Home Fintech Bench shuts down, leaving thousands of businesses without access to accounting and tax docs

Bench shuts down, leaving thousands of businesses without access to accounting and tax docs

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Cropped shot of young Asian woman handling personal banking and finance with laptop at home

Bench, a Canada-based accounting startup that provided software-as-a-service for small and medium-sized companies, has abruptly shut down, based on a discover posted on its web site.  

“We remorse to tell you that as of December 27, 2024, the Bench platform will now not be accessible,” the discover reads. “We all know this information is abrupt and will trigger disruption, so we’re dedicated to serving to Bench clients navigate by means of the transition.”

The corporate’s total web site is at the moment offline apart from the discover, leaving hundreds of companies within the lurch. Bench touted having greater than 35,000 U.S. clients simply hours earlier than it was shut down, based on a snapshot saved by the Web Archive.

Bench, which had raised $113 million from high-profile backers equivalent to Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures, developed a software program platform to assist clients retailer and handle their bookkeeping and tax reporting paperwork. 

The transfer is a shock to present and former clients. Justin Metros, the co-founder and CTO of Radiator, stated years of his firm’s accounting and tax paperwork are nonetheless saved on the location, though he now not makes use of the platform. He realized concerning the shutdown from Fintech. 

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“I’ve by no means seen anybody simply shut down like that,” Metros stated. “That’s loopy.” 

Others are airing their issues on social media, with one posting, “as a buyer, I’m pissed,” having simply migrated from QuickBooks to Bench.

Bench’s discover says its clients ought to file a six-month extension with the IRS to “discover the appropriate bookkeeping associate.” It additionally says clients will have the ability to obtain their knowledge by December 30 and may have till March 2025 to take action.

The discover recommends clients migrate to Kick, a brand new accounting startup that introduced its $9 million seed increase in October 2024 in a spherical led by OpenAI and Common Catalyst. Kick’s CEO and founder, Conrad Wadowski, posted a message on LinkedIn to former Bench customers about how Kick is “working to get your financials again in your arms.”

Bench didn’t reply to requests for remark by Fintech as of press time. Wadowski didn’t reply on to a query from Fintech about particulars of any potential settlement or different enterprise relationship it had with Bench previous to the shutdown. 

“As you noticed on the web site, we’re shifting quick and can be found to assist a lot of Bench’s clients with their bookkeeping wants,” he instructed Fintech.

Based in 2012, Bench employed greater than 600 employees, based on a snapshot of its “About” web page. The startup was backed by traders, together with IT agency Sage, Contour Enterprise Companions, and Altos Ventures. It was additionally a member of the TechStars accelerator.

Bench final raised $60 million in a Collection C spherical in 2021. Its co-founder and CEO, Ian Crosby, departed shortly after. 

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Crosby posted on LinkedIn right now that he was “very unhappy” to see Bench shut down, alleging he had been changed by unnamed board members who wished to herald “a brand new skilled CEO” to take Bench in a distinct route.

“I hope the story of Bench goes on to turn into a warning for VCs that suppose they’ll ‘improve’ an organization by changing the founder. It by no means works,” Crosby wrote.

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