An Inside Look at the Entry-Level Associate Role at Bench
“ I think the Entry-Level Associate role does have a steep learning curve, especially if you don’t have any background accounting knowledge, plus learning the Bench software and how we do bookkeeping via the Bench standard. My first team had two really good mentors that were extremely helpful and supportive while I was trying to learn.” — Susan, our rockstar Benchmate that has been with us since 2018.
Having just completed her first semester in Accounting at UBC, Susan was in the midst of looking for a job that was related to her education. Fast forward to present day, Susan has been a Benchmate for 3 years and is now a Quality Assurance Lead Associate — where she reviews the books done and provides feedback.
The Entry-Level Accounting Associate role is a pivotal role at Bench. As an Associate, you will be delivering bookkeeping services through our software and app to our clients — small business owners and entrepreneurs.
What is the Entry-Level Associate role?
The essence of Bench is how we do what we do. It’s about how we go about doing this that enables us to deliver a kick-ass service to the volume of people we are delivering this to.
In this role, you’ll be responsible for managing a client portfolio and doing the bookkeeping for your clients on a monthly basis. You’ll be invested in the lives of your clients from various industries — with consistent communication being key to a healthy relationship.
As an Entry-Level Associate, you don’t need to have an accounting background, but being interested in numbers, problem solving, and being able to stay motivated doing repetitive tasks definitely helps.
We provide you all the tools you’ll need to take on the role, including Operations Academy — where we set you up with all the knowledge you need to be a successful Entry-Level Associate.
“I’d say the two most important attributes to have to be a successful associate is to : be coachable and resourceful. There’s a lot of bookkeeping questions/problems that will come up that you’ve never seen before, and sometimes there isn’t a resource that shows you exactly how to solve it, so you gotta be able to figure it out — whether that’s through asking people or using your knowledge to form the solution.” — Susan Park
Our Entry-Level Accounting Associates have different stories prior to becoming a Benchmate. Some were fresh out of school, some were looking for a new challenge at a tech start-up, while some were looking for a career change — like our Benchmate, Robert.
Robert started out at Bench as an AA, coming from the restaurant industry, and now is a Lead Associate.
“Before starting at Bench, I was in the restaurant industry for 4 years, having some amazing experiences and meeting many great people. In the end, I had to have a hard conversation with myself and ultimately left that industry. It had taken a toll on my personal well being and the ability to spend important time with friends and family. I left that industry looking for something which offered me more flexibility and a newer challenge.
I started with Bench in September 2019 as an Entry-Level Associate and since then I’ve been able to build on my educational background in business/accounting/finance. I’ve really enjoyed the process of having to do a lot of self learning and having a go-getter mindset. There are obviously some tasks which are fairly consistent on a day to day basis, and this can sometimes seem fairly monotonous. The way I look at it is there will always be an opportunity to become more efficient and better at what I do, and finding those efficiencies is where the true learning lies.” — Robert Maclean, Lead Associate
Working at a startup
Working at a tech startup can be a rewarding, yet challenging experience. Having a flexible job and casual day to day environment is one of the perks to the job. At the same time, our Benchmates are resilient and motivated to do their work.
In a startup, things move quickly and everyone takes ownership of their work and responsibilities. At the end of the day, work needs to be done and we help each other to do our best work.
Talha Khan, who started out as an Entry-Level Associate and transitioned to the PRO team shares his experience being new to a tech startup.
“I started at Bench in December 2018. I was doing something completely unrelated in school and needed a change and heard about Bench from a friend that really liked working here.
Day to day work has been kind of a roller coaster. I’ve had times where everything is going smoothly and times where everything is on fire. The flexible schedule and available support always makes it manageable though.
Working at a startup, and at Bench especially, so much can change so fast that you really have to be able to pivot at a moment’s notice. Bookkeeping and client management is also not an exact science, so you’re solving new problems every day and have to be willing to try different things. I’ve been blessed to have had amazing mentors during my time at Bench so I’ve always felt comfortable trying things differently and speaking out when I disagree with the status quo.”
- Talha Khan, Benchmate
The culture at Bench
We rely on five principles to guide us in how we work together:
We keep it human — and practice empathy and understanding in every situation.
Our mission is to bring financial mastery to our clients.
When you take a stand at Bench, you create a future for yourself within that mission.
We are responsible for the freedom and autonomy as a Benchmate and that means being accountable for that freedom. Take action for what’s possible and let us know your ambitions and goals.
Default open with information — we share information openly and freely ensuring that everyone can use and understand the information.
Get Scrappy — if you have something that needs doing, do the thing and don’t wait for others to do it for you.
We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and in order to do so, we constantly work to educate ourselves to become aware of practices, biases, or barriers that may exist within Bench.
“I found out about Bench when I ran to my mentor stressing about finding a job in accounting once I finished school in December. Funny enough she had just gotten off the phone with a Bench Rep who said they were looking to hire and thought I would be a great fit. Next thing I knew it was January 2020 and I was sitting in the forum for my first day at Bench!
What made me apply was that after my mentors’ recommendation I did some research and found the Mental Health Guide which assured me that they valued their employees as there was time and care taken into creating it.
So, I proceeded to book an informational interview with a recruiter and it was a wonderful conversation where I learned all about the company and realized we had similar values like being people-centered and wanting to make a difference.” — Taylor Thomas, Entry-Level Accounting Associate
Growing at Bench
There are many opportunities for career growth for all our Benchmates. You will find that the possibilities at Bench are in your hands. Dedication and hardwork are the pillars for success — as you grow, you will learn more about the building blocks of Bench, the culture and continually develop as an expert in your role.
Benchmates have started out as Entry-Level Associates and found the drive to succeed in other parts of the company — taking on larger roles and responsibilities in the process.
“It wasn’t any sort of passion that led me to study accounting.
Like many people of my generation, I graduated into an economy slowly recovering from a deep recession. After a bit of humbling, I decided to go back to school in pursuit of a career that I believe would be recession-proof. In a financial crisis people need an accountant, right?
Partway through my diploma, I had a realization that the accounting concepts I was studying were the same that my parents would have dealt with in managing the financial side of their small business. As I grappled with debits and credits in a dedicated 18 month program, I wondered how my parents, and other small business owners like them, managed their bookkeeping. In that moment, the motivation behind my studies shifted from building a recession-proof career, into one that solved a tough problem for people.
And so, through a serendipitous Google search in 2013 (“small business accounting jobs Vancouver”, I found Bench.
At the time, Bench looked like 15 people in a condo in Gastown, with fewer than 100 clients, scrappily figuring out how to take bookkeeping off of entrepreneur’s plates so they could focus on doing what they love — not categorizing expenses.
The early days of Bench often felt a lot like finding our way in the dark, and my first job as a bookkeeping intern put me right into the thick of things. For the first 2 years, I was serving our clients directly. There was no guidebook on how to deliver bookkeeping using our methods or platform, and the multi-week training program that all new Bench Associates go through today had not yet been created.
Most days included bookkeeping work, answering questions from clients, or trying to get a hold of them on the phone. Other days were spent on projects like creating a written digital guidebook for our approach to bookkeeping, often dealing with very niche and complex situations (that guidebook still exists today, but has been expanded considerably since 2013), or training new bookkeepers that joined our rapidly growing team.
As a bookkeeping intern in the early days of Bench, I was not only responsible for supporting our clients through bookkeeping, but also for building the foundational resources, processes and systems for the future of the team. Every day, I tried to be “the most useful person in the room”. There was no such thing as a task that wasn’t my job — at great companies, people step up and do what needs to be done, period.
After 2 years in that entry role, I stepped into my first leadership position. This started with building new services and managing teams as a Team Lead and then Operations Manager, and eventually taking on the role leading our bookkeeping department as the Head of Ops in 2018. The mindset I had in my early days at Bench, working hard on every single problem that I encountered, no matter my job title, served me as I progressed in leadership.
Every step has been equal parts rewarding and challenging. My career at Bench building teams and scaling our service has led to unparalleled personal and professional development. I have found levels of resilience I did not know I was capable of, learned hard lessons, and celebrated countless wins. And most importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside outrageously smart and kind people, while making a real difference in people’s lives.”
- Brittany Hamilton, Senior Director, Operations
“I started at Bench in April 2014 as a summer co-op student working as an Accounting Intern. At the time, I was in the middle of completing my business degree at UVIC and was starting to think about my specialization. I was interested in Accounting, so Bench seemed like the perfect fit. I had the opportunity to gain some bookkeeping/accounting experience, but at a cool, innovative tech start up…which was a totally new concept to me at the time.
While at the end of the 4 month co-op I realized that perhaps bookkeeping/accounting wasn’t the perfect fit for me, my eyes were opened to the world of tech and a whole new set of opportunities I never knew existed. I loved the young, ambitious, collaborative energy and really believed in the positive impact Bench was making for small businesses.
A few months later, I was looking for a position for my final coop term. While you could return to the same company, you couldn’t hold the same position, so I had the opportunity to come back to Bench and try out another role.
For my final co-op term, Bench brought me on as an Operations Associate. I worked closely with the Ops team to develop and maintain processes and reporting, and provided support on a variety of projects and initiatives.
In 2015, I joined Bench full time back as an Operations Associate. My role as an Operations Associate eventually evolved into a full time Project Manager where instead of working on projects and initiatives within Ops, I started working on company wide strategic initiatives and collaborating with stakeholders across the company. I also started working closer with our Product team to coordinate the beta tests and rollouts of new features. After doing this for about a year, a position opened up for a Product Manager.
While it felt like a big leap at the time and diving into unknown waters, my manager encouraged me to take on the challenge. He believed in my abilities and ensured me that I had the support that I needed to be able to succeed.
I am now coming up on my two years as a Product Manager at Bench.
Even two years later, I am still consistently challenged and learning new things everyday.
My time at Bench has been a whirlwind. The environment is extremely fast paced, and day to day you don’t always recognize the amazing progress that is being made within the company, but also personally.
When I take a step back and reflect on the past 6 years, it’s amazing how much I have learned, accomplished, and grown.”
- Emily Sterling, Product Manager
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