Bench Erfahrungen

Huge help for an entrepreneur

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

Good Quality; Probably too Much for a Smaller Company

Kommentare: I like the product, but am unsure of the value for smaller firms with fewer expenses.

Vorteile:

I like the ease of use. There is a lot of info that is consolidated well, and the customer service is quick.

Nachteile:

Overall the service works well, but for a small company with relatively few expenses, the $300/mo pricing is a bit steep. I feel that a tiered rate based on expense quantities would be valuable to smaller companies wishing to offload the accounting work, but can't justify the cost.

DO NOT USE BENCH

Kommentare: The worst experience. They will steal from you and provide no services.

Vorteile:

Nothing. They do not know what they are doing. There customer service is horrible.

Nachteile:

This is a very incompetent company. They have charged me thousands for services that they have not performed. I have used them for almost a year. I have tried to cancel them and they keep charging me. When you call, no one answers in any department. The voice mail states that they will call you back with in 1 business day. My rep ([sensitive content hidden]) makes appointments and will not hold the appointment time. You sit there and wait for them and they never call.

Friendly, helpful staff. Software is nicely designed and easy to use. It's too expensive.

Kommentare: Overall, I've been very impressed with Bench. The people, organization, resources, and software are top-notch. The price, however, is too much for someone who is self-employed or a small business owner with limited transactions. I understand that you generally get what you pay for, but I don't feel that you get 10x the value over self-managed bookkeeping using Quickbooks, Freshbooks, or Wave bookkeeping software. Excellent product -- it's just not for everyone.

Vorteile:

Everyone I worked with to understand and use the bookkeeping software was friendly, professional, and helpful. The dashboard analytics was very easy to understand and is very appealing. I also like that I can export all data into a single workbook (summaries and itemized transactions).

Nachteile:

I don't like that the product is so expensive. Depending on how large your business is and how many transactions you're managing, this product may be too expensive. For example, I've used Quickbooks Self-Employed for years and it's under $20/mo. In comparison, Bench (without any promotions) is hundreds of dollars per month. Granted, they are provided professional bookkeeping services as well as the software, but for a business with 50 transactions per month, it is a little overkill. It's really the only thing I don't love about Bench.

Its easy and worth it.

Kommentare: The sales and onboarding team was amazing. [SENSITIVE CONTENT] is a champion.

Vorteile:

Reconciliation and ongoing communication through the chat is priceless. The teams are fast and handling things in real time is valuable to the process.

Nachteile:

I'd hoped my monthly statements would be pulled automatically once I linked my accounts.

Affordable yet Robust Bookkeeping

Kommentare: I have been satisfied with Bench, and it takes a lot off my mind.

Vorteile:

The staff at Bench are responsive and helpful. The software is user-friendly. The price is less than most of its competitors.

Nachteile:

The bank integration does not always function right with the credit union I use.

Bench Service has drastically deteriorated

Kommentare: Their service level has gone down substantially. We have used them for years, but this year its been absolutely horrible.

Vorteile:

cost, ease of use, connection to other platforms

Nachteile:

only cash basis accounting. They do not do accrual. Their service for anything like updating balance sheets with loans, etc is awful. Getting in touch with them via email or phone is next to impossible. It didnt used to be that way.

Really Disappointing

Kommentare: Poor. I do not feel that I am getting my money worth.

Vorteile:

I thought I would enjoy seeing where my business expenses were going, but so far I am not able to tell what is going on.

Nachteile:

No turn around on items I need categorized. No follow up. Slow to respond.

Total disaster of company

Kommentare: I am a bit puzzled on how there are so many 5 star reviews. My experience has been a total disaster. Stay away, just Google for "Bench reviews Reddit" and you will find the real users experience.

Vorteile:

Excellent service to receive an extra dose of stress.

Nachteile:

They have changed my bookkeeper 4 times in a single year; they made repeated mistakes after mistakes on my books, nothing was personalized, all they do is to set the system to classify the transactions; 2 different 'tax experts' that gave me wrong information; books are NEVER completed on time, they are constantly late by several months; about filing taxes: they will file for an extension regardless of whether your books are done or not.. without even consulting with you; messages and emails are never replied to, you have to call every time and nothing gets resolved;

Warning: Do Not Use Bench Tax Services

Kommentare: I use it because I've already paid for the tax return to be filed with them for 2022 and don't want to have to pay twice to have it filed. I will never use them again for a tax return and feel their ability to offer this service should be revoked as I have never worked with a more unprofessional tax service.

Vorteile:

After months of back and forth with their accounting team I was finally put with an account manager who knows what they are doing and can communicate effectively

Nachteile:

They are incapable of filing an accurate tax return. It is now August and they are still figuring out how to file my 2022 return. Each time they send anything over there are multiple errors they need to fix. Their response times are abysmal and their team has little to no knowledge about actual tax compliance and filling.

Bench is great

Kommentare: My accounting was solved using bench, literally it's set it and forget it, these guys are top notch and make your life easy.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

The only con here is that I didn't switch sooner.

Handling Accounting Professionally With Bench

Vorteile:

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

Nachteile:

It handles very well and no issues with at all.

Family

Kommentare: Like family

Vorteile:

The all ways there when I need them.Ever time I asked a question one day later I had a answer

Nachteile:

When I was doing my taxes with bench they were on a separate platform

Bench review

Vorteile:

Easy to master accounting software and programmatic marketing is a little easier and is practically with Bench

Nachteile:

One of the easiest software to find and use. No problem likely

failed to file business taxes on time and did not file personal taxes properly

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

The dashboard chat and customer call scheduling were pretty responsive.

Nachteile:

a bit clunky moving from bookkeeping to tax platforms and not knowing which chat/communication to use when customer support tells you to check your messages.

Accounting for Startups

Vorteile:

We transitioned from a traditional outsourced bookkeeper to Bench and love the ability to go in and view our reports quick and easy. The team is also much quicker to finish month end reports and responds quickly.

Nachteile:

The onboarding process was a bit difficult. We had to adjust our expense categories to match. We would like to use the accrual accounting adjustment but haven't been able to get help with this yet.

Good start, low customization

Kommentare: Overall, I still recommend Bench if you are starting out and a small business under $1 Million in sales. However, as you grow, I would recommend switching to Quickbooks.

Vorteile:

Prior to Bench, we used Quickbooks, and it was lifesaver! We had no idea how to use Quickbooks for bookkeeping and Bench made it easy for us. There was low setup involved and their dashboard was amazing.

Nachteile:

As our company grew, we needed more information in our financial statements. At the time, there was low customization with Bench, and we couldn't add or change things in regards to our Profit and Loss statement. Also, at the time, they only did cash based accounting.

Bench is Amazing

Kommentare: Bench is amazing. As a small business owner I was spending too much time categorizing expenses and correctly documenting items for the P&L or balance statement. Bench offers such an amazing service and any time I had a question or issue my Bench specialist was right there. I would highly recommend Bench to anyone who needs bookkeeping services (and their tax team is amazing as well). Couple all of that with their service team's (big shout out to [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]) genuine care for you and your company and you have kind of a no brainer.

Vorteile:

The platform is intuitive and easy to use. You speak directly with the individual managing your account, which is nice for continuity. Any discrepancies are easily adjusted or annotated. It exports to multiple file types for integration with other platforms. It links with your accounts so you don't have to manually input everything. AND THEIR TEAM ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT YOU, which is a breath of fresh air.

Nachteile:

Sometimes there are functionality issues with linked accounts, but usually it is because of the security protocols of the bank or account.

Best Bookkeeper there is!

Kommentare: Bench always delivers above and beyond and i love their service.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

There are no cons at this point. I wish they started an accounting arm that tied to bench since their product is so awesome!

Ease of Use and Best Investment Ever

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

Best Web-based/Remote Bookkeeping Full-Services

Kommentare: Great experience, we've been with them for 2 years now and we will not switch to anything else!

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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.

Great bookkeeping company

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

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

Kommentare: 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.

Vorteile:

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.

Nachteile:

Nada! No complaints here! I have not experienced a single problem with the Bench software

Satisfaction Guaranteed!!!

Kommentare: So far it's been very good. I'm glad that I gave Bench a shot.

Vorteile:

The software is very user-friendly. I like how you can isolate your search to specific months or quarters or the whole year. Uploading documents is very simple. Overall using this software is a pleasant experience.

Nachteile:

Sometimes it will not pull my bank statements and I have to submit them manually.

Seamless Bookkeeping

Kommentare: My experience has been overall positive! My bookkeeper is there when I need him and always professional and friendly!

Vorteile:

Simply put, Bench took a headache away and made managing my bookkeeping easy and seamless. It also encourages me to be more aware of receivables and expenses + I really appreciate that I can check my books at any time, day or night. The overall look of the site is clean and approachable, and the interface is simple.

Nachteile:

A few times my bank accounts have come "unlinked" somehow and I've had to go back in and link them.