Bench

Opmerkingen: I started my graphic design studio in 2005 managing our books through a part-time bookkeeper who'd come in 1-2x a month and we'd then communicate a few times every week.. This system got us through the first 8 years of our business. Though functional, it was a time-consuming process. We used Quickbooks at the time, and I could never get comfortable using it to manage or understand our business's numbers even though our bookkeeper was serving it on a silver platter essentially. I've always felt Quickbooks was made for accountants, not business owners or individuals. Once can argue, it's supposed to be "accounting made easy", but it's really designed with accounting in mind — not business owners. As a business owner I wanted to quickly understand cashflow and profitability. Whereas Quickbooks seemed to that and much more, it seemed like I was doing my taxes every time I went in there. So I started looking for options and that's when I found Bench. And Bench, even back then, had already provided a service ideal for a small business owner like me. I've been using Bench since 2013 now, and I can't imagine running my business without them. It's allowed me to focus on my clients and design work which are revenue generating tasks, instead of accounting which was an anxiety-generating task.

Pluspunten: 1) Uncomplicated Interface — For a non-numbers/non-accounting comfortable individual it's great. It provides me access and understanding to our accounting in a very digestible yet informative manner. 2) Accessible Customer Service/Communications — All the interactions I've had have been professional, courteous, and problem solving driven. It's never "No". Instead if a challenge arises, they've always been proactive in finding a way to address the challenge or question providing options. It's also especially great that you can speak with them or chat with them with no barriers. At first I was very concerned about this since our books are the heartbeat of our financials, and i was quickly at ease after the first few calls and chats. 3) Easy — Once our accounts were synced and Bench had a clear picture of how our business worked, it's set-it-and-forget-it. What used to required a few hours every week for me now has become an hour or two a month. 4) Transaction Verification Made Easy — I especially love how they've simplified this process to almost a game.

Minpunten: 1) Cash based bookkeeping. This was a struggle in the beginning since we were accrual based initially. However upon working with them and our CPA, we've managed to stay accrual based and set up a system where we do adjusted entries after filing taxes. 2) Not Quickbooks. This is not really a con, but should make it clear that if you prefer to stay on Quickbooks, this is not the service for you. They will provide your books as spreadsheets for your CPA to work with. At first I was nervous about this, but it hasn't been an issue. 3) Turnover with bookkeepers — Over the years, we've had I believe 5 different bookkeepers over the course of 6 years due to turnover or what seems to be internal promotions. It has not negatively impacted our service, but I do wish it was less frequent since at times I'd have to remind the new person some of the subtleties of our account.

Opmerkingen: Bench executives should develop the bookkeeping platform further to include items that allow the end user to have a total experience. I understand that the goal is to lead bookkeeping into full tech. However, I feel that users want some form of one-on-one service where they are able to meet and greet their bookkeeping expert. What I have experienced with Bench thus far are a series of glitches when adding accounts, not being able to delete accounts, and occasionally having to repeat myself when discussing issues with numerous customer support staff members that are not apart of my bookkeeping team. I feel that by establishing a video conferencing feature to the dashboard, it would be a brilliant opportunity for us, end users, to get to know their experts and to limit any inconsistencies while providing a more personal experience.

Pluspunten: Bench has done a great job of placing most items one would require into a dashboard that makes the bookkeeping experience simple. Customer service at Bench is by far the best in the market! Staff at the company truly believe in the product and provide the end user with an exceptional experience each and every call.

Minpunten: Platform errors and the lack of additional features.