Canada-based online bookkeeping and tax filing platform Bench Accounting shut down its services and operations on Friday (December 27th).
“We regret to inform you that we are shutting down Bench services,” the company said in a notice of service closure on its website. “Since December 27th2024, the Bench platform will no longer be accessible.
Bench’s bookkeeping services and tax advisory platform has more than 12,000 small business customers, according to a press release which was issued by the Bench in September.
When announcing a Series B-1 funding round in 2018, the company said it aims to help small business owners and accountants build and grow their companies.
In its announcement on Friday, the Bench said customers will receive information on how to access their Bench records on Monday (December 30) and that it suggests that customers contact a modern accounting software provider kick for their bookkeeping support.
“We know this news is sudden and will cause disruption to our customers, so we are committed to helping them navigate the transition,” Bench said in the announcement.
The announcement includes a CONNECT on a Kick web page describing services to help customers migrate from Bench to Kick, including a free Bench migration, daily live Q&As and a free 2024 bookkeeping review . With the code “BENCH,” customers can get a 20% discount on the Kick Plus Plan and free Bench migration.
Kick founder Conrad Wadowski written on a friday post on LinkedIn Kick is moving quickly to offer these services so Bench customers don’t have to start from scratch and so Kick can “put your finances back in your hands.”
“You may have just heard that the Bench is suddenly closing,” Wadowski wrote in the post. “If you are a customer, I can’t imagine the disappointment you are going through. Paying for a service and not getting what you expect, especially when arriving at your taxes, no joke.”
Wadowski wrote a Oct. 17 blog post that Kick raised $9 million in a seed round with participation from OpenAI Startup Fund and General Catalyst.
He added in the post that about a year after launching in September 2023, Kick is serving more than 1,000 businesses and has seen 50% monthly growth in the last three months.
kick ORGANIZED for entrepreneurs and the accounting and bookkeeping firms that support themWadowski wrote.
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