Bench Accounting Shutdown – What Next?

I was shocked and sorry to hear about Bench Accounting shutting down today, but I can’t say I’m particularly surprised. They are not the only company who has attempted to “mass produce” small business bookkeeping. They are also not the first of them to fail in the past decade.

Truly automated bookkeeping – Does it exist?

Eventually, AI and automated solutions might be able to replace good bookkeepers, but that is many years away. I have talked to other accountants who have used offshore teams as a way to allay labor costs. Most of those efforts fail as well. There really is no substitute for having a personal relationship with a skilled bookkeeper. Quickbooks Live, owned by Intuit, is the true giant in the industry. You would expect to be able to provide decent bookkeeping in Quickbooks Online, their own software. Unfortunately, Quickbooks Live is a joke among bookkeeping professionals! At the Intuit conference last October, I swapped horror stories with other accountants about clients we “rescued” from Quickbooks Live.

Right now, I just don’t believe that there is a way to mass-produce one-size-fits-all, quality bookkeeping. At least not at a price that small business owners can afford and that covers the true cost of the accounting service. Every business is just too different.

I’ve looked at the offer from Kick, and while it doesn’t look bad, I can promise you that the AI currently available is not up to the task of fully automating your bookkeeping. Also, you would just be going from one tech startup to another.

What’s the Alternative?

Here’s what I recommend: let Backyard Bookkeeper help get you set up for success, in a way that doesn’t leave you at risk all over again. Here is what we can offer:

1. We can set you up on a QBO subscription with a lifetime discount of 10% off current retail price. The lowest subscription, which is appropriate for many small businesses who don’t need to invoice, is just $15/month.
2. You will own your own data. You can find a local bookkeeper, use our services, or do it yourself. If you use Backyard Bookkeeper for a while and then decide to move on, you get to keep your data.
3. We can help you transfer all of your transactions over so you don’t lose your financial history and can continue reporting smoothly from 2024 into 2025.
4. We can give you a quote for bookkeeping services, tailored to your needs. QBO is the industry standard for small business, and integrates with almost everything you might need. Our bookkeeping packages start at just $200/month, and we never offshore or outsource any of your data.
5. If you just want to take care of things yourself for a while, we can also just do your first reconciliation and set things up optimally in the new software, and then provide you basic training on how to use it yourself. You can always reach back out to us later if you need us.

If this sounds like something that would help you, please fill out the information request form below, and someone from the Backyard Bookkeeper team will be in touch!