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Bench accounting services shutting down

bench.co

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Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#291

Post by cj »

SoftTalker wrote: post #287
cj wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you’re right, although cash basis would only fly under GAAP if you earn revenue at the time of cash receipt. In other words, anyone collecting money for services not immediately rendered (any subscription service) should be accrual

I don't think cash basis precludes having a liability on the books for un-delivered services. It just means you recognize the revenue when the payment is received. Lots of small companies use cash basis because it's simpler and easier to understand. IANAA.

I thought by definition you never have any revenue liability on the books (no unearned revenue) with cash basis because you’re recognizing the revenue on the date the cash is received. Nothing is deferred therefore no liability.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#292

Post by BehindBlueEyes »

jnwatson wrote: post #227
thayne wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems unlikely they didn't know they were going down until just a few days before having to shut down services. And given that this happens during the holidays, ot wouldn't surprise me if some customers don't find out about this until after the window to extract your data has expired. Or people have to work on fixing this mess who were supposed to be on PTO.

It is irony of all ironies that an accounting services company would be surprised about their own insolvency. In reality, they had to have known for months. The director were probably just holding out for a Hail Mary funding injection. This is bad bad business, especially for a financial services company.

For sure staff was surprised, leadership not so much (I'd hope) but bear in mind the CEO was replaced just ~a month ago.

I bet they were hoping for a christmas miracle.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#293

Post by Dylan16807 »

jrflowers wrote: post #288
bdangubic wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> if your life is so empty you have to talk about elon you need to re-evaluate your life choices This post, that you’ve typed up and posted online, for all to see, is about your opinion of Elon Musk

It is not.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#294

Post by jrflowers »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #293
jrflowers wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if your life is so empty you have to talk about elon you need to re-evaluate your life choices This post, that you’ve typed up and posted online, for all to see, is about your opinion of Elon Musk

It is not.

Yes it is. If they had written “if you’re posting about hamburgers you need to reevaluate your life” that would be a post expressing their opinion about hamburgers.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#295

Post by bdangubic »

jrflowers wrote: post #288
bdangubic wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> if your life is so empty you have to talk about elon you need to re-evaluate your life choices This post, that you’ve typed up and posted online, for all to see, is about your opinion of Elon Musk

obsession with elon is real… :)

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#296

Post by jrflowers »

bdangubic wrote: post #295
jrflowers wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if your life is so empty you have to talk about elon you need to re-evaluate your life choices This post, that you’ve typed up and posted online, for all to see, is about your opinion of Elon Musk

obsession with elon is real… :)

This post too

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#297

Post by bruce511 »

yolo2122 wrote: post #206
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully you'll get an answer from Conrad, but the landing page does not mention the shutdown, so I would point out when I was comparison shopping something else recently, their website had dedicated pages to why you should choose them over each major competitor, and a switching discount is also not uncommon. It's entirely possible this landing page is Kick's competitive offer, and Bench linked to it because it offe…

Good point! I like what I see so far in Kick. It's just given the level of pain Bench has just caused me, my businesses, and a couple very unlucky employees in my office + the financial cost = I have to make super duper sure Kick is not related to/involved with Bench in any way shape or form. If they asked Kick to be listed as an alternative in the closure email or asked them to do a discount nbd I have no issue ther…

I am not related to any of the parties in this dolce, but I did discontinue a product once.

On the shutdown page I listed some alternatives people could try. I found them via Google, but i didn't first try them or talk to them.

They were really just a helpful hint for folk wanting to change to get started. (The thing I was killing was a product not a service so it wasn't going to actually stop working, it was just no longer being updated.)

So, in this case, a simple statement of fact (as above) would be good enough for me. But feel free to do your due diligence.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#298

Post by jwsteigerwalt »

SoftTalker wrote: post #287
cj wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you’re right, although cash basis would only fly under GAAP if you earn revenue at the time of cash receipt. In other words, anyone collecting money for services not immediately rendered (any subscription service) should be accrual

I don't think cash basis precludes having a liability on the books for un-delivered services. It just means you recognize the revenue when the payment is received. Lots of small companies use cash basis because it's simpler and easier to understand. IANAA.

That’s right. Financial accounting and taxation are not the same thing. Even if you are taxed on a cash basis, it’s prudent to manage your business with appropriate revenue deferrals.

Re: Bench accounting services shutting down

#299

Post by propter_hoc »

iwcrosby wrote: post #231
ttul wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I advise caution in believing his statements to be true, particularly about Bench’s board and investors. The truth will live in their financial statements, which no doubt will be revealed in bankruptcy proceedings in the coming months.

Ian Crosby here. If you don't believe me, believe the CEO of Shopify who was an investor and partner: https://x.com/tobi/status/1872753436116332994

[flagged]
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