If you were a Bench customer, you probably have one of three things on your desk: a folder of exported statements and reports, a half-finished year in a new accounting file, or a year-end deadline and a CPA asking for numbers you cannot easily produce. This page is for all three.
It covers what happened to Bench, the one structural lesson from it, what to look for in any replacement (whether or not that is us), and the practical steps for moving your Bench data into QuickBooks Online or Xero.
What happened to Bench accounting
On Friday 27 December 2024, Bench, a Canadian bookkeeping and tax service for small businesses, shut down its platform with almost no notice. The website was replaced with a notice telling customers they could download their data from 30 December and would have until March 2025 to do so. It suggested customers file a six-month extension with the IRS while they found a new bookkeeping partner. TechCrunch reported the shutdown the same day.
On Monday 30 December 2024, Employer.com, a US HR and payroll company, announced it was acquiring Bench. It said customers would be given the choice to port their data or keep their service under new ownership, and that the extension advice no longer applied to customers who stayed (TechCrunch, 30 December 2024; also covered by GeekWire). Bench resumed operating under the new owner in early 2025.
So Bench still exists. We are not writing this to say otherwise, and we have no view on how it runs today. The point is what those few days showed about where your books are kept.
The structural lesson: Bench kept customers’ books on its own platform. When the platform went offline, so did the ledger. The accounts belonged to the customer; the file they lived in did not. Any bookkeeper can close, be sold or fall out with you. What matters is whether your books survive it.
What to look for in any replacement
Use this list whoever you hire next. Every point is something you can check before you sign.
- Your own accounting file, in your name. The QuickBooks Online or Xero subscription should be registered to your business and paid by you (or billed to you transparently). The bookkeeper is invited in as a user. If they leave, you remove their access and the file stays exactly where it is.
- A named bookkeeper. One person who knows your file, not a queue. Ask who it will be and who covers when they are away.
- A fixed close date. “Monthly” is not a date. Ask for the day of the month your books will be reconciled and closed, in writing.
- Qualified review. Ask who checks the work before it reaches you, and what their qualification is. Data entry without review is how errors reach your tax return.
- A written exit. Ask what you get when you leave: notice period, exit fee, what is exported, and whether they will hand over to your next bookkeeper. If the answer is vague now, it will be worse later.
- Bank feeds you own. Bank connections should be set up inside your file. Nobody should ask for your online banking password.
Moving your Bench data into QuickBooks Online or Xero
Moving off a proprietary platform is not a conversion. There is no button that turns a Bench export into a working QuickBooks or Xero file. It is a rebuild from a known starting point, and done in the right order it is routine.
1. Choose the software first
Pick QuickBooks Online or Xero before anything else, because everything after this happens inside that file. US businesses with a US CPA usually lean QuickBooks; UK and Australian businesses usually lean Xero. Our QuickBooks vs Xero comparison sets out where each one wins. Open the subscription in your own business’s name.
2. Gather what you exported, and what you did not
Collect whatever you downloaded from Bench: financial statements, transaction reports and any supporting documents. Then, separately, download every bank, credit card and loan statement your online banking will give you for the same period. Treat the bank statements as the source of truth. The Bench export tells you how things were categorised; the bank statement tells you what happened.
3. Pick a cut-off date and set opening balances
Choose a clean date to start the new file from, usually the last day of a closed month or your last financial year end. From your Bench balance sheet at that date, enter opening balances: every bank and card balance, amounts owed to you, amounts you owe, loans, fixed assets and equity. Before you rely on them, tie each bank balance to the actual statement on that date. If they do not agree, the opening balance is wrong and everything after it will be too.
4. Re-reconcile from the bank statements
Connect bank feeds in the new file and import transactions from the cut-off date onward. Where feeds do not reach back far enough, import the statements. Categorise against a chart of accounts your CPA is happy with, and reconcile each account month by month to the closing balance on the statement. This is also the moment to set up bank rules, so the next twelve months take less work than this one.
5. Catch up any missing months
Many former Bench customers have a gap: months where nothing was booked while they decided what to do. Those months are rebuilt from bank statements and platform reports in the same way as step 4, oldest first. Our guide to catch-up bookkeeping explains how that process works and what to gather, and if you would rather hand it over, see our catch-up bookkeeping service.
6. Hand your CPA a closed year
Once every account is reconciled through year end, run a trial balance, profit and loss and balance sheet, and give your tax professional the file access rather than a PDF. They can check the opening balances against your prior-year return, which is the fastest way to catch anything the migration got wrong.
How Pro Bookkeepers compares
We have only put Bench facts in this table where they are on the public record. Where we do not know how Bench works today, we have said so rather than guess.
| Bench | Pro Bookkeepers | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your books live | Bench’s own software platform | Your own QuickBooks Online or Xero file, subscription in your name |
| If the provider goes offline | In December 2024, customers lost access until data downloads opened | Nothing changes in your file; you remove our access |
| Leaving | Customers were given a window to download their data | Month to month, 30 days’ notice, full export, no exit fee, and we brief your next bookkeeper |
| Close date | Not stated here: check their current terms | Books closed by the 10th of every month |
| Review | Not stated here: check their current terms | Every close reviewed by an ACCA-qualified accountant |
| Who does the work | Not stated here: check their current terms | A named bookkeeper who knows your file |
| Price | Not stated here: check their current pricing | Fixed monthly from $199, or an hourly bookkeeper from $14 (see pricing) |
| Tax returns | Not stated here: check their current terms | We do not file tax returns. Your CPA or accountant files from our closed books |
One more difference worth naming: we are not a software company. We do not sell or host the platform your books sit on, so we have no reason to keep you on it.
Who we are not right for
If one of these is you, say so on the call and we will point you somewhere better.
- You want one provider to do the bookkeeping and sign and file your tax return. We do bookkeeping only; tax filing stays with your CPA or accountant.
- You need a statutory audit.
- You want someone physically in your office handling paper.
- You are looking purely for the lowest possible price. We are not the cheapest, and we do not try to be.
- You want to stay off QuickBooks Online and Xero entirely. Those are the two platforms we work in.
Bench alternative: common questions
What happened to Bench accounting?
Bench shut down its platform on 27 December 2024 with almost no notice, and told customers they could download their data from 30 December until March 2025. On 30 December 2024 Employer.com announced it was acquiring Bench, and said customers could either keep their service under the new owner or take their data elsewhere. Bench resumed operating under Employer.com in early 2025.
Can I import my Bench data straight into QuickBooks Online or Xero?
Not as a working file. A Bench export gives you statements, reports and transaction detail, but QuickBooks Online and Xero need opening balances, a chart of accounts and reconciled bank accounts. The reliable route is to pick a cut-off date, enter opening balances from your Bench balance sheet at that date, check them against your bank statements, and reconcile forward from the statements.
I did not export my data in time. What now?
Your bank and card statements are the spine of any rebuild, and your bank still has them. Most transactions that mattered passed through one of those accounts, so a reconciled set of books can be rebuilt from statements plus any payment platform reports. Your prior-year tax return gives your CPA a check on the opening position. This is catch-up bookkeeping, and we quote it as a fixed fee after looking at what you have.
Should I pick QuickBooks Online or Xero after Bench?
For most small businesses either will do the job. US businesses with a US CPA, or anyone holding inventory, usually lean QuickBooks Online. UK and Australian businesses, and teams where several people need access, usually lean Xero. If your CPA has a strong preference, follow it. Whichever you pick, open it in your own business’s name.
What happens to my books if I leave Pro Bookkeepers?
They stay where they are. Your QuickBooks Online or Xero file is in your name, so leaving means removing our user access. Plans run month to month with 30 days’ notice, there is no exit fee, you get a full export of everything we hold, and we will speak to your next bookkeeper so the handover is clean.
Written by Pro Bookkeepers and reviewed by an ACCA-qualified accountant. We have no relationship with Bench or Employer.com. Facts about Bench are taken from the news reports linked above, as at their publication dates; check Bench’s current terms with Bench directly.