The Bench team has been very hands on helping us to sort out our bookkeeping for our small business, including doing historical work that we needed rectified for the yearprior. Pat & Karyn are Great 😊

Bench accounting and my retroactive Bookkeeper Lauren were highly professional, personable, and in general wonderful to work with. I am a small business owner with a lot of anxiety and a certain amount of Trauma related to roughly 3 years of books that hadn't been fully organized. I started my business only a few months before COVID started, during a stressful time in my life. When COVID hit I was fully engaged with taking care of my own needs and the needs of my family, and didn't have the knowledge, resources, or bandwidth to properly organize my books month to month. It became something of a monster in the closet where the fear compounded over time and got wrapped up in all sorts of other emotions. Bench was really good about being gentle, kind, and supportive and giving me all the time and space and support I needed to sort through the emotions and how they were tied into the practical. They were also very helpful and open to educating my and helping me understand how we were organizing things and why. I feel very grateful to them and would highly recommend them to anyone who wants what I would call a very human approach to bookkeeping!

The Bench team has been very hands on helping us to sort out our bookkeeping for our small business, including doing historical work that we needed rectified for years prior. They send prompt reminders via email and text, and are responsive when you make contact. They streamline the process very well so you feel confident in working with them and also confident in doing your part. Feel like we are in great hands!

It started out well. They gave us a really good deal to get started. They failed to mention that they would not do inventory. They claim this was a failure of their onboarding team or I wasn't listening, because this is a hard and fast rule. I seriously doubt it was my hearing, because inventory is a big deal for our company. We do electronics manufacturing, and have parts and subassemblies costing much less than one cent to several hundred dollars. And of course correct handling of inventory, and CGS (Cost of Goods Sold) will give you correct value for inventory and proper gross and net profit. My first indication of trouble was the P&L showing seriously negative months. This was because they were putting all purchasing into CGS. So if we bought a year's supply of a $50 PCB, the cost all went into the month the P.O. was paid, causing wild gyrations in the monthly profit, and crazy CGS numbers one month, and extremely low CGS other months (using up inventory, not buying much or anything). I did not understand what was going on, but when the books claimed my net profit was $9K and I had $45K in the bank, cash, I knew something was wrong. I had added on tax support because I wanted to talk with someone on tax issues. I was unable to contact anyone for 4 months. They did not give me a way to contact anyone, then they gave me a broken link, and finally, after 4 months of nothing, I got to talk with the tax guy. It was that conversation that helped me to understand why Bench not tracking inventory was messing up my books. It was also my complaint that Bench owed me $800 for 4 months of no service for tax advice. I never got the $800. There were attempts to try to do inventory without them having to do it. In other words, I was to do it and provide information to them. Then, they told me they could not make adjustments to reflect the inventory values I reported because the IRS would not allow them to do that. What? That is nonsense. It became clear that they were unable and/or unwilling to do inventory in any correct way that would result in appropriate bookkeeping. For a company with long term inventory, this is unacceptable. I could not use the books and P&L/balance sheets to assist me in making business decisions. I had to spend a lot of time adjusting everything. NONSENSE! So, I found a replacement. They laughed about the claimed IRS restriction. Now, the books make sense, the P&L makes sense, it all works together, and I can make business decisions with the information. The bookkeeper is sucking the data out of my credit card and bank accounts and setting up for tax time without much input from me. Wow, it is amazing! I used to spend a lot of time sending receipts to Bench. Now, only if it is unusual, such as something the bookkeeper has not seen before. It was always a struggle with Bench, and I still had to do a lot of accounting myself. Now, I do almost nothing! I then tried to get a refund. First, the $800. Also, since they essentially defrauded me by failing to tell me they did not do inventory (how is that a bookkeeping position: we only do some of your bookkeeping?). I told them I should get it all back, but I knew they would not do that. I did think they would do something. Nope, nada. Never heard from them again. Maybe if you have no inventory, such as a software download company, or your turnover in inventory is measured in a week or two max, or you have a service where there is no inventory, Bench might be a reasonable choice. Probably a lot of companies that might fit into that category. Stay away if you have inventory to manage and keep track of. On the tax assistance, paying $200/mo for that is a joke. They can answer some questions, even look at your books (they are at a different location, and not part of Bench). But do any serious tax service for you? Nope. The answer is "see you after December 31". So why am I paying $200//mo all year? Makes no sense.

We were operating under a tight timeline and the Bench retro team was able to get everything we needed taken care of quickly and efficiently. Their level of communication is top-notch throughout the process and I would urge companies to use them!

Don't call them. They will spam you for the rest of your life, no matter how many times you tell them that they are not wanted or needed

The Bench team was able to get us caught up with our bookkeeping which involved multiple prior years..They were able to complete the process expeditiously. Now we are able to be in compliance.They made the process "stress free" for us.

Everyone I worked with was SO kind and warm. Truly just a great team of great people! Overall the experience was easy, the transition was painless, and I got to be almost completely hands-off. Loved it.

A friend recommended them to me and I feel like my life has been saved. I wish I knew about Bench 5 years ago. My bookkeeper Lauren V. Held my hand through the entire process. The pace was steady and the responsiveness was above expectations. I feel like a new person! I feel proud of myself and I am really impressed with the financial view of my business.

Great communication with my bookkeeper. So far, I am very pleased.