Bench is a bookkeeping and accounting service that connects small business owners with financial experts. You’ll connect your bank accounts to your Bench bookkeeping account and your dedicated bookkeepers will receive a read-only version of the information. The in-house Bench team then categorizes your transactions and gives you financial statements every month. Each month, your bookkeeper will import all of your business transactions and categorize them, then reconcile your bank accounts and prepare financial statements. If your bookkeeper has any questions about a particular transaction, they’ll send you an in-app message. When your bookkeeping has been completed for the month, you’ll receive a message inviting you to view your financial statements and account information online.
Bench’s Essential plan includes the preparation of a year-end financial package needed to file your taxes. To make taxes more hassle-free, you can upgrade to the Premium tier, which includes unlimited bookkeeping and tax support. Premium also has filing for sole proprietors, contractors, and businesses (S-corps, C-corps, and partnerships). If you’re unsure whether Bench Accounting is the right assisted bookkeeping service for your business, check out our list of the best online bookkeeping services for more choices. At Bench, we do your bookkeeping and tax prep for you—so you don’t have to. Instead, you’re paired with dedicated small business experts who know your business and are with you every step of the way.
Bench Accounting Pricing
If you’ve ever received an audit from the IRS, you know that it feels like a literal punch in the gut. The only feeling I can really compare it to would be playing high school football and being blindsided by a D1 commit. In a nutshell, if you use your personal accounts for business purposes, then yes, you should connect them to Bench. If you do not use your personal accounts for business, then no, you should not connect them to Bench.
As of August 2019, Bench announced BenchTax in partnership with Taxfyle[14] in order to provide tax preparation and filing for clients. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Once your bookkeeper wraps up your books every month, the information is reviewed by an in-house support bench accounting login team that ensures accuracy. Also, they never make assumptions about your business, preferring instead to reach out with any questions. Bench recently added 1099 reporting, with reports available year-round. Your 1099 transactions will be categorized with the date, details, and the payee name, making it easier to process forms.
Small Business Accounting Software That Makes Billing Painless
If Bench’s lack of accounting integrations is a concern, instead consider QuickBooks Online with QuickBooks Live full-service bookkeeping added on. In general, the QuickBooks platform is more scalable and widely used among accountants, so it could be a better solution for a rapidly growing business. The service starts at $200 per month and requires a one-time cleanup fee. QuickBooks Online is an additional monthly cost, starting at $30. For an additional fee, Bench provides overdue bookkeeping services and can finish a year’s worth of bookkeeping in about two to four weeks. This could be helpful if you’ve been behind on your books all year and tax deadlines are approaching.
To learn more, check out Nav’s accounting software resources. Using Bench is different from having a subscription to accounting software like QuickBooks Online or Xero. These products can streamline tasks like reconciling accounts and categorizing transactions, but they don’t take bookkeeping off your plate completely like Bench does.
Why do I have to connect my accounts to Bench?
We get you set up – First, we’ll introduce you to a dedicated bookkeeper. They’ll get to know your business, show you how Bench works, and gather everything they need from you. You won’t need any other software to work with Bench—we do everything within our easy-to-use platform.
- Other users said that they wished that it was possible to use the service for bill payment and invoicing.
- Each month, your bookkeeping team — made up of three in-house Bench employees — will categorize all your transactions, reconcile your bank accounts and prepare financial statements.
- Your bookkeeper will update your books accordingly on your behalf.
- Bench Accounting is an online bookkeeping service that pairs your business with dedicated in-house bookkeepers to keep your financials accurate and up to date.
- The pricing will depend on your plan and your business entity, but it’s possible to have Bench take care of your business tax filing.
- This report shows the areas of your business where you spend the most money.