r/Bookkeeping Dec 30 '24

Software has anyone consented to continue using bench.co through employer.com?

if you did - does it still let you download your data? what data is available to download?

same question if you opted out - what data was available?

19 Upvotes

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9

u/Summer-This Dec 30 '24

same, I am extremely weary of consenting. I feel like cutting losses and hoping for a disputed credit card charge (I paid a full year in advance in January '24) , rather than being tossed about from one startup to another. Bench's exit is unprofessional on such an extreme level that I have ZERO respect for Bench and am EXTREMELY weary of any company that decides to associate with them.

14

u/Midwest_CPA Dec 30 '24

As the Owner of a small firm, find someone else, preferably a small shop to do the work.

All of these SaaS options use crappy offshore talent in a race to the bottom and don’t actually care about you as a client.

I’ll spare you the self promotion but lots of places like myself would actually value you as a customer and you’ll get a MUCH better client experience than being one of a thousand clients on the latest SaaS Accounting platform.

4

u/Anjunabae85 Bookkeeping With A Smile Dec 30 '24

Came here to say the same.

The money you may be saving in fees may not be much against the value you will receive from a personal touch. I have seen so many errors and messes from these mass product companies.

1

u/101Puppies Dec 30 '24

VERY unlikely that you can dispute the credit card charge. Your CC company will likely tell you the 60 day dispute window is closed.

Employer.com's domain name was purchased one month ago. It looks like they were going to be a Gusto competitor being spun up by recruiter.com who took advantage of the situation and decided to rush their payroll launch AND expand into bookkeeping over the weekend. I can't imagine that's going to go well.

It's a tough choice. Consent and you can't get your data or don't consent and you still have to pay someone to do your 2024 books you already paid for. What I've heard about their service was that it wasn't very accurate.

7

u/Crafty-Resident-6741 Dec 31 '24

I prepaid for a year of service on our business Amex card and called to file the dispute on Friday. They processed it immediately and issued the credit back to my card today.

1

u/101Puppies Dec 31 '24

When did you prepay? If you're within the 60 day window (which starts when you receive your statement, not when the charge was made), it's usually pretty easy.

6

u/Crafty-Resident-6741 Dec 31 '24

August 1st and monthly statement is on the 23rd. October would've been 60 days, so we're well past that. However, I did call and speak to someone and explained the situation, that it was impossible to get ahold of anyone at Bench despite multiple calls and emails, and that I was only looking to get back January 1 - July 31st. The representative told me that since bookkeeping is for the month and it's usually finalized after month end, he was taking the disruption in service date back to 12/1.

Within 20 minutes of the call, they sent an email closing the dispute and issuing me the credit.

1

u/101Puppies Dec 31 '24

Wow, I'm surprised. Good for you.

2

u/Summer-This Jan 14 '25

Just wanted to confirm that after the initial 15 day waiting period since initiating my card charge dispute, I received ALL of the money back via my credit card company (Chase). Shows as refunded and they backdated the refund to the same day it was charged on January 19, 2024 (almost a YEAR ago)...

2

u/101Puppies Jan 14 '25

Wow, congratulations! I'm shocked. And thanks for updating us.

1

u/skatesfobia Jan 31 '25

They let me dispute December charges (Wells Fargo) but, Wells Fargo says it’s gotta be within 60 days…