What happened to Bench
Bench, one of the biggest online bookkeepers in the US and Canada, shut down suddenly on December 27, 2024. Customers were told to download their data and find someone else, right before tax season.
Days later Employer.com bought it, and Bench came back in January 2025. Since August 2025 it has been part of a brand called Mainstreet.
Many owners had already moved on by then, and plenty didn't want to risk it twice. If you're one of them, you may have a gap in your books, a half-finished year, or just a folder of statements and no one to send them to.
Start from your statements
You don't need anything from Bench to start. Your bank and card statements are the record that matters, and every bank lets you download them.
- Download your statements for each business account: checking, savings, credit cards, lines of credit. PDFs are best; CSV and Excel work too.
- Drop them into SumSwift. Every transaction is read and sorted in minutes, and every account is checked against the balances your bank printed, to the cent.
- Check the few things SumSwift isn't sure about. One answer covers every charge from the same place, and it remembers next time.
- Your profit report, balance sheet and the year-end package for your accountant are ready the same day.
Missing months are flagged, so you'll know exactly which statements are still needed.
What you keep from a bookkeeper
SumSwift does the work a monthly bookkeeper does: every transaction categorized, every account reconciled, receipts matched, bills and invoices tracked, sales tax or GST/HST worked out, each month locked when it's done, and a year-end package for your accountant with the trial balance, general ledger and every receipt.
Your accountant can have free access to look or make fixes. SumSwift works out payroll each payday too. What it doesn't do is file your tax returns; that stays with your accountant.
Taxes on your side of the border
In the US: your quarterly estimated tax worked out with the IRS due dates, sales tax at your rate, a Schedule C laid out line by line, mileage at the IRS rate, and the list of contractors who need a 1099, ready to hand your CPA.
In Canada: your GST/HST return worked out line by line, PST where it applies, a T2125 for sole proprietors, income tax and CPP set aside, and T4A slips for contractors.
So this never happens again
Your books are always yours. Download everything as a spreadsheet, or export it all to QuickBooks, any time. Delete your account and every file is gone at once.