Benchvs
Pilot
Pilot: Virtual bookkeeping service with dedicated bookkeepers and cloud-based software, competing on hands-on bookkeeping and tax preparation.
Bench
America's largest bookkeeping service for small businesses
As of 30 August 2026, Bench starts at $299/month. Bench combines bookkeeping software with real human bookkeepers to deliver accurate monthly financial statements and year-end tax-ready financials. Softwr lists it under Accounting. Bench is made by Bench Accounting Inc, launched in 2012, available on Web, iOS, Android.
Overview
What Bench does
Bench combines bookkeeping software with real human bookkeepers to deliver accurate monthly financial statements and year-end tax-ready financials.
What people use it for
- Bookkeeping outsourcing
- Tax preparation
- Financial reporting
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Bench.
- Recent bankruptcy and acquisition by Employer.com creates uncertainty about product roadmap and support continuity
- Higher starting cost at $299/month compared to self-service accounting software like Wave or QuickBooks Online
- Requires manual connection of financial accounts and ongoing coordination with bookkeeping team, less automated than software-first solutions
- Tax services limited to US income tax returns; no support for complex entity structures or multi-state taxation
- History of burning through capital rapidly, raising concerns about long-term business sustainability
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Bench
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- BenchvsQuickBooks
QuickBooks: Leading small business accounting software with automated bookkeeping features and tax filing integrations.
- BenchvsWave
Wave: Free accounting software with invoicing and financial reporting, competing on cost-free entry point for small businesses.
- BenchvsZoho Books
Zoho Books: Cloud accounting software with automated bookkeeping and tax features, competing on comprehensive accounting capabilities.
- BenchvsGusto
Gusto: Payroll and HR platform with bookkeeping integrations, competing on integrated payroll and bookkeeping workflows.
Capabilities
Features
Dedicated bookkeeper
Monthly financial statements
Bank reconciliation
Tax preparation
Expense categorization
Stripe
Integration with Stripe
PayPal
Integration with PayPal
Square
Integration with Square
SOC 2
SOC 2 security feature
Bank-level encryption
Bank-level encryption security feature
Web support
Available on web
Ios support
Available on ios
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
What happened to Bench Accounting?
Bench shut down abruptly on December 27, 2024, filing for bankruptcy in Canada with $65 million in debt. The company was acquired by Employer.com on December 30, 2024, and resumed operations in January 2025 under new ownership.
SourceWhat are Bench's current pricing plans?
Bench offers Bookkeeping at $299/month (billed annually) and Bookkeeping + Tax at $599/month (billed annually). Both include automated bookkeeping, real-time financial statements, and a dedicated team of bookkeepers.
SourceDoes Bench include tax preparation services?
The Bookkeeping plan includes monthly bookkeeping and year-end tax-ready financial statements. The Bookkeeping + Tax plan adds one-on-one income tax consulting and annual income tax return filing.
SourceHow does Bench's bookkeeping work?
Bench combines proprietary software with human bookkeepers. You connect your financial accounts to automate data entry, and Bench's team handles bookkeeping and provides year-end tax-ready statements. Customers can reach their dedicated team within 24 hours.
SourceCan I access real-time financial data with Bench?
Yes, Bench provides real-time reporting, allowing you to access or download updated income statements and balance sheets at any time.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Bench
- Company
- Bench Accounting Inc
- Based in
- Vancouver, Canada
- Founders
- Ian Crosby, Jordan Menashy, Adam Saint, Pavel Rodionov
Timeline
Bench over time
Keep looking
Where to go from Bench
- Bench alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Bench pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Bench badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Accounting softwareThe full category
- Best Accounting softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Accounting software for
Compare Bench with
- QuickBooks
- Zoho Books
- Invoice2go
- Invoicely
- Invoicera
- Sage 50
- Avalara
- TaxJar
- Bill.com
- Basware
- Lago
- Lexware
- Stampli
- Tipalti
- Orb
- Paddle
- Bill.com
- Basware
Other Accounting software
Cloud accounting from Intuit with country specific editions, seat caps by plan and payroll charged separately
From $30/mo16 researched notesSimple, smart accounting software for growing businesses
Free, then $20/mo12 researched notesWeb-based invoicing app with a free plan for freelancers
Free, then $9.99/mo9 researched notesOnline invoicing and billing platform for multi-entity businesses
From $50/mo9 researched notesWindows desktop accounting with the ledger held in a local data file rather than in a browser
From $29/mo15 researched notesInvoice automation and e-invoicing compliance across a large number of national mandates
Pricing on request12 researched notesAccounting and invoicing software for German small businesses and freelancers
Free, then €3.95/mo10 researched notesRevenue design platform automating usage-based billing and pricing strategy
Pricing on request11 researched notesInvoice automation and e-invoicing compliance across a large number of national mandates
Pricing on request12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Bench, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Bench
Bench alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Bench pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
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