Bench

Small Business Bookkeeping Servicesbench.co

Company typePrivate
Founded2011
HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
Headcount251–500
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

Bench firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Bench
Legal name: Bench Accounting, Inc.
Website: https://bench.co
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2011
Operating status: Acquired
Headcount range: 251–500 employees
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Bench industry classification

Industry

Product category: Small Business Bookkeeping Services
NAICS: Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)
SIC: Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
akta.pro primary industry: Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS) (BPACAIAB)

Keywords

Online bookkeeping services
Small business accounting
Tax preparation software
Bookkeeper subscription
Financial reporting platform

Where Bench is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: San Francisco
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Bench business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Monthly Bookkeeping Subscription: Ongoing online bookkeeping service for small business owners with a dedicated bookkeeper, automated software, and monthly financial statements. Pricing is subscription-based, likely tiered by business complexity.
Catch-Up Bookkeeping: Catch up bookkeeping services for small businesses that are behind on their books, no matter how far behind they are
Income Tax Filing and Advisory: All-in-one small business tax preparation, filing and year-round income tax advisory services
Tax Resolution Services: Expert support for small businesses to resolve IRS issues and reduce back tax liabilities, including back taxes, tax penalties, tax liens, and tax levies
Banking by Mainstreet: Dedicated business accounts, debit cards, and automated financial management tools that integrate seamlessly with bookkeeping operations

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Monthly	Monthly Bookkeeping - Core service tier

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Bench product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Bench provides monthly online bookkeeping for US small business owners by pairing a proprietary SaaS platform (automated transaction categorization, financial reporting, document organization, account automation, and notifications) with a dedicated human bookkeeper. The offering extends to catch-up bookkeeping, income tax filing and advisory, tax resolution, and business banking through Banking by Mainstreet, with integrations to Stripe, Shopify, Square, Gusto, Bluevine, and Relay.

Product overview

Bench is a US-based online bookkeeping and financial services company offering a hybrid platform-plus-human-support model. The core offering is Monthly Bookkeeping, which combines intuitive software with real professional human bookkeepers. Additional services include Catch Up Bookkeeping for businesses behind on their books, Income Tax Filing and Advisory, Tax Resolution services, and Banking by Bench (business accounts and debit cards with integrated financial management). The platform provides features including communication tools, document organization, automation, transaction categorization, financial reporting, and notifications. Bench also offers a suite of free financial calculators and an accountant partner program. The company is now owned by Employer.com, positioning itself as part of a comprehensive business operating system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Monthly Bookkeeping Ongoing online bookkeeping service for small business owners that pairs automated software with a dedicated human bookkeeper to deliver monthly financial statements, transaction categorization, expense tracking, and year-round financial visibility.
Catch Up Bookkeeping Project-based bookkeeping service that brings a small business current on its financial records, regardless of how many months or years it is behind, including back tax liabilities handling.
Income Tax Filing and Advisory Small business tax preparation, filing, and year-round income tax advisory service for owners who want integrated bookkeeping and tax support from a single provider.
Tax Resolution Professional service helping small businesses resolve IRS issues and reduce back tax liabilities, covering back taxes, tax penalties, tax liens, and tax levies.
Banking by Bench (Banking by Mainstreet) Business banking offering providing dedicated business accounts, debit cards, and automated financial management tools that integrate directly with Bench's bookkeeping operations for small businesses.

Quantifiable outcome

1M+ months of completed books
+3 more outcomes

Companies that use Bench

Customer profile

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Bench technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Bench partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

GustocoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partner providing payroll data connectivity. Gusto is a popular HR and payroll platform for small businesses, and the partnership allows seamless data flow between Gusto payroll and Bench bookkeeping.
RelaycoreTechnology or IntegrationBanking integration partner providing automated bank connections for transaction reconciliation. Relay is a business banking platform that integrates with Bench's bookkeeping system.
BluevinecoreTechnology or IntegrationBanking and lending integration partner. Bluevine provides business banking services that connect with Bench for synchronized financial data and automated bookkeeping.
ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform integration partner. Shopify store data flows into Bench for automatic transaction categorization and sales tracking for ecommerce businesses.
SquarecoreTechnology or IntegrationPoint-of-sale and payment integration partner. Square's transaction data automatically syncs with Bench bookkeeping for retail and service businesses using Square for payments.
StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe App Marketplace integration. Bench's income statement is accessible directly within the Stripe dashboard, providing ecommerce businesses with seamless financial reporting.
Employer.comflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmployer.com acquired Bench's assets after Bench Accounting, Inc. became insolvent on December 27, 2024. Under Employer.com ownership, Bench continues operating as a bookkeeping service for small businesses, now part of a broader business operating system including payroll, compliance, and HR services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Bench competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Pilot: Pilot provides outsourced bookkeeping, tax and CFO services for SMBs and startups using a hybrid software-plus-human model nearly identical to Bench's core offering, making it the closest head-to-head competitor.
Botkeeper: Botkeeper combines AI-driven bookkeeping automation with human accountants for SMBs and accounting firms, directly competing with Bench on the hybrid-software-plus-human value proposition.
1-800Accountant: 1-800Accountant delivers outsourced bookkeeping, tax and advisory services to SMBs via a virtual CPA/bookkeeper model, competing for the same small business segment Bench targets.
inDinero: inDinero offers outsourced bookkeeping, tax and CFO services for small and mid-market businesses with a software-plus-advisor delivery model highly comparable to Bench.
Kruze Consulting: Kruze Consulting provides bookkeeping, tax and CFO services primarily to venture-backed startups and SMBs, overlapping directly with Bench's customer base and service mix.

Broad incumbents

Intuit QuickBooks Live: Intuit's QuickBooks Live bundles human bookkeepers with QuickBooks software for SMBs, giving Intuit a vast distribution and pricing advantage versus Bench in the same hybrid-bookkeeping category.
Xero: Xero is a global cloud accounting platform for SMBs with an ecosystem of bookkeeper partners; it overlaps with Bench's SMB accounting and bookkeeping workflow at broader scale.
FreshBooks: FreshBooks is a long-standing SMB-focused accounting and invoicing platform with optional human-assisted bookkeeping services, competing for Bench's small business segment.
Wave Financial: Wave (a H&R Block product) offers free accounting, invoicing and payroll to very small businesses, competing with Bench at the low end of the SMB bookkeeping market on price.
Sage: Sage is a global incumbent in SMB accounting software (Sage Business Cloud Accounting / Sage Intacct) and was also a Bench investor; it competes broadly in the same SMB bookkeeping category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Bench compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance2 records

Bench financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Bench leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Bench funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors18 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Bench M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bench

What does Bench do?

Is Bench a public or private company?

Bench is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.

When was Bench founded?

Bench was founded in 2011. It employs 251 to 500 people.

Where is Bench based?

Bench is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.

How does Bench make money?

Five revenue lines are on record. Monthly Bookkeeping Subscription is the primary driver. The others are catch-Up Bookkeeping, income Tax Filing and Advisory, tax Resolution Services and banking by Mainstreet.

Who are Bench's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Pilot, Botkeeper, 1-800Accountant, inDinero and Kruze Consulting. Broad incumbents are Intuit QuickBooks Live, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave Financial and Sage.

Does Bench have an API?

No public API is recorded for Bench.

What industry is Bench in?

Bench's product category is Small Business Bookkeeping Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAIAB, Payroll Software & Payroll-as-a-Service (SaaS). Its NAICS code is 54121 and its SIC code is 8742.