Bench Accounting Review
Bench's professionals can handle your bookkeeping on a regular basis at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house bookkeeper.
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Bench Accounting
| Total Rating | 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Hardware & Software Requirements | Excellent |
| Ease Of Use | Excellent |
| Features | Fair |
| Customer Service & Support | Excellent |
| Reviews | Excellent |
| Integrations | Poor |
| Security | Good |
Pros
- Competitive pricing
- Excellent customer support
- Excellent tax support
Cons
- Limited integrations
- Limited features
- Limited reporting
Bench Accounting Overview
Small business accounting software has made it easier than ever to manage your financials. However, as your business grows, tackling the books can become more of a burden. For other small business owners, learning accounting or bookkeeping software just doesn’t fit into the schedule. While adding an accountant to your payroll might not be in the budget, there is an alternative — bookkeeping services such as Bench.
Bench provides bookkeeping and tax services to small businesses that don’t want to purchase or learn how to use accounting software. Instead of self-service software, signing up for Bench connects your business to a team of professional, experienced bookkeepers that balance the books for you. Additionally, you can also sign up for tax services to have a professional prepare and file your small business taxes for you.
With your team of professionals, it’s easy to keep your finances up to date and get answers to all of your bookkeeping and tax-related questions. By connecting your accounts and answering a few questions each month, your team will update and keep your records accurate. After adding your accounts and answering any questions from your team, Bench will typically have your bookkeeping completed for the month within 15 business days.
Bench’s user dashboard makes it easy to understand your financial situation and allows you to quickly and easily access financial reports as needed. If your books aren’t up to date, Bench can quickly help you get back on track; in most cases, within two to four weeks.
Bench is a great choice if you don’t have the time or experience to balance your books. However, Bench only provides basic bookkeeping and tax services. Larger businesses or businesses with complex accounting needs will need to seek out other services or software. Additionally, there are a few features that Bench doesn’t offer, such as inventory management and invoicing, that you’d typically find in self-service accounting and bookkeeping software.
In this Bench Accounting review, we’ll help you determine whether Bench is the right bookkeeping solution for your business. We’ll look at the pros, the cons, pricing, user reviews, and much more to give you an inside look at what to expect before pulling out your wallet. Keep reading to learn more.
Table of Contents
Bench Pricing
Bench has two main pricing plans: Essential and Premium. You can opt to pay monthly, or you can save $50-$100 per month by signing up for an annual plan. A free one-month trial of each plan is available — no credit card required. Other services, including catch-up bookkeeping, are available for an additional cost.
You can also contact Bench to learn more about other solutions, such as Bench Core, Bench Flex, and Bench Pro. These solutions may include additional features, such as a business bank account, business debit card, and support for multiple locations.
Bench Essential Plan
The Bench Essential Plan is priced at $299/month. If you pay annually, the price drops to $249/month. The Essential Plan includes:
- Monthly bookkeeping
- A dedicated team of bookkeepers
- Year-end financial statements
- Direct and unlimited communications with an in-house team
Bench Premium Plan
The Bench Premium Plan is priced at $499/month. If you pay annually, the pricing is lowered to $399/month. The Bench Premium Plan includes everything from Essential, plus:
- Annual state and federal tax filing for individuals
- Annual state and federal tax filing for businesses
- Unlimited tax advisory services
- Tax strategy planning
Extra Costs
Bench plans are mostly inclusive of everything. However, there are a few additional costs to note, including:
- Historical Bookkeeping: If you’ve fallen behind on the books, Bench can get you caught up in two to four weeks. This service starts at an additional $299/month. You can also contact Bench directly to find out more about payment plans available to help get your business back on track.
- Specialized Bookkeeping: Bench offers basic bookkeeping through its Essential and Premium plans. However, if you need specialized accounting for tracking accounts payable or accounts receivable, or you require segment-level accounting, you can purchase this add-on starting at an additional $100/month.
- Tax Filing For Partnerships & Corporations: Your personal and business tax filing is included if you subscribe to the Premium plan. Partnerships, C-Corps, and S-Corps can add on personal tax filing for one partner or shareholder for $45/month. If you pay annually, this cost lowers to $36/month.
Cloud-Based Or Locally-Installed
The Bench dashboard is cloud-based. There is no software to download or install.
Hardware & Software Requirements
Bench uses its own proprietary software to manage your books, so you won’t have to worry about downloading or installing software. When you need to access your Bench dashboard, you can do so easily online, provided you have a working internet connection.
Accounting Method
Bench uses a modified cash basis method of accounting. You can also speak to Bench about its specialized accounting add-on, which records accrual adjustments.
Specific Size Of Business
Bench Accounting is best suited for small businesses that want a professional team of bookkeepers to balance the books.
Bench is not suited for larger businesses with complex accounting needs. Businesses that prefer to handle their books with self-service software will need to seek out other options. Bench is also not suited for businesses that require payroll, invoicing, accounts payable, or inventory management.
Ease Of Use
It doesn’t get much easier than Bench. Since a team of professionals is handling your books and taxes, there’s no complicated software for you to learn. Simply connect your accounts, upload any requested documents, and let the professionals do the work for you.
Bench has a simple user dashboard that makes it easy to view your financial data, communicate with your bookkeeping team, or run reports as needed.
Bench Features
Because Bench isn’t self-service software, you won’t find many of the features you’ll find with accounting software, such as QuickBooks or Xero. However, you will receive bookkeeping services and access to some features, including:
- Bench Dashboard: Bench has a simple user dashboard that allows you to view your financials and communicate with your bookkeeping team. You can access the Messages tab from the dashboard, which lets you send and receive messages from your bookkeeper. You can also send documents to your team or schedule a phone call. There’s also an Accounting tab, which gives you an overview of your finances and access to your income statement and balance sheet. You can also run year-end reports, upload documents, or search for transactions from the Accounting menu. You can also add bank accounts, payment processors, and bank statements through the Settings menu.
- Bench Expense Tracking: Bench will automatically track your expenses each month. Expenses are added by connecting your bank account, other accounts (such as Stripe or PayPal), or uploading bank statements.
- Bench Reports: From the dashboard, you can access your profit and loss statements or balance sheets. If additional reports are needed, you can speak with your bookkeeping team to learn more.
- Tax Support: Depending on the plan you select, you may have tax support included. Bench offers tax support through TaxFyle, which can be accessed through your Bench dashboard. With Taxfyle, you can upload and manage documents, see your tax progress, or communicate with a tax professional.
Bench Customer Service & Support
One of the major benefits of using Bench is that you work with your own team of professionals. You’ll have three members on your bookkeeping team, including a senior bookkeeper. If you sign up for Bench’s tax services, you’ll also have a tax coordinator, tax advisor, and tax preparer. This makes it easy to get in touch with someone at Bench that knows the specifics of your account.
Bench’s customer service has received outstanding reviews from its users. Customers state that Bench bookkeepers, tax professionals, and sales reps are quick to respond to requests. Users also note that the Bench team is extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and goes above and beyond to provide great service.
While most customers work with their bookkeeping and tax team, Bench offers other ways to get in touch, including:
- Phone: Users can reach out to Bench by calling its toll-free number.
- Email: Bench can be reached directly by email.
- In-Software Help: This is the fastest and easiest way for Bench users to get in touch. From your dashboard, you can send and receive messages from your team, upload documents, or schedule a phone call.
- Live Chat: A live chat option is available on the Bench website that allows you to inquire about products or set up a live call to learn more about Bench.
- Blog: Bench has an up-to-date blog that covers various topics, including bookkeeping, banking, taxes, starting a business, and more.
- Guides: Bench has a number of helpful guides covering a variety of topics, such as bookkeeping basics, small business automations, cutting costs within your business, and more.
- Templates: Bench has several templates and resources that can be useful for your business, including a cash flow forecaster, an estimated quarterly tax calculator, and balance sheets.
- YouTube Videos: Bench has created videos that are helpful to small business owners on various topics, such as bookkeeping basics, reading financial statements, bookkeeping and accounting basics, and small business taxes.
- Social Media: Bench has social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, where it provides updates on its services and shares small business stories from its users. Bench also has a Facebook group with a Client Research Team that provides advice at no cost.
Bench Accounting Reviews
Negative Bench Reviews & Complaints
Negative Bench Accounting reviews and complaints are few and far between. Overall, the company has received rave reviews from its users. However, mixed in with the hundreds of positive Bench reviews are a handful of complaints, including:
- Lack Of Integrations: Some users expressed disappointment that Bench wasn’t able to integrate with other business apps and software.
- Inaccurate PPP Information: Some users claim that Bench gave them inaccurate information in terms of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.
- Delays In Updating Books: Although most users are pleased with the speed of Bench’s services, there are a few complaints regarding the turnaround times for catching up on the books. Some users that were told everything would be ready within two to three weeks found that it took their bookkeepers longer to get their books in order.
Positive Bench Reviews & Testimonials
Bench has an overwhelmingly positive reputation among its users. Bench has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, a 4.8/5 rating on GetApp, and a 4.7/5 on Trustpilot. Users most like:
- Customer Service: Numerous reviews praise the speed of responses and knowledgeable answers received from Bench bookkeepers, tax pros, and representatives.
- Expert Accounting Services: Users like that they no longer have to handle their own bookkeeping and can save time by leaving these tasks to Bench.
- Timely Updates: Most users report that their books are quickly updated each month after answering a few quick questions from their Bench team.
- Easy-To-Use Dashboard: Users say that the Bench dashboard is easy to use and understand.
Integrations
Since Bench isn’t technically accounting software, there aren’t hundreds of integrations like you’d find with programs such as QuickBooks. However, Bench does integrate with several payment processors, including Amazon, Square, PayPal, Stripe, and Shopify, so your transactions are automatically synced.
Bench also partners with other companies (such as Gusto and FreshBooks) for other business services outside of bookkeeping.
Security
Bench uses 256-bit SSL/TLS encryption to keep your data safe. In terms of its bookkeepers and tax professionals, Bench has a rigorous screening process, including the use of criminal background checks and multiple interviews.
Final Verdict
Not every business owner has the time or experience to tackle their business’s bookkeeping, and for those owners, Bench may be the perfect solution. Bench’s professionals can handle your bookkeeping on a regular basis (or even catch your bookkeeping up when you’ve fallen behind) at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house bookkeeper. Getting started is easy, connecting with your team is simple, and you can even add in tax services to make tax season as worry-free as possible.
Bench also has excellent reviews from its users and has a user-friendly dashboard, so you’re always in the know when it comes to your business’s financials. And if you’ve fallen behind, Bench offers an add-on service that can help you get back on track, even if your books haven’t been updated in years.
While Bench does take bookkeeping tasks off your plate, the service lacks a few things. Bench doesn’t offer bill payments, invoicing, or inventory management — all things that you’d find with most self-service software. You’ll also miss out on the integrations with business apps and software that you’d find with QuickBooks or Xero. And while Bench does have several important financial reports, its offerings are pretty basic compared to most accounting software.
However, if you just want basic bookkeeping services, Bench is one of the most cost-effective and highly-rated options on the market. Additionally, you can test out the service for yourself with a one-month free trial before committing.
Want more than just basic bookkeeping? Get more features and integrations with accounting software. Even if you’ve never done the books yourself, there are user-friendly options that are even suited for beginners. Check out our top picks for the best and easiest accounting software to find the accounting solution that’s right for you. Good luck!
Bench Accounting FAQs
Erica Seppala
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
An expert in accounting, finance, and point of sale, Erica has been researching and writing about all things small-business since 2018. Erica's insights into personal and business finance have been cited in numerous publications, including MSN, Real Simple, and Reader's Digest. She is a graduate of Limestone College.
View Erica Seppala's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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Need A Simple Accounting Solution?
FreshBooks  |
|---|
This easy-to-use and feature-rich software is ideal if you have no bookkeeping experience and want top-notch customer support. Get Started.
Need A Simple Accounting Solution?
FreshBooks |
|---|
This easy-to-use and feature-rich software is ideal if you have no bookkeeping experience and want top-notch customer support. Get Started.
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