to make sure they are accurate. They don't check their work.

Plus they send you racist emails promoting one ethnic group over another. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

They haven't solved any problems at all. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Alexander O.

Business Owner

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/26/2022

"No peace of mind, ton of miscategorized transactions duplicate expeses lag in response from the team"

1/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

I like how I can link credit cards and banks it currently its seems like its not working because I do not see any of my AMEX transactions reflect in expense categories. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

Rushed and limited time during telephone appointments. too many excuses and lack of technical explanations from reps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

stay away. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

Right now bench is not solving any problems I have, it is a struggle because I have to literally go transaction by transaction to make sure its categorized correcty, Retro have not been done correctly and current rep has transactions going back to September 2022. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Motion Pictures and Film

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/7/2022

"incompetent, amateurish, bait and switch"

0/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

they will respond to emails and scheduling calls Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

tldr; missed the deadline to file my business return and bungled my personal return.

Bench did not file my business return with NYC on time. When I received notices from the city and asked Bench, they replied that they did not do municipal filings. During my sales onboarding call, we obviously talked about where my business was located and what I did. Furthermore, all my tax documents, s-corp filings are based in NYC. They didn't even advise during the filing because my tax preparer preps taxes in Washington state - he didn't even know about city filings.

I asked to file an extension for my personal taxes, which they did, but did not include estimated tax payments before 4/18. Again, I received late payment fees in the hundreds. Bench's response was the same: they don't estimate tax payments.

They could have advised their client of these things in advance so we could avoid issues like this but they simply don't care. Look at the list of services they offer and what they don't. You'll see that what they DO offer is marked up google searches and what they DON'T offer is the actual guidance you need from an experienced tax professional.

If your return has problems, you will have to eat the penalties. Bench will not support you. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

Find a local tax accountant who understand your business, the requirements of your area, and will provide actual, helpful guidance. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

Preparation and filing of taxes for business and personal Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Rachel Alders of Bench by Employer.com

edit

Hello! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We're concerned to hear about some of your frustrations, and our Client Success Team has been actively reaching out to you to address the frustrations.

Hugh M.

Professional Actor

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/20/2022

"They take care of the devil in the details!"

5/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

The revenue and expense tracking keeps track of projects (business units) separately and together. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

There is a learning curve on reports. However, they are quick to assist you. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

Discuss your situation with them to make your best decision. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

I have been with Bench for 4 years, and without them, daily accounting and yearly taxes were an obstacle. They have made daily tracking of all revenue and expenses simple, easy and accurate for a small business. The interactive platform makes tracking ALL revenue and costs quick and easy, even for multiple projects. Monthly and quarter checks with a team member ensure accuracy. My tax filing is less "taxing" and is less expensive due to Bench's reports at year's end! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Legal Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/25/2022

"Poor Service - Poor Quality"

0/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

Their sales team was helpful, but it has felt like a major bait and switch. I have nothing good to say about the service I've received. I'm very disappointed in their offering. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

They don't deliver on time. They aren't responsive. They don't do what they say they are going to do. To get a discount, I paid for a year in advance and have no books from them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

Run in the opposite direction. Find an accountant that you can pick up the phone and call. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

Sold me on their ability to quickly deliver financial statements. I advised them of my particular needs and they assured me they were able to accommodate. They haven't been able to use any sort of professional judgment in doing the books. For example, even though they did my books for the entire year, they have not been able to quickly categorize many transactions and they require that I categorize them for them. I might as well be doing my own bookkeeping (I still am). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/20/2022

"Efficient"

5/5

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

The interface and process are simple enough, and I like the fact that I'm dealing directly with real humans that I can hop on a call with. Also, they reply pretty swiftly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

My company has a subsidiary in a foreign country and because of that they couldn't handle the taxes directly so I had to use Taxfyle. I would have prefered to do everything on a single platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

I think Bench can work great if you're a smaller company that doesn't want to spend a fortune and wants accounting done efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

Bench is replacing a traditional accountant/tax firm, which are too expensive at my stage given the low volume of transactions we have to deal with. I combined it with Taxfyle as our taxes we a bit more complicated. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Rachel Alders of Bench by Employer.com

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Thank you so much for taking the time to write this glowing review. It's great to hear that your team has been reliable, consistent and knowledgable, while giving you key and timely insights into your business's finances! We truly appreciate the recommendation.

Briana C.

Founding Attorney, Member

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/7/2022

"Great bookkeeping service; saves me so much time to work on my business"

5/5

Describe the project or task Bench by Employer.com helped with:

Bench does my monthly bookkeeping. I send them all my receipts and financial statements and they do the rest. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

They sort and lay out my financials in a very easy way that makes it easy for me to see at a glance where my business stands, and really helps my financial decisionmaking about the business. It's also very easy to send receipts and upload statements, and my Bench bookkeeper is very responsive when I have any questions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Bench by Employer.com?

There is very little I don't really like about Bench. It has really been just a positive for my work and life. It would be great if it offered affordable tax advising services on top of the bookkeeping. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Bench by Employer.com:

It really is hard to find an easier or more affordable bookkeeping service. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Bench by Employer.com solving and how is that benefiting you?

It's freeing up my time. It's keeping my books in order better than I could do. It gives me a very quick way to identify my biggest expenses and possible ways to save money on the business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Rachel Alders of Bench by Employer.com

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Hi Briana, we're so happy to hear that you're loving the smooth integration and the responsiveness of your bookkeeper! We are thrilled to know that Bench has made it easier for you to navigate your business' finances and helping you make informed decisions. We truly appreciate the recommendation and I will be passing your suggestions of a more affordable tax advising service on top of your bookkeeping!

Arsen N.

Founder

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/21/2022

"After happily using Bench for almost 2 years, now I can't resist hearing their name"

0.5/5

Describe the project or task Bench by Employer.com helped with:

I saw many articles about bad experiences with Bench before I decided to work with them. I also saw dozens of good reviews about them. I didn't mind bad ones and thought it won't happen to me. But it happened.

Let's talk about the service and value I got; It's just bookkeeping software with a guy sitting in front of it. They consistently put my expenses in the wrong category. I had to check all the transactions manually every time. I did this with Xero for less than $40/mo. All transactions from my bank account are automatically imported to Xero and I just need to check once a month. No value here.

I didn't mind paying +$200/mo more for the same result since we had no problem with them. I also felt more secure since there is someone on the line. They offered me to file my taxes for an additional fee. I agreed. They filed franchise and corporate taxes for 2020. Everything was smooth and simple. I decided to extend my subscription for another year.

Last month, in the middle of tax season, I received an email saying that they will not file my taxes since I am a US non-resident. I respectfully understand that they made some decisions regarding their services. I am totally ok with it, but I should be informed about this in advance.

But informing me a few weeks before the deadline, in the middle of tax season, when it's impossible to find an available CPA is a selfish attitude that shows they don't care about their clients.

The result is;

- I had to pay a late file penalty.

- I paid much more for bookkeeping only to AVOID this kind of situation. But this happened.

- I had a hard time searching for a CPA, collecting required documents etc.

Moreover, they didn't offer me to refund for the amount that I paid for the tax job. I had to ask for it. They refunded it with a small deduction. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you like best about Bench by Employer.com?

Nonthing. You can achieve the same result with any bookkeeping service. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Rachel Alders of Bench by Employer.com

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Thank you for bringing this to our attention Berk! We regret to hear that this has been your experience with us. We've followed this up with our Bench Tax team and a member of our Client Success Team has reached out to discuss your concerns.