Bench Accounting Office Interiors

This feature helps you easily identify areas where you’re spending a little unnecessarily, which can help you save. Anyway, the major advantage of uploading all this financial data to an online platform is how easily you can access monthly reports, financials and review items. For instance, you can check a bank statement at any time via the platform. This feature comes in handy while mulling over numbers before heading into a meeting.

Pulse lets clients manage their cash and spending by showing them real-time financial reports that combine data from all of their institutions in one dashboard. OpenDigits offers three plans based on monthly expenses, starting at $305/month and going up to $725 per month. All plans include accrual-basis bookkeeping, monthly financial statements, and a dedicated in-house accountant to manage your account. Bench is a great choice if you don’t have the time or experience to balance your books. However, Bench only provides basic bookkeeping and tax services.

This is because monthly expenses are a good indicator of your bookkeeping needs and how complex your financial situation is. Price is always a consideration for business owners—even those with plenty of investor cash burning a hole in their pocket. However, it’s important to keep in mind what you’re getting for the price you pay and whether the service aligns with your business needs. As mentioned previously, there’s more to running a business than just taking care of the bookkeeping. This means you’re probably using other types of software that you’ll want to integrate with your bookkeeping software so that all of your financial information is in one place. Because OpenDigits uses industry-leading software solutions, connecting all your different platforms is a breeze.

Bench Bookkeeping Review : Is Bench Co Right For Your Business?

If you track inventory, you can tag transactions by product type, which will help you identify which inventory to invest in. Bench Accounting offers two plans, Essential and Premium, which cost $299 per month and $499 per month, respectively. Both plans include monthly bookkeeping and year-end reporting, but Premium gives you more features, like unlimited tax advisory services and federal and state income tax filings. If you require complex accounting, such as segment tracking, invoicing (A/R), and bill payment (A/P), you need to purchase the Specialized Accounting add-on starting at $100 per month. Small business accounting software has made it easier than ever to manage your financials. However, as your business grows, tackling the books can become more of a burden. For other small business owners, learning accounting or bookkeeping software just doesn’t fit into the schedule.

• If you’re wondering specifically how Bench and QuickBooks compare to one another, we’re here to help.
• However, bookkeepers cannot legally provide tax or financial advice – this is the job of a CPA or attorney.
• Such a setup can be daunting for some because let’s face it – nobody likes sharing their financial information with anyone.
• Connect your app with FreshBooks to provide your customers with additional functionality.
• The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

At tax time, they will send a year-end financial package with all the information you need to prepare your tax return. You can sign up for the Premium plan and Bench will prepare the tax return for you. Upon enrollment, you’ll be paired with your own dedicated bookkeeper.

Pricing: Bench Vs Opendigits

Because the company focuses solely on bookkeeping and tax filing, they handle all business transactions, ledgers, and financial statements. It is a simple solution because organizations can leave the work largely to Bench. This is a tough question to answer because so much depends on the individual business and owner. In general, if what you need is cash basis financials and receipt management so you can file your taxes, Bench offers the right service at a great price. There are two packages to choose from depending if you’d like help with your taxes or not. If your business requires specialized bookkeeping — such as tracking accounts payable and receivable — there’s an add on starting at only $100 per month. Cash-basis bookkeeping makes sense if you’re not planning to grow, don’t need accounts payable/receivable, or have extremely simple transactions.

Bench is secured using 256-bit SSL/TLS encryption to protect your data. Additionally, all Bench professionals complete a background check and are rigorously vetted to ensure safety and professionalism.

Expert Bookkeepers Available For Support & Customer Service

He most recently spent two years as the accountant at a commercial roofing company utilizing QuickBooks Desktop to compile financials, job cost, and run payroll. Get real-time cash flow updates and connect with your bookkeeper with Bench for iPhone—the companion app to North America’s largest bookkeeping service. For an additional fee, Bench provides overdue bookkeeping services. It can finish a year’s worth of bookkeeping in two to four weeks. This could be helpful if you’ve been behind on your books all year and tax deadlines are approaching. This includes monthly bookkeeping, a dedicated bookkeeping team, year-end tax-ready financial statements and unlimited communication with Bench’s in-house research team. It is a manual accounting software, so there is more work required to make it work.

You can also speak to Bench about its specialized accounting add-on, which records accrual adjustments. You can also contact Bench to learn more about other solutions, such as Bench Core, Bench Flex, and Bench Pro. These solutions may include additional features, such as a business bank account, business debit card, and support for multiple locations. You can book a call with your bookkeeper or send them an in-app message directly through the Bench app. Whether you’d like a tax season review call or a monthly check-in, they can assist you. There’s no extra fee or hourly charges for support, and you’re welcome to reach out to them whenever you have a question.

Hardware & Software Requirements

Not an all-in-one type solution for Enterprises in need of accounting functionality as well as ERP, CRM, etc. Online apps tremendously improve visibility and increase ease of access. You can check Bench so long as you have an internet connection. You’ve got a million and one other things you’d rather be doing, but instead your flicking through ledgers and zipping through excel files. You can’t find your pen and your beginning to tear chunks of hair from your skull in desperation. Bench gives you a bookkeeper that’s as mobile as you are, ready to handle every annoying detail for you.

Accrual-basis bookkeeping generally provides the most accurate picture of income and expenses because it keeps track of all financial transactions, even when money hasn’t changed hands yet. Accrual-basis bookkeeping is particularly important for startups as it is preferred by most investors. In contrast, although Bench allows you to connect merchant processing accounts and recommends a partner network for financial tools, they do not offer any direct integration options. Additionally, with four different plan levels, QuickBooks is highly scalable, allowing you to grow with your accounting software and upgrade your plan when your needs change. With the higher level plans, QuickBooks Online includes advanced capabilities like inventory tracking, job costing, bill pay, and more. With Bench, however, your monthly price will be $249 per month with the Core plan . Although this is slightly higher than the cost of QuickBooks, this plan also includes your business tax filings , as well as a free business bank account.

Bench Co Pricing

Pricing continues to a $32/month and $62/month tier, both of which offer additional features. The $32/month tier is useful for most small businesses, while the $62/month tier is valuable for multi-currency or larger companies. Each month, Bench will download your bank, credit card, and other statements from online banking, provided online banking is available. Bench can also log into apps such as Gusto and PayPal on your behalf to download data on their own if you provide access.

You need to have a solution in place to handle more sophisticated bookkeeping such as locations, classes, and inventory. Depending on your business’ needs, you may also benefit from the advice and expertise from CFO services. If you start with cash-basis and switch when you get larger, it’s a hassle to file paperwork with the IRS. And most businesses will have to do this at some point as they grow. Some businesses are even required to use accrual-basisby the IRS.

It has an intuitive layout and delivers financial information in easy-to-understand charts and visuals. Pilot is not a public accounting firm and does not provide services that would require a license to practice public accountancy. Pilot also offers pre-revenue companies $200/mo off their Core or Select plan in their first year. Accrual-basis, on the other hand, recognizes revenues and expenses when they’re incurred. If you send an invoice due in 30 days, that revenue is recorded when you send the invoice (instead of when it’s paid).

If you need to get in touch with your bookkeeper or tax professional, you can either schedule a phone call or send a message via the app. Usually, you will be able to call within a day, and in-app messages sent during hours of operation usually receive a response within a matter of minutes. Bench uses a proprietary software that is user friendly, even for those that are not computer savvy or financially literate.

The bookkeeping team is what makes Bench different from automated online bookkeeping software. With traditional online services users have to log in, set up, and manage their own accounts – Bench bookkeepers will do all this for you. Bench is a fintech company that automates accounting tasks to organize the financials of small businesses. Bench is a fintech company that provides online bookkeeping services for small businesses. When your bookkeeping is done for the month, you’ll receive a message.

Adam Saint and Pavel Rodionov joined Crosby and Menashy as co-founders in 2012. They were accepted into the startup accelerator program Techstars NYC in 2012 and by July 2013, they had raised $2 million in seed capital and settled on the official name, Bench. Bench Accounting, is a fintech company that automates accounting tasks to organize the financials of small businesses, independent contractors, and entrepreneurs. However, with Bench’s proprietary software, integrations are only supported for specific platforms such as Strip and Gusto payroll. This means that while some integrations are possible, your options are far more limited. On the other hand, accrual-basis bookkeeping recognizes revenues and expenses when they’re incurred. That means that revenue is recorded when its earned and expenses are recorded when they are billed .

How Can I Get In Touch With My Bookkeeper?

Xero is scalable from the start, with unlimited team members and integration with hundreds of other apps. Bench suits freelancers and self-employed people with its various subscription packages.

Xero also offers multi-currency accounting in more than 160 currencies for companies operating multi-nationally. As a cloud-based service, Xero does not require any downloads or installations to run. It offers both desktop and mobile versions, all on a web-based platform. Whether your business uses iOS or Android operating systems, users should be able to access Xero readily. Your Bench bookkeeper can’t help you with tasks such as filing 1099s or renewing a business tax license. However, Bench will track and produce a 1099 report at no extra cost which you can use to file your 1099s.

• During this call, your bookkeeper will also link your bank accounts, merchant accounts, and credit card accounts with the Bench bookkeeping software.
• Two of the most useful general purpose financial statements – the income statement and balance sheet – have their own dedicated tabs.
• Bench is vague regarding whether you pay extra for accrual accounting, but it does state that in some cases they will develop a modified bookkeeping plan if you require it.
• If you neglected your books for up to two years, you can add Historical bookkeeping to any standard Bench plan.
• We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.

If you feel like they haven’t asked you something important, be sure to bring it up yourself. Also, this individual should also provide you with a quick tour of Bench and its accounting software. Their preferred payroll service is Gusto, which will integrate with Bench’s proprietary software, and with the popular accounting software QuickBooks bench accounting and Xero . For this reason, Bench now has their own licenced tax professionals. When you enroll in the Bench Premium service, you’ll gain year-round access to tax professionals that will answer your tax-related questions. You’ll also have a dedicated Tax Coordinator responsible for tracking down forms and organizing documentation.

You’re tired of losing an hour each week tending to the books yourself, or outsourcing it to a bookkeeper who still insists you send him boxes of receipts. If you’re looking for access to a straightforward software system with a team of professionals to handle your monthly bookkeeping, Bench is probably better-suited for your business.

Bench only handles some aspects of bookkeeping and financials, so it may not be robust enough for organizations with more complex needs. While you can pair Xero and a strong outsourced accounting firm, there is a limit to the type of work – especially accrual-based transactions – that can be managed in Bench. Price-wise Bench is more expensive than Xero but offers more services. Bench is more like hiring a team of professionals, while Xero is more like paying for the platform itself. Depending on your needs, one may suit your budget better than another. We help small business owners and entrepreneurs master their financial lives, and we do it by pairing intuitive software with real, human bookkeepers. If you’ve been doing your books in another accounting system, you can’t import the individual transactions into Bench.

Every team has figured out their own way to stay connected with each other through what can only be described as a tumultuous year. That may seem like a small difference, but the software your books live in can make a big difference, for a few reasons. Jumping in feet first, we immediately began to immerse ourselves in all things Bench. The results are a space that is as agile as they are, reflecting their values and harnessing their entrepreneurial spirit. The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation. Fit Small Business content and reviews are editorially independent.

However, bookkeepers cannot legally provide tax or financial advice – this is the job of a CPA or attorney. Each Bench plan provides the same level and standard of bookkeeping.

Author: Edward Mendlowitz