Bench, a Canadian based accounting company, abruptly shut down last week. This left more than 35,000 US customers shut off from all their bookkeeping and tax documents. Bench pledged to restore temporary access, but they left thousands of customers high and dry.
A reduction in business owner stress levels is a common outcome of our work with entrepreneurs. In that vein I share these soothing (I hope) recommendations.
- Go ahead and file an extension on your 2024 tax return. Even if you wind up filing timely, you will have peace of mind while your documents are stuck in limbo.
- Start downloading last year’s bank and credit card statements. You can’t control if/when Bench releases the document hostages. Until they do, these documents will come in handy.
- If I had to triage your bookkeeping issues, these are my top three.
- Cash is king. Adress your billing first. If Bench prepared invoices for you, figure out how you will deliver those invoices to your clients.
- Your people are important. Address your payroll second. If Bench prepared payroll for you, it’s time to look for a new provider. Get three quotes and go with the solution that best suits your needs. If they’re not the cheapest, show them your cheaper quote.
- The IRS expects 1099s to be filed by 1/31. Address your subcontractors third. If you paid subcontractors last year, reach out to them for an updated W9. Start combing through the bank statements (see above) for amounts you paid to them.
- Kinda like a death in the family, you’re going to have a get out of crisis card you can play. “Well, I can’t do that right now because our f***ing bookkeeping company shut down suddenly. I have no access to fill in the blank.” Please use this sparingly and ethically. But life just gave you a bushel of lemons, so you can make a little lemonade.
It goes without saying that to get off the bench and back into the game, you are going to need a new outsourced accounting solution. Let me know if we can help.
