Bench Accounting

Bench Accounting, a Vancouver-based online bookkeeping service founded in 2012, abruptly shut down on December 27, 2024, leaving thousands of small business customers without access to their financial data.^1251016 The company had raised over $100 million in venture capital funding, including a $60 million Series C round in 2021, but struggled with profitability and scalability due to its hybrid model of human bookkeepers and proprietary software.^1236101117 Three days after the shutdown, Employer.com acquired Bench and began restoring services, while Bench's Canadian entities filed for bankruptcy in January 2025 with liabilities far exceeding assets.^{1561014151617}

Timeline

Money raised

Bench raised over $100 million in venture capital funding since its founding in 2012.^12351017 In 2013, Bench raised a $2 million seed round.⁸ In 2014, Bench raised $1 million in a funding round.⁸ In 2015, Bench raised a $7 million Series A round.⁸ In 2016, Bench raised a $16 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures.⁸ In 2018, Bench raised a $23 million Series B round led by Inovia Capital.⁸ In 2021, Bench raised a $72.5 million Series C round led by Contour Venture Partners, with participation from Shopify and others.^2381017 The Series C round included $37 million in equity and $23 million in debt, according to PitchBook data.¹⁰¹⁷ Bench's total funding was reported as $113.5 million by some sources.^6101217 In 2021, Bench generated about $35 million in annualized revenue.³

Investors named in the sources: Bain Capital Ventures^236101217, Altos Ventures^36101217, Inovia Capital^23101217, Contour Venture Partners^3101217, Shopify²³¹⁰¹⁷, Techstars³⁸, BMO¹⁰, Teralys Capital¹⁰, Sage¹⁰, Silicon Valley Bank¹⁰, National Bank of Canada¹¹¹⁵¹⁶.

What happened

Bench Accounting was founded in 2012 in Vancouver by Ian Crosby, Adam Saint, and Jordan Menashy.^2351017 The company was accepted into the Techstars NYC accelerator in 2012.³ Bench built accounting software powered by a team of full-time bookkeepers for small businesses.³ The company raised over $100 million in venture capital funding over its lifetime.^12351017 In 2021, Bench raised a $72.5 million Series C round led by Contour Venture Partners.^2381017

The Series C round included $37 million in equity and $23 million in debt.¹⁰¹⁷ In 2021, Bench had approximately 10,000 customers and generated about $35 million in annualized revenue.³ Bench claimed to be North America's largest bookkeeping service for small businesses, with over 600 employees.⁵¹⁰ The company's services-heavy approach limited its potential profit margins.³ Bench relied on proprietary software that locked customers into its ecosystem and lacked direct export capability to major accounting platforms like QuickBooks or Xero.¹²⁶¹⁶

In 2021, Bench's board of directors began to have concerns about the company's trajectory under CEO Ian Crosby.³ The business was burning about $1.5 million per month and consuming cash faster than expected.³¹¹ Some board members and executives were skeptical of Crosby's efforts to build a banking business, which consumed about two-thirds of engineering resources.³ On December 1, 2021, board member Shawn Abbott met with Crosby and informed him that the board wanted to bring in a new professional CEO.³ On December 5, 2021, Bench executives sent a letter to the board with complaints about Crosby's conduct, including allegations of bullying.³

Crosby left his position as CEO and stepped off the board in early 2022.³¹⁰¹⁷ Jean-Philippe Durrios became CEO of Bench in August 2022.¹⁰ The company went through multiple rounds of layoffs starting in late 2022.¹⁷ By the end of 2024, less than 400 people worked at Bench, compared to almost 700 in January 2023.¹⁷ In July 2024, Bench reduced its workforce by 4-5%.²

Bench attempted to sell the business in the weeks leading up to its closure, but was unsuccessful.¹⁰¹⁷ On December 27, 2024, Bench announced the immediate cessation of operations and took its platform offline.^12456101216 Customers were locked out of their accounts without warning, just before tax season.¹²⁵⁶¹⁶ The shutdown left approximately 600 employees jobless, primarily in Vancouver.² Bench promised customers access to their records from December 30, 2024, until March 7, 2025.²

The company recommended Kick.co as an alternative service provider.²⁵ Three days after the shutdown, on December 30, 2024, Employer.com announced its acquisition of Bench.^156101617 Employer.com began working to revive Bench's platform and rehire some employees.⁵¹⁰¹⁷ Bench's Canadian entities filed for bankruptcy on January 7, 2025, with $65.4 million in liabilities against $2.8 million in cash.¹⁶ Bench filed for bankruptcy in Canadian court on January 9, 2025.⁶¹⁴

In March 2025, Bench Accounting Inc. filed for Chapter 15 recognition in Delaware bankruptcy court with approximately $51.5 million in liabilities and $5.1 million in assets.¹⁵ Employer.com's CEO Jesse Tinsley stated that the company would honor existing commitments to Bench customers.¹⁰¹⁷ As of July 2026, Bench operates under Employer.com with a D- rating from the Better Business Bureau and complaints about late filings and data loss.¹⁶

Legal outcomes

• filedBench Accounting Inc. filed for Chapter 15 recognition in Delaware bankruptcy court with approximately $51.5 million in liabilities and $5.1 million in assets.¹⁵
• filedBench's Canadian entities filed for bankruptcy on January 7, 2025, with $65.4 million in liabilities against $2.8 million in cash.¹⁶
• filedBench filed for bankruptcy in Canadian court on January 9, 2025.⁶¹⁴

Where the founders are now

Ian Crosby, co-founder and former CEO of Bench, left the company in early 2022 after the board decided to replace him.³¹⁰¹⁷ After leaving Bench, Crosby joined Shopify as product director of banking and accounting and head of financial services.¹⁰ Crosby later founded Teal, another accounting startup, which was acquired by Mercury.⁹¹⁰ In 2026, Crosby founded Synthetic, an AI bookkeeping startup that raised $10 million in seed funding led by Khosla Ventures.⁹

Lessons, as others put them

"I hope the story of Bench goes on to become a warning for VCs that think they can 'upgrade' a company by replacing the founder. It never works."Ian Crosby, co-founder and former CEO of Bench³¹⁰

"too many such stories in Canada."Tobias Lütke, Shopify CEO³¹⁰

Sources

1. Lessons From the $100m Bench Accounting Fiasco | Outsource Accelerator, Outsource Accelerator
2. The Abrupt End of Bench Accounting, blog.accountingprose.com, Dec 27, 20
3. The Limits of Founder Friendly: What Happened at Bench & Why Its Board Pushed Out Its Founder, newcomer.co, Jan 14, 20
4. Bench Accounting Shuts Down - What It Means for Businesses - EcomBalance, EcomBalance, 2025-02-25
5. Too Big to Fail? The Collapse and Resurrection of Bench Accounting, engagingwitherp.substack.com
6. Bench Shut Down. Botkeeper Closed. Here, take-flight-bs.com, 2026-04-06
8. Bench Accounting – Funding, Valuation, Investors, News, Parsers VC
9. Khosla Ventures is betting $10M on Ian Crosby, whose first startup, Bench, imploded | TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 2026-05-14
10. Bench had a crazier holiday break than your startup, BetaKit, 2025-01-03
11. Analysis: Why Bench Accounting collapsed despite $40MM in recurring revenue, lex.substack.com
12. Recovery Strategies for Affected Businesses, CFO Pro Analytics - Expert Financial Leadership for Growth and Stability, 2024-12-30
13. BENCH ACCOUNTING, INC., et al,1 Debtors in a Foreign P, cdncases.alixpartners.com, Mar 13, 20
14. Employer.com expands into bookkeeping services with ..., bankingdive.com, Jan 15, 20
15. Canadian Accounting Service Co. Hits Ch. 15 With Sale Plan - Law360, law360.com, Mar 14, 20
16. Bench Accounting Alternatives in 2026: What to Know, Timothy LeGendre CPA LLC
17. Benched! - Fintech Takes, Fintech Takes, 2025-01-06

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