After shutting down suddenly last week, accounting and tax services platform Bench has been acquired by bookkeeping and onboarding software company Employer.com.
Vancouver, B.C.-based Bench, founded in 2012 under the name "10sheet Inc." before rebranding to its current name in 2013, had been touted as a virtual accounting department for small businesses, eventually encompassing over 600 employees and $113 million in total funding. However, the company suddenly shut down last week, on Dec. 27, leaving the fate of its roughly 35,000 customers who relied on Bench for tax and other accounting services uncertain. The reason for the abrupt shutdown was not disclosed.
However, just today, a new message appeared on the platform's website saying it had been acquired by Employer.com, and that customers' service will continue seamlessly with the same platform. In a statement to TechCrunch, Employer.com said customers will be given the choice to port their data or keep their service under new ownership.
Employer.com is a relatively new company, having been formed only this past November. as a way to consolidate an existing portfolio of brands and technologies from Recruiter.com Ventures. Recruiter.com had only recently acquired the domain name itself for around $450,000 (the CEO of Recruiter.com, Jesse Tinsley, discussed this deal at about 7 minutes 50 seconds into this podcast).
Overall, Employer.com is intended to be a single, comprehensive platform designed to support companies with a unified, fully integrated solution that includes employer-of-record services, global payroll solutions, managed service provider/vendor management system capabilities, global compliance and contingent workforce management.
By adding Bench to its portfolio, the company now adds tax services to its capacities.
