Bench

Bench, the accounting and tax fintech startup, conducted a significant round of layoffs in late April or early May 2025, affecting dozens of positions. This represents a substantial portion of its approximately 300-person workforce, with departments like client success and tax services directly impacted, including most of the U.S.-based tax advisory team. The layoffs were implemented by Employer.com, the San Francisco HR tech company that acquired Bench in a $9 million fire sale in December 2024 after the startup burned through over $160 million in funding and shut down. Employer.com cited the difficult realities of turning the business around and addressing legacy issues as the reason for the cuts. The company, which had re-hired most of Bench's staff after the acquisition, had also kept a majority of the workforce on temporary, month-to-month independent contractor agreements while planning to base most operations outside North America.

Bench, a Canadian accounting software startup for small and medium-sized businesses, abruptly shut down on December 27, 2024, resulting in the effective layoff of its entire workforce. The company, which had raised $113 million from investors like Shopify and Bain Capital Ventures, served over 35,000 U.S. customers. Its sudden closure left thousands of businesses without access to critical accounting and tax documents, forcing them to urgently migrate their data. Bench cited an inability to continue operations, recommending customers transition to another startup, Kick. The shutdown reflects significant turmoil in the fintech and SaaS industry, impacting a venture-backed company that had scaled to serve a substantial customer base.

In March 2020, Vancouver-based FinTech startup Bench laid off 47 employees, representing 10% of its then 460-person workforce, due to a severe pandemic-driven sales drop. The company restructured financially, cutting executive pay and pivoting to help U.S. small businesses secure PPP loans. This shift doubled sales, allowing Bench to rehire 17 of the laid-off staff and hire 52 new employees by mid-June. Operating in the financial technology industry, Bench, founded in 2013 and backed by $53 million in venture funding, automates accounting for small businesses.