Bench

RATING:

4.5

(306)

About Bench

Bench is the online bookkeeping platform for small business owners. Each month, Bench automatically gathers transaction data from all connected business accounts. Then, a dedicated team of bookkeepers ensures books are tax-ready. With books up-to-date, users can access the Bench iPhone or desktop app to monitor cash-flow and financial health with intuitive expense reports, income statements, and more. Users can also send the Bench team a text in the message feed, and they respond within one business day. And at tax time, Bench delivers a package with everything needed to get filed.

Awards and Recognition

FrontRunner 2024
Software Advice's FrontRunners report ranks top products based on user reviews, which helps businesses find the right software.

Bench Pricing

Starting price: 

$299.00 per month

Free trial: 

Available

Free version: 

Not Available

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Bench Reviews

Overall Rating

4.5

Ratings Breakdown

Secondary Ratings

Ease-of-use

4.5

Customer Support

4.5

Value for money

4.5

Functionality

4.5

Most Helpful Reviews for Bench

1 - 5 of 305 Reviews

Erik

Marketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employees

Used more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

5

Reviewed August 2022

Completely alleviated stress while reducing my bookkeeping costs

User Profile

Chris

Verified reviewer

Telecommunications, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed October 2020

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.

PROS

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.

CONS

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.

Reason for choosing Bench

I didn't want to do the work!

Reasons for switching to Bench

The accountant was slow and took forever to make small updates.

Vendor Response

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.

Replied November 2020

Jonathan

Retail, 2-10 employees

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed August 2020

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.

PROS

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.

CONS

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.

Reason for choosing Bench

Recommendations from online users, Youtubers, and a good first hand experience from the beginning while switching over to Bench.

Reasons for switching to Bench

They were not able to provide adequate book keeping services, due to complicated books.

Vendor Response

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.

Replied September 2020

Marie

Photography, 1 employee

Used less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

2

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

2

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed July 2020

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.

PROS

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.

CONS

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.

Reason for choosing Bench

I chose Bench, because I was hearing good things about them from Ash Ambirge of the Middle Finger Project whom I adore & trust. I liked the idea of a real person on my books, not software I had to manage.

Reasons for switching to Bench

I thought having a real person handle my bookkeeping would be faster than doing it myself.

Pierpaolo

Information Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed April 2024

Handling Accounting Professionally With Bench

PROS

Using Bench is very useful when it comes to accounting. It is affordable and well equipped

CONS

It handles very well and no issues with at all.