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Bench accounting services shutting down
181–190 of 399 posts
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#182Bench was a terrible service in my experience. I used it for one of my startups a few years ago. I personally invested a lot into said start-up. I checked my books and everything seemed ok. Eventually I found that they had hidden my Gusto payroll line items from view and they were no longer taken into consideration in my books. This led to a $300k shortfall from where I thought I was vs reality. Their team just shrug…
How could this kind of ‘hiding’ comply with GAAP standards in any scenario? What sort of accounting books were being prepared where such a function is even needed?
When I was using Bench, they were only doing cash accounting (not GAAP). We had to switch to a different service when we switched over to accrual accounting.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't "you have to pay even if we don't deliver the product you're buying" be considered unconscionable?
I’m guessing Capchase is a financier of sorts. Capchase pays Bench for the full term up front, then the customer pays Capchase in monthly increments. So Capchase is delivering their product, the financing. Which is why there would be a clause that the customer still owes Capchase even if Bench closes; Capchase has already paid Bench and wants to be made whole.
This is how I read it as well. I hope OP got a significant discount on Bench service in exchange for this kind of agreement.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#184I've heard they claimed to have SOC 2 security compliance, but refused to prove it (show the SOC2 report to customers) -- that's really fishy.
They had that cert for the last ~3 years and were audited yearly and had a standard package to share with clients so doubt there's much to this rumor
Nope, just confirmed, they refused to share SOC2 Report with their paying customers.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#185Bench was a terrible service in my experience. I used it for one of my startups a few years ago. I personally invested a lot into said start-up. I checked my books and everything seemed ok. Eventually I found that they had hidden my Gusto payroll line items from view and they were no longer taken into consideration in my books. This led to a $300k shortfall from where I thought I was vs reality. Their team just shrug…
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Generally good advice in general, $10-20k is nothing to even a small business but is probably a lot to you. It's not often an asymmetry works out in the employees favor.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#186Hey everybody -- I'm the founder and CEO of Afino. We offer all of the same services as Bench and ready to help any founder affected by this sudden shutdown. Check out our services on our site (www.afino.ai) and book a priority meeting to talk to me and my team ( https://app.reclaim.ai/m/afino/priority-intro )
Awesome. Since you're here, could you share pricing? I know it may vary, but since you are offering to bring on Bench customers perhaps you could share pricing for similar service as Bench's offerings?
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#187What are the best alternatives?
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Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#188Shocking, but not terribly surprising from a business perspective... From everyone I know who's worked there, the operation was just a thinly veiled wrapper around human accountants. The plan for profitability was that they'd eventually automate the human part away, but eventually never came. My condolences to the employees who now have a stressful new year.
> The plan for profitability was that they'd eventually automate the human part away, but eventually never came.
Every. Damn. Time. I've fought and lost this battle at so many companies with directors and executives who were genuinely completely delusional about how much of a human process could be automated.
It's always the tasks that are easy and don't take up much time. If you end up solving one of the genuinely hard problems then you should just pivot to packaging and selling that as your business.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#189If you’re a tech startup and previously used Bench, I’d strongly encourage you to check out Pilot.com - we work with literally thousands of startups. (Disclaimer: I’m one of the founders.)
Genuine question: why did you raise $100 million Series C for a bookkeeping company? I'm a Pilot customer, and my heart dropped when I saw your funding announcement on the homepage a while back.
Re: Bench accounting services shutting down
#190If you’re a tech startup and previously used Bench, I’d strongly encourage you to check out Pilot.com - we work with literally thousands of startups. (Disclaimer: I’m one of the founders.)
let’s hear your metrics on the issues of timeliness, accuracy, cost and bookkeeper churn that Bench faced?