Bench Accounting review: Is it time to move on?

On December 27, 2024, thousands of unsuspecting Bench customers received notice that the accounting provider would be ceasing operations and shutting down its website, effective immediately.

This came as a shock to many, but Bench amended its statement only days later. On December 30, it announced that it would, in fact, be continuing operations thanks to a last-minute acquisition by Employer.com.

Employer.com is a payroll management firm founded only months ago in November 2024, and its acquisition of Bench—though no doubt welcome to some—has created a great deal of uncertainty over the future of the company.

This Bench accounting review will help you determine whether you should stick with the provider and ride out the unfolding situation or save yourself the trouble and switch to an alternative, like Zeni.

Bench Accounting review

Founded in 2013, Bench has been a popular digital solution for small businesses in need of accounting services for more than a decade. 

It specializes in basic bookkeeping, which primarily includes categorizing monthly expenses and generating financial statements.

Bench also offers tax advisory and preparation services, helping customers minimize their annual tax liability, complete their returns properly, and submit their tax forms and payments on time in order to avoid penalties.

For those who have fallen behind on their financial management, Bench provides catch-up bookkeeping and tax resolution services, which can help you bring your records up-to-date and address any outstanding issues with tax agencies.

Bench uses its own accounting software that helps automate repetitive tasks, like expense tracking and categorization. However, Bench customers are also assigned a team of human experts who provide ongoing support.

You can schedule unlimited calls with your Bench bookkeeper or tax advisor for no additional charge, but you’ll primarily communicate with them through Bench’s platform, which facilitates day-to-day interactions, like instant messaging and document sharing.

All that said, Bench’s features will no doubt be changing in the coming weeks. For example, Employer.com’s CEO, Jesse Tinsley, has already promised to institute a policy of closing the books on a set date each month.

While these changes could be beneficial in the long term, there’s no way to know how successfully they’ll be implemented, and disruptions are likely in the short term. 

As a result, continuing to rely on Bench may be risky, especially since the uncertainty coincides with the end of the 2024 tax year.

Zeni: An accounting partner you can rely on

Understandably, Bench’s last-minute announcement of its shutdown left many with a bad taste in their mouths. Its subsequent acquisition by Employer.com means its services will resume, but your trust in them may not be so easily repaired.

If you're a Bench customer who no longer feels like it's the right accounting firm for you, consider partnering with Zeni instead. Our platform provides all of the same services and more, including:

• AI bookkeeping: Zeni uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate routine bookkeeping tasks beyond what traditional software solutions can handle. That frees your dedicated bookkeeping team to focus on providing personalized support.
• Business taxes: In addition to standard tax planning and preparation services, Zeni offers customizable tax packages you can use to meet more atypical needs, such as foreign subsidiary reporting.
• Fractional CFO advisory: When you need help navigating complex challenges like financial modeling or venture capital fundraising, Zeni can provide CFO-level guidance for a fraction of the price of a full-time professional.
• Supporting financial offerings: In addition to our flagship services, Zeni’s offerings include a business checking account and credit card, bill payment and employee reimbursement automation, and full payroll management.

Bench’s integrated bookkeeping and tax services may help streamline your accounting processes, but Zeni’s comprehensive platform consolidates all your financial operations, virtually eliminating the inefficiencies that come with juggling multiple providers.

Move from Bench to Zeni for free and get 50% off your first three months!

Bench Accounting pros and cons

Here are some of the most significant pros and cons of continuing to partner with Bench, especially in light of its recent acquisition by Employer.com:

Pros

• Integrated accounting services: Bench offers monthly bookkeeping and tax services, allowing you to meet both needs with one convenient subscription rather than having to juggle multiple service providers.
• Catch-up services: Digging yourself out of financial messes that have accumulated over months or years can be intimidating, but Bench can handle the process for you, no matter how far behind you are on your obligations.
• Proprietary software: Bench clients can communicate with service providers, upload documents, access real-time financial reports, and more through Bench’s digital platform. You won’t need any additional bookkeeping or tax software.
• Personalized support: Clients receive a dedicated bookkeeper and tax expert, assuming they sign up for both services. You can message them at any time through the Bench platform and schedule an unlimited number of free calls.
• Affordable, flexible pricing: Bench accounting pricing is relatively inexpensive, and you have the option to pay on a monthly or annual basis.

Cons

• Limited to small businesses: Bench specializes in basic bookkeeping and tax services for small businesses with straightforward financials and may not be able to meet the needs of more complex businesses.
• Cash basis bookkeeping only: Bench doesn’t support the accrual basis of accounting, which you’ll likely need to implement if you’re interested in scaling your company or raising funds from lenders or investors.
• Pre-acquisition issues: Bench’s sudden, near collapse suggests there were some significant issues with the business under its previous leadership that the new regime must find a way to resolve. 
• Post-acquisition uncertainty: There’s no way to know how long it will take Employer.com to resolve Bench’s problems or what disruption loyal customers will experience in the meantime.

Bench Accounting features vs. Zeni

Let’s explore Bench’s most important features, explain how they work, and compare them to Zeni’s equivalent offerings to help you determine which is a better fit for you.

Integrated accounting services

Bench provides integrated accounting services for small businesses, including bookkeeping and business tax management. They’re designed to satisfy basic financial reporting and tax filing needs.

For $349 per month, its bookkeeping service provides monthly updated books and financial statements, year-end financial packages for tax purposes, 1099 reporting, and unlimited communication with a dedicated bookkeeper.

Meanwhile, Bench’s tax plan is $699 per month. It includes everything in the bookkeeping plan, plus annual income tax filing and access to a team of licensed professionals to help minimize your tax liability.

As convenient as it is to be able to access both accounting services in one place, Zeni offers all of the above and much more. 

Most notably, that includes fractional CFO advisory services, which are invaluable when you face financial challenges beyond your expertise but lack the budget for a full-time hire.

Combined with our AI-enhanced automation features and a full suite of supporting financial products, Zeni is uniquely equipped to meet your various financial needs, even as your operation grows and evolves.

Automation

Bench’s accounting automation works like any other bookkeeping software. When you connect your bank account and credit card via Plaid, it automatically pulls transaction details from their respective feeds and records them in your general ledger.

This significantly reduces the need for manual data entry, resulting in faster financial reporting and more accurate books. Bench also categorizes financial transactions intelligently based on its 10+ years of bookkeeping expertise.

In addition, you can connect tools like Shopify, Amazon, Stripe, and PayPal to Bench, all of which integrate with it seamlessly. That way, you can monitor your financial data in real time from a single dashboard.

However, this level of automation has become table stakes for modern accounting software. By incorporating the power of AI into its various offerings, Zeni greatly enhances its automation capabilities. For example, Zeni can:

• Process data from multiple sources: Using optical character recognition, Zeni can capture, process, and reconcile the financial information found in supporting documents, like invoices and receipts. 
• Improve bookkeeping over time: Thanks to machine learning, Zeni studies the way you record and present financial transactions and then applies its insight to future ones. The more data it has, the better it becomes at anticipating your preferences.
• Execute customized approval workflows: Zeni ensures bill payment and employee reimbursement requests go through the appropriate approval process, automatically following up when managers take too long to move things along.

All of Zeni’s products leverage the power of AI—even our checking account and credit card—and we’re always looking for new ways to apply it.

Customer support

As powerful and convenient as accounting automation can be, no software can fully replace the human element. Bench recognizes this, so both of its subscriptions include access to a team of dedicated experts.

It expects you to communicate with your bookkeeper and Bench tax advisor primarily through its digital platform. You can send them a message at any time, and Bench promises they’ll get back to every Bench client within one business day.

However, you can also request an unlimited number of phone calls with your Bench team for free. That can be incredibly helpful, but you may need to schedule them well in advance during busy accounting periods, such as tax season.

Zeni also appreciates the value of personalized, human support, so all of our customers have access to the Zeni Finance Concierge. It serves as a convenient point of contact for all your support needs, whichever service you need help with.

The Finance Concierge is fully staffed Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm PST, and we aim to satisfy all requests within two hours during that window. Otherwise, we’ll respond with an estimated timeline for completion.

You can also get in contact with support by sending an email to your dedicated address (<company>@zeni.ai) or by requesting a free call with your finance team at any time.

Whichever channel you use, you can rest assured knowing that you’ll get help from an expert, as the Zeni team entirely comprises experienced accountants, Chartered Accountants, Certified Public Accountants, tax advisors, and Chief Financial Officers.

Small business focus

Bench bookkeeping specializes in serving small business owners, making it a popular option for independent contractors and others with relatively straightforward finances. 

It aims to provide basic financial reporting and tax prep services, which is why Bench pricing is relatively affordable compared to many competitors.

However, as a result, you can quickly outgrow the scope of Bench’s accounting services if you ever look to scale your operation. For example, Bench doesn’t support the accrual accounting basis, which you must adopt if you want to engage in fundraising.

Most lenders and investors will want to see accrual financial statements before working with you, as they provide a much more accurate picture of your financial performance and position than cash basis accounting records.

In contrast, one of Zeni’s primary goals is to provide a platform that can meet all your financial needs in one place, even as your operation evolves and has to navigate increasingly complex challenges.

That’s why we offer so many different financial products and services. Whether you need a business checking account and credit card to establish your financial foundation or a fractional CFO to build a financial model for a prospective investor, Zeni can help.

Since startups often have the most dynamic needs of all businesses, it’s no wonder we specialize in serving founders. Not only do we have the tools, but we also have the experience to take you from bootstrapping to priced rounds–and beyond.

Upgrade and save with Zeni

If you were impacted by the Bench shutdown, you may be interested in switching to a new accounting service provider. At the same time, you may feel reluctant to make that potentially messy transition, especially since the 2024 tax year just came to a close.

We understand, and we want to make your switch to a Bench accounting alternative as easy as possible. To meet your bookkeeping needs with minimal disruptions, here’s what we recommend to all Bench customers:

• Agree to Bench’s new terms: Employer.com needs your agreement to transfer ownership of your data from Bench. You may feel tempted to opt out, but that will only disable your account, which could prevent you from accessing your data.
• Download your financial data: Log into Bench and download all essential data. For example, that should include your balance sheet, income statement, general ledger, outstanding bills and invoices, and any important supporting schedules.
• Schedule a meeting with Zeni: Once you secure your data, you can cancel your subscription and explore Bench accounting alternatives without risk. Our experts are happy to discuss your options and help you figure out what makes the most sense.

If you like what we have to offer, not only will we migrate your data from Bench to Zeni for free, but we’ll also give you a 50% discount for your first three months to help make up for Bench’s inability to offer any refunds. Fill out our contact form to get in touch!