Bench Bookkeeping
You run your business. We’ll do your bookkeeping.
4,8 /5 (220 avaliações) Escreva uma avaliação!
Huge help for an entrepreneur
Vantagens
Bench was critical in helping me with catch up books for tax time. Being able to upload reports easily from my bank and various credit card processors made things so much easier, and the bookkeepers learned quickly how to categorize the transactions. I'm not sure when I would have caught up on my historical books without Bench.
Going forward from there has been very easy as well. I've been able to link the reports to my card processing software and bank, and get updates as they have questions. So simple!
I find the monthly reports easy to understand and its given me a much clearer picture of my numbers.
Desvantagens
The only challenging initial integration was with Paypal- myself and the Bench team member had a hard time linking everything. We resolved it and I didn't have that issue with other accounts.
I do wish that this software integrated with my invoicing system, so I could easily see where the profits were coming from. However, I use that system's reports to get a good idea of what's bringing in income.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Samantha, Thank you so much for taking the time to share this review! We're happy to hear that we were able to help get your bookkeeping up to date. We're excited to keep providing a simple and easy bookkeeping experience moving forwards!
Excellent Book Keeping Software For Running Your Business
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.
Vantagens
It was great to see a breakdown of all three financial statements for our business, both from a macro and micro perspective. Being able to pull up accounts and see specific transactions from desktop and on the go through mobile was indispensable in running a healthy business and planning for the future. The messaging system was prompt and efficient for keeping in touch with our book keepers and account manager with any pressing questions. They were always very professional and did high quality work. Any questions or concerns with categorization and interpreting information were answered well.
Desvantagens
I think it would be helpful to expand the software to allow for the dropping of all receipts into our account in order to have a one stop location for accessing and printing receipts for accounting and tax purposes. We were informed that only high ticket items needed receipts, and so we ended up using other third party software to track mileage and keep track of receipts.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi, Jonathan. Thanks so much for sharing your kind review! We also appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We have shared this to the appropriate teams.
Bench dropped the ball & gave me a partial refund.
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.
Vantagens
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.
Desvantagens
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.
Clean
Our overall experience has been that Bench is personable, intuitative, and user-friendly.
Vantagens
What we like most about Bench is their level of customer service. From setup to now, the team has been here with us and is extremely easy to reach out to. Beyond this, the interface is very clean, quick to load.
Desvantagens
There are some accounts that can't be automated, but we understand this. That aside, we would like to see Bench expand and offer more all-in-one service beyond book-keeping and tax returns or make any partners more accessible (virtual CFO, CPAs would be great).
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Dez! Thank you so much for your kind review. We also appreciate the feedback! Wishing you all the best.
Extremely happy with my choice!
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.
Vantagens
Having all the data to see my business stats has been really helpful. They call it the "Pulse" which shows you the health of your business with a way to visualize how you're doing over time. I like that a lot. Bookkeeping is really easy for me now and I'm thankful I outsourced it. I just connect my accounts and drag and drop invoices and receipts that I scan or receive into the documents section and they take care of things. They also provide a nice, clean, easy to understand summary at the end of each year so my accountant can do my taxes easily. I have no regrets going with Bench. It definitely saves me a lot of time and stress.
Desvantagens
I wish there are some nice comparable summaries like percentage growth or changes month to month, by quarter, and YoY. Prices still feel a little high to me and I wish there was an option for invoicing and receiving payments into my checking accounts.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Thank you so much for your kind words! It's great to hear that we have been able to take away some stress. We've also shared your feedback with the appropriate parties for further consideration!
A great value of service for taking care of bookkeeping
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.
Vantagens
The iOS app is simple and easy to use. I appreciate the quick access to messaging back and forth with my bookkeeper, making notes about transactions, and they referred me to Gusto for an integrated payroll service
Desvantagens
Some of the features like their Pulse tab of real time bank account syncing and electronic PDF statement syncing are glitchy.
Bench is great
My accounting was solved using bench, literally it's set it and forget it, these guys are top notch and make your life easy.
Vantagens
Incredibly supportive staff, intuitive friendly user-interface, provided year end tax portfolio that I could easily give to my CPA. Bench is just fantastic, I can't say enough good things about the way they have handled my accounts for the past 3 years, highly recommend. If you're a professional, this is for you.
Desvantagens
The only con here is that I didn't switch sooner.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Thank you so much Byron for your kind words! We are so happy to be working with you.
Great product, worth the cost for peace of mind
Vantagens
I like that it's easy to use, comes in a user-friendly format, and simplifies accounting for me. It's dummy-proof! I'm mostly looking forward to an easier tax season with this software.
Desvantagens
It's a little expensive for a one-person office, so I wish there were more tiers in pricing. But I like the product and will continue to use it, and understand that it costs money for a good product.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Heidi! Thanks so much for the kind words. If you ever feel that your average monthly expenses have decreased, we can always conduct a pricing review to see if you fall into another pricing tier. All the best!
I wish we would have invested in this sooner!
I LOVE it so much!! I wish we would have started using this from the start with our business.
Vantagens
Bench has changed our business for the better! Having all of our books from month to month in one place is GAME changing! My favorite part is the real time look at the health of our business because our books are now done monthly. I can be confident that we'll never be behind! Which helps us make better business decisions!
Desvantagens
When I was first new to Bench and terms like "balance sheet" and "profit and loss" I wished there was a hover by where you click on them at the top that gave a quick description of what each meant.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
We're thrilled to hear this, Ashley! We've passed your glowing words to your bookkeeping team, who will be equally as thrilled.
Affordable yet Robust Bookkeeping
I have been satisfied with Bench, and it takes a lot off my mind.
Vantagens
The staff at Bench are responsive and helpful. The software is user-friendly. The price is less than most of its competitors.
Desvantagens
The bank integration does not always function right with the credit union I use.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
So glad to hear we've been able to take some stress off your plate, Paul! Thank you for being with us!
One less thing off of my plate...
I am saving myself hours and hours of handling the bookkeeping. I am confident that it is done correctly and I am not missing anything. I like having someone to ask bookkeeping questions to if need be.
Vantagens
I was hesitant to start Bench because I thought I could handle the bookkeeping for our business on my own. Managing money has always been a strength for me. However, as my company grows I find that I need to keep delegating and removing things off of my plate. At the same time as a business owner I like to keep as much cash inside the company as possible.
I finally gave the free trial a chance and it has been the BIGGEST weight off of me. I know that my bookkeeping is totally taken care of and done professionally. The stress of organizing everything for taxes is lifted off, and I know that I always have someone working on it everyday on my behalf.
Anytime I have questions I get an immediate response along with very valuable advice. I am a Bench customer for life!
Desvantagens
I don't like that it keeps disconnecting to my bank account. We've had a few technical issues with that. It can be very time consuming and frustrating especially since I am extremely busy already. I also have to confirm purchases from months prior and that can take a long time! When I confirm those purchases it is usually 30+ transactions and at that point I don't even remember all of them so it takes a while for me to locate receipts. I really dislike that too. I wish it were less expensive for us a small business owner as well.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Emily! We're thrilled to hear that we have been able to take one more thing off your plate. We have also shared your feedback with your team! A member of our Client Success team would also love to connect with you regarding your pain points. We will be reaching out via email shortly!
Makes My Life as a Small Business Owner So Much Easier
I started my graphic design studio in 2005 managing our books through a part-time bookkeeper who'd come in 1-2x a month and we'd then communicate a few times every week.. This system got us through the first 8 years of our business. Though functional, it was a time-consuming process. We used Quickbooks at the time, and I could never get comfortable using it to manage or understand our business's numbers even though our bookkeeper was serving it on a silver platter essentially. I've always felt Quickbooks was made for accountants, not business owners or individuals. Once can argue, it's supposed to be "accounting made easy", but it's really designed with accounting in mind — not business owners. As a business owner I wanted to quickly understand cashflow and profitability. Whereas Quickbooks seemed to that and much more, it seemed like I was doing my taxes every time I went in there. So I started looking for options and that's when I found Bench. And Bench, even back then, had already provided a service ideal for a small business owner like me. I've been using Bench since 2013 now, and I can't imagine running my business without them. It's allowed me to focus on my clients and design work which are revenue generating tasks, instead of accounting which was an anxiety-generating task.
Vantagens
1) Uncomplicated Interface — For a non-numbers/non-accounting comfortable individual it's great. It provides me access and understanding to our accounting in a very digestible yet informative manner.
2) Accessible Customer Service/Communications — All the interactions I've had have been professional, courteous, and problem solving driven. It's never "No". Instead if a challenge arises, they've always been proactive in finding a way to address the challenge or question providing options. It's also especially great that you can speak with them or chat with them with no barriers. At first I was very concerned about this since our books are the heartbeat of our financials, and i was quickly at ease after the first few calls and chats.
3) Easy — Once our accounts were synced and Bench had a clear picture of how our business worked, it's set-it-and-forget-it. What used to required a few hours every week for me now has become an hour or two a month.
4) Transaction Verification Made Easy — I especially love how they've simplified this process to almost a game.
Desvantagens
1) Cash based bookkeeping. This was a struggle in the beginning since we were accrual based initially. However upon working with them and our CPA, we've managed to stay accrual based and set up a system where we do adjusted entries after filing taxes.
2) Not Quickbooks. This is not really a con, but should make it clear that if you prefer to stay on Quickbooks, this is not the service for you. They will provide your books as spreadsheets for your CPA to work with. At first I was nervous about this, but it hasn't been an issue.
3) Turnover with bookkeepers — Over the years, we've had I believe 5 different bookkeepers over the course of 6 years due to turnover or what seems to be internal promotions. It has not negatively impacted our service, but I do wish it was less frequent since at times I'd have to remind the new person some of the subtleties of our account.
Exceptional Services for Small Businesses
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.
Vantagens
Bench has done a great job of placing most items one would require into a dashboard that makes the bookkeeping experience simple. Customer service at Bench is by far the best in the market! Staff at the company truly believe in the product and provide the end user with an exceptional experience each and every call.
Desvantagens
Platform errors and the lack of additional features.
Love Bench!
Bench is the easiest way to manage our books online. It's been a huge time and money saver over the last few years.
Vantagens
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.
Desvantagens
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.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
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.
Outsourcing to Bench was a Gamechanger
As a small business we're constantly prioritizing big time spends and deciding what's worth us outsourcing and spending money on rather than time. Bench was one that, as soon as we were set up and going with them, we've never looked back. It is not cheap. But it's worth it for us, no question about it!
Vantagens
We've been using Bench for a few years now and absolutely love it. It can be basically as hand's off as you want. We get an email once a month when they're working on our books, sometimes an extra contact here and there if they provide other documentation throughout the year. And we have our CPA and Bench people in touch with each other which is even more off our plate. As small business owners, bookkeeping used to take a ton of our time, and now it's a breeze. And logging into our account we can look around at where our money is going with a quick glance
Desvantagens
I admit we haven't done a ton of digging around in the actual software - our typical use is them contacting us with any categorization questions once a month (and after a couple years there are hardly ever any). I do wish (or can not find how) we could see how much money we're paying/spending on a particular item. So, say, I want to see how much we're spending on just Facebook ads. What I can do is search for "facebook" (and I can specifically search within whatever time period I want, like Q4 2018 or January 2017), but it won't automatically give me a sum of all of those expenses. I CAN see a summary of expenses by category, but by "line item" (like "Facebook" or "AWS") would be even more helpful.
Ease of Use and Best Investment Ever
My overall experience is great. this is my second time using them. I had to leave the first time while switching my business format but it’s worth the investment knowing that my books are in order in I can easily track my growth and readjust expenses.
Vantagens
The best thing about the software is hands off. In comparison to other software you have to not only implement the software you have to hire someone to upkeep it/reconcile it every month, whereas this is all in one pricing.
Desvantagens
The software may be a little confusing at first but with the customer service they help you navigate how to use the key features. I do wish there was a easier way to download a simple profit and loss and there are some other things that they may not be able to do that you need a CPA for but you at least have all your information in order for the CPA.
Resposta do Bench Accounting
So glad we are able to work with you again, Destiny. Thank you for sharing your experience! All the best.
Best Bookkeeper there is!
Bench always delivers above and beyond and i love their service.
Vantagens
Bench is an amazing product that is in the cloud. I love that i can access my books from anywhere on the go and get a snapshot of how the company is doing week to week.
Desvantagens
There are no cons at this point. I wish they started an accounting arm that tied to bench since their product is so awesome!
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Tony! Thanks so much for the lovely words! We have a network of CPA's that we can refer to our clients. They are trained on our platform, and work really well with our service! If you're interested, let your bookkeeping team know, and they can guide you with next steps. All the best!
Bench Works!
Overall, I recommend bench to everyone. They do have their shortcomings, but in my experience it can be fixed by not giving so many clients to one person. My current bookkeeper is great and very prompt on delivering my books each month. I hope she sticks around. YMMV, but keep with it, bench is the best out there.
Vantagens
My QuickBooks was a mess. I had brought in duplicate transactions from syncing with square and I was going to need to manually adjust thousands of items. Then I found bench! The bookkeepers are relatively easy to get in touch with when you have an issue; you can book a call, chat, etc. Come tax time the year end summary they put together was amazing. It made filing taxes very easy.
Desvantagens
The bookkeepers are spread very thin, and turnover is high. I've been with them a little over a year and I've had 3 different bookkeepers. I had to complain about one of them because he wasn't giving me a complete set of books each month. (They ended up giving a month free while they caught up my books.) It costs much much more than QuickBooks and doing it yourself, and you do have someone knowledgeable doing the work, but all than means nothing if your books are fragmented.
Best Web-based/Remote Bookkeeping Full-Services
Great experience, we've been with them for 2 years now and we will not switch to anything else!
Vantagens
Extremely professional bookkeepers, easy to use user interface and 100% hands-free. They even have auto-linked bank accounts to pull your bank statements so you don't have to manually send receipts and statements. You can view your dashboard anytime and see live updates on your balance sheet. My CPA loves their books as well.
Desvantagens
Sometimes the connection might be off and I'll have to upload documents anyways, and they'll still need my input for returning vendors/suppliers.
Excellent Solution for Tracking Business Expenses
Bench has set my mind at ease that all of my business costs and expenditures are being accounted for successfully and tracked.
Vantagens
Very easy to use . This product has been very useful for me to track all business expenses and have all of the required audits of my accounts while also producing annual earnings reports. Very professional.
Desvantagens
It would be nice if the system was able to read the memos for checks written to determine the purpose for the expenditure rather than the business owner having to review each check and identify its purpose for the business.
convenient and accessible
With bench.co I've been able to see in real-time our financial statements without having to ruffle through paperwork or calling someone/visiting an office. I would highly recommend this service to any small business owner.
Vantagens
Bench.co has literally changed the way I operate my organization & school. Whereas in the past we'd have to wait, and work around local accountants who had 100's of clients in queue, Bench allows me the convenience and access to my virtual accountant 24/7 online and poignantly clear on all aspects of bookkeeping.
Desvantagens
As with all software based services, sometimes Bench can lag in their monthly accounts at the beginning of the new year. This is a very minor inconvenience to the overall experience.
Great bookkeeping company
Overall Bench has saved me time with preparing all bank reconciliations and year end tax preparation. It's also a stress relief that it's done thoroughly and properly. It's not just one person being accountable for my bookkeeping needs but the company stands behind it.
Vantagens
I like the ease of having my bookkeeping done on a timely basis and not having to think about it until I get a message to review the month. I can then easily go in and make notes of any changes to be made or answer their questions to me. The customer service is excellent as well. They integrate with my payroll company too which saves time.
Desvantagens
They don't integrate with my Customer Management System and they don't use QuickBooks which I also use. I process invoices through my CMS which also provides my scheduling, customer profiles, employee payroll reports, etc. I would love it if Bench would integrate their system to it so I can better track invoices. Instead I have to do that through QuickBooks but am only using a small portion of what QB offers since Bench does my bank reconciliation and they don't use QB. So I'm still paying for QB for this part of what I need. I have a daily service company and I process client credit cards daily in addition to tracking some clients that still write checks and a few who pay via ACH. I do that within QB. At this point I'm not aware of a better way if I want to continue using Bench for bookkeeping.
Completely alleviated stress while reducing my bookkeeping costs
When I first heard about Bench, I was nervous about switching from a standard, old school accounting firm I'd worked with for many years. Within a week, my fears were dissipating. Three years later, my fears are completely gone. Bench completely meets my needs as a small business owner - while saving me time and money.
Vantagens
Bench is SIMPLE. The software provides me an accurate and easy to understand overview of my monthly and annual financials with easy-to- process visuals and graphs. The software integrates automatically with my bank and credit card, alleviating the back and forth calls and emails I used to labor through with my former "brick and mortar" accountants. When I have a question, the Bench team is always available and quick to respond.
Desvantagens
Nada! No complaints here! I have not experienced a single problem with the Bench software
Second time using bench
First time around was good. This time around I’m not too pleased with the person assigned to my account
Vantagens
It’s easy to set up and use, semi affordable
Desvantagens
I would like to see mileage tracking and the ability to move items to a category myself
Resposta do Bench Accounting
Hi Heather, thank you for sharing your experience with us. We regret to hear that you are having concerns with your experience. We would like to connect with you to discuss this matter further. A member of our Client Success team will be connecting with you shortly. All the best!
Takes the hassle work out of financial reporting
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.
Vantagens
- no need to use quickbooks
- friendly and responsive staff when issues arise
- individual bookkeeper assigned to your account
- user interface is friendly and accessible
- reporting features are solid
- costs less than hiring your own bookkeeper
- affordable rates which are advantageous for small businesses
Desvantagens
- auto syncing does not connect w Capital One bak accounts which results oftentimes a 2-3 week lag in getting monthly reports back
- only retrospective reporting; no prospective budgeting features (need to use separate software)
- does not provide tax accounting services; only bookkeeping
- cannot easily customize revenue subledgers without discussing w accountant
- no categories of fixed/variable expenses
- cannot upload documents via mobile devices
