Bench Reviews

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

Generally my experience has been good. The device is expensive compared to other bookkeeping devices. My biggest concern is that in working with the company you get handed off to several different staff. It has been hard to build a relationship with my bookkeeper for this reason. I’ve found that I have to reexplain a number of our specifics over and over again because I am working with new people within the company. It would be better to be assigned to one bookkeeper, especially in our case, which included historical books and present day books. My business isnt open yet but some of the limitations in the software (particularly a lack of an A/P system) cause concern for me in considering continuing use once we are open.

Bit of a bumpy onboarding with aggressive trials clearly operated by a different team, but so much smoother once you start a subscription and are assigned your bookkeeper.

Understanding the financial health of our business has been critical in making decisions both long and short term. Bench helped free up the minimal time that we as business owners have and spend more of that time focusing on our business, which has been very helpful.

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.

Our overall experience has been that Bench is personable, intuitative, and user-friendly.

Pleasant interactions with all personnel I’ve spoken with over the phone or via email. Onboarding was easy and comprehensive. The financials dashboard -+ the app is well designed and easy to access.

Overall, really great! They're super helpful. Most of the time they're quick to respond, but at times have needed to have an extra poke to get a response. That is a rarity. Usually, I'll hear back from someone by the next day at the latest.

Great experience and helpful service. Awesome value since an in-person CPA would be double the cost.
Bench was especially around tax time when it comes to working with me to get my numbers buttoned up.

We hired Bench to do some simple bank statement sync entries for the previous 6 months. They charged my credit card 1 day after signing the agreement. They never did a single entry when I say a single entry not 1.I call and talk to [sensitive content hidden] and he says they need documentation from my merchant account to begin work. I am like dude all i need is my bank account entries mapped to the chart of accounts. He says they can't start without the merchant documentation.I tell him since they haven't started please issue a refund and I will get the work done somewhere else.Now, I get directed to [sensitive content hidden] (Client Success team) about the refund on [sensitive content hidden] . She responds on [sensitive content hidden] . Sorry I was out sick . Here is her response to my refund request: To answer your question "Have I refunded the account" , there has been no refunds processed. The reason this has occurred is Bench is a stand-ready service (similar to Netflix). What that means is we do not process refunds for previous months of service; whether you have used the service or not.NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM IN THE PROCESS OF DISPUTING WITH THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY NOW THE $1200 THEY CHARGED ME!!!DON'T GET SCAMMED BY THIS COMPANY.

Bench is useful and helped me to navigate the early days of my company, but I could've saved a lot of money doing some of the data correlation myself and hiring a tax expert directly.

Like family

tldr; terrible - incompetent, will not support client if there are missed filing deadlines, penalties and fees.

During my sales onboarding call, I talked about my 10 years of doing business in NYC as a sole owner of an s-corp. I have to file extensions from time to time. Bench assured me this would be no problem. They missed the deadline to file my business return with NYC. When I asked Bench about this, they replied that they don't do municipal filings. I asked why didn't my tax preparer notify me - the short answer: he didn't even know NYC requires a seperate business filing. It took several intense phone calls to get a refund. My personal returns were the same. They didn't calculate my estimated tax liability when the filed my extension. I got hit with hundreds in penalties and interest. Again I asked why they didn't notify me. Answer: it was in our disclaimer.

If you look at what Bench offers, they are charging a premium for essentially googling information for you. The actual issues you will need guidance on, they don't offer. Furthermore, they will not advise you of critical filing necessities because it's in their list of "disclaimers".

Find a local tax accountant who understands your business and will have your best interests in mind.

Bench executives should develop the bookkeeping platform further to include items that allow the end user to have a total experience. I understand that the goal is to lead bookkeeping into full tech. However, I feel that users want some form of one-on-one service where they are able to meet and greet their bookkeeping expert. What I have experienced with Bench thus far are a series of glitches when adding accounts, not being able to delete accounts, and occasionally having to repeat myself when discussing issues with numerous customer support staff members that are not apart of my bookkeeping team. I feel that by establishing a video conferencing feature to the dashboard, it would be a brilliant opportunity for us, end users, to get to know their experts and to limit any inconsistencies while providing a more personal experience.

Overall, I find Bench.co to be an accessible, easy-to-use, game-changing bookkeeping tool and resource for entrepreneurs & SMEs. The team is efficient, friendly, patient, and thorough (even when I had an adverse reaction to tackling my stuck-point when it comes to bookkeeping and I managed to even annoy myself I was treated kindly, a currency I don't take lightly, especially this year). I even got a goodie from a referral. It felt awesome to be rewarded!

The customer service is helpful with any questions we may have

Bench has set my mind at ease that all of my business costs and expenditures are being accounted for successfully and tracked.

Overall Bench has helped me to track and monitor my business financials. Tax seasons has been a breeze the last two years with Bench - something a lot of freelancers struggle with.

All of my book-keeping headaches are gone!