Bench, the VC-backed accounting startup that left 1000’s of shoppers locked out of their accounts after it abruptly shut down final week, can be acquired by Employer.com for an undisclosed worth in a last-minute deal, TechCrunch has solely realized.
The San Francisco-based HR tech firm Employer.com focuses on payroll and onboarding, in distinction to Bench, which makes a speciality of accounting and tax. Employer.com’s chief advertising and marketing officer Matt Charney instructed TechCrunch the corporate will revive Bench’s platform and supply directions for patrons to log in and acquire their knowledge.
Clients can be given the selection to port their knowledge or hold their service below new possession, Charney instructed TechCrunch. Bench’s earlier suggestion to file for a six-month extension with the Inside Income Service to search for a brand new bookkeeper is now not wanted if clients resolve to remain on, Employer.com confirmed.
Bench’s web site, which continues to be offline on the time of writing, beforehand touted greater than 35,000 “American small enterprise house owners” on its platform, in keeping with an archived copy. (Put up-publication, Employer.com instructed TechCrunch that Bench has roughly 12,000 clients.) Bench’s web site at present reads: “Extra data on the best way to proceed your providers can be accessible quickly.” The startup’s abrupt shutdown on Friday induced chaos, with clients discovering themselves locked out of their accounts proper as tax season is ready to start, and emails from TechCrunch to Bench workers bouncing again.
TechCrunch confirmed the acquisition with a Bench board member. Neither Bench nor Employer.com would touch upon the acquisition worth.
Employer.com is a brand new firm: Its CEO, Jesse Tinsley, introduced his acquisition of the area identify in November for about $450,000. Tinsley is behind a bunch of HR, onboarding, and recruiting-related companies, together with Recruiter.com and BountyJobs. In a put up on December 11, Tinsley stated that the corporate is “nonetheless buying corporations” within the HR area. Employer.com just isn’t VC-backed and is completely self-funded, Charney instructed TechCrunch.
In an announcement saying the acquisition, Employer.com stated Bench clients can count on to proceed “working with the identical knowledgeable in-house bookkeepers they know and belief.”
“This acquisition ensures that Bench clients can proceed counting on the identical high-quality service they’ve at all times acquired, whereas additionally opening the door to future enhancements and capabilities powered by Employer.com’s in depth assets,” Employer.com’s assertion stated.
Which may be tough in follow. Bench employed greater than 600 folks, in keeping with its web site, a few of whom posted on LinkedIn after the shutdown discover that they had been now on the lookout for work. Bench is now beginning to name “many” — however not all — of its workers again to work to make sure continuity, Jennifer Bouyoukos, Bench’s chief folks officer, instructed TechCrunch.
TechCrunch archived Bench’s unique shutdown discover from December 27 under:
