Anyone who knows me knows I have opinions on accounting. It’s kind of my thing. So, you know I have serious thoughts on the closure and last-minute “savior” of Bench.
I first wrote about them back in 2012 or so in the context of new breed, tech-driven accounting “firms” competing with traditional ones (inDinero, Pilot, and even Botkeeper were mentioned too). I’m reserving judgment until I know a bit more, and maybe I won’t judge at all, but I will comment on the initial rush to judgment out here (from some of you).
Here’s my point: Folks, all due respect, you just don’t know, and it hurts to see how many of you came off as if you do. All will become clearer in time, but right now, when the building is still smoldering and the fires have hopefully all been extinguished, you just don’t know. Having been through a similar “seemingly out of nowhere” shutdown in recent history and other similar situations throughout my career, I can say with absolute certainty how little the public eye realizes.
For the situation I was in just two years ago, internally, we were only given 30 days, amid us already planning for the next 6–12 months of our existence and a promising future in our minds. A Friday all-hands meeting revealed what was going to happen to all of us, and as much as they could share with us at the time, the site itself.
Publicly, word of our closure was in even less time, and I can clearly recall shortly after that public notice went out, all of the calls and emails to “save” us (or at least our distribution list). But it was seen as too little, too late. In hindsight, perhaps our former owners could have done more, and maybe even now they know that.
But, as far as I knew, they were not in a position to; at least they didn’t think they were at the time, and things went how they did. Even today I still get questions about what happened, why it wasn’t saved or sold, or some such thing, and yes, even some judgements on the whole deal. These are answers I don’t have or choose not to answer.
I’ll leave it there, because I am not here to air dirty laundry, just offer some perspective. I enjoyed my time in my previous capacity and worked with some amazing people, many of whom I’m happy that I am in touch with and can call friends.
You go through something like that; you learn and grow and hopefully come out better. I can only hope the same for Bench founders, employees, and, of course, their clients.
I will say that even now, weeks after the announcement of Bench’s closure and almost immediate and apparent saving, I am encouraged to see so much of the profession was, and still is, wanting to help. That does give me hope.
As I’ve been saying for several years now, the accounting profession is indeed at a point of inflection. Things like this are going to happen, and it’s not necessarily a larger indication of anything other than the risks associated with VC funding (which is nothing new). Or, it’s one of community, where when a problem does arise, your first reaction is one of “What can I do to help?” versus showering judgement.
I choose the latter. I know that I want to come from a place of help, as I genuinely want to see this profession move forward in the best ways possible. Sometimes, yes, progression comes with a dose of regression too. And that’s OK. I just choose to see the better in people and situations; it doesn’t require anyone else to do the same as much as I wish it to be so.
There’s also a lot of mixed emotions over the coming of the next wave of automation in accounting, that of course being AI. Where will it fit into everyone’s professional world? What opportunities will it offer? What can truly be built to make life and work better?
Maybe these are the questions we could all be asking, looking forward and not backward. I, for one, am hoping to see more real answers come from the Bench situation (and I suspect some of their competitors may be wondering the same as well). But I’m more concerned with where accounting is headed overall and hope to continue to have a positive impact in the new year and beyond.
Seth: Given the failure of Bench and a couple of other automation companies that have failed spectacularly, is it possible that grand automation in accounting is impossible? We use RPA to automate some processes. The big roadblock is every client wants things custom. Here are some examples: different COAs across different entities in the same business, using one bank account to manage multiple stores, POS that does not connect to accounting software, etc.