Looking for an alternative to Bench Accounting?
Craftybase is a brilliant Bench Accounting alternative. Here's why you should consider switching…
Why Bench Accounting may not be the best option for your Etsy store…
Bench Accounting (before it was announced it was closing down that is!) was a pretty handy piece of software for small businesses, but it was just not designed with the unique needs of small business, and especially small makers in mind. Small manufacturers need a complete different set of features for their bookkeeping needs - income and expense tracking unfortunately just doesn't cut the mustard.
Craftybase has been working with thousands of small DTC sellers just like you over the last 8 years creating and refining the perfect set of features that handmade sellers need in a bookkeeping system. For one thing, we focus on inventory tracking: this is one of the most important things a small manufacturing business needs to be on top of and is often the most neglected and poorly managed. Whilst simple cashflow systems like Bench Accounting can be helpful to see your incomings and outgoings, it's not so useful at tax time for a handmade business. Your Annual Schedule C filing needs detailed inventory valuation information in order to complete it accurately to satisfy IRS requirements so unless you upgrade to the more expensive and complicated Manufacturing version of their accounting package then you'll need to find another way of tracking your manufacturing and inventory costs on top of paying for Bench Accounting.
Craftybase contains all of the features you need in one tidy, cost effective package. Like Bench Accounting, we automatically import all your fees and sales and categorise them for you to make it super easy come tax time.
| Feature * | Craftybase | Bench Accounting SE |
|---|---|---|
| Windows / Mac Compatible | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Tracking - Indirect | Yes | Yes |
| Product Tracking - Direct | Yes | No |
| Time Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Product Tracking | Yes | No |
| Vendor and Customer Lists | Yes | No |
| Material Inventory Tracking | Yes | No |
| Business Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Tax Worksheets inc. Schedule C | Yes | Yes |
| Importing from Etsy | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory Valuations & COGS | Yes | No |
| Pricing Guidance | Yes | No |
| Consignment Tracking | Yes | No |
| Bill of Materials (BoM) | Yes | No |
| Stocktaking | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Support | Yes | Yes |
See why our customers love Craftybase
The automatic deduction of materials during manufacturing is a HUGE time saver and a guarantee of accurate inventory that I deeply appreciate.
Sarah Bingham
Sarah Bingham
I'm impressed with the ability to track minute quantities of essential oils and other materials used in multiple products. I love the conversion from purchase to tracking units, and love the ability to make components and recipes.
Elise Wishlow
Elise Wishlow
Craftybase has given me the tools amp; resources to accurately track my materials, recipes, and inventory. I love that I can build out my recipes and make adjustments to see my cost in real time.
Tiffany Jensen
Tiffany Jensen
My favourite feature is the software's ability to calculate the cost of our products in real-time, taking into account the increase in the costs of raw materials.
Lina Andreas
Lina Andreas
Tracking expenses, materials, recipes, and orders all in one place is the reason my business was able to grow from a 'hobby' to a full-fledged enterprise.
Homero Gonzalez
Homero Gonzalez
Being able to manage our inventory and accurately assess our cost of goods has allowed us to scale our business with confidence.
Jennifer Biagioni
Jennifer Biagioni
Craftybase allows us to be lean with our materials inventory so we won't have any overage of inventory. It provides a great easy-to-use analysis of COGS to help us better manage our margins.
Duke Ahrens
Duke Ahrens
Tried several systems and Craftybase is the only one, that covers all our needs, including the analysis of the sales and planning for the future.
Balazs Lengyel
Balazs Lengyel
Craftybase makes it easy to create my formulas and automatically calculates what I need to use, when to re-order, how much it costs me to make my products, and so much more. I literally could not function without it!
Samantha
Samantha
Craftybase frees up my time to focus more on customer engagement and driving sells. It's basically 50 spreadsheets and two employees all wrapped up into one easy to use platform.
Nathan Tanner
Nathan Tanner
We do not know what we would do without this application. Spreadsheets and confusing documents is a thing of the past now!
Kahne
Kahne
Craftybase helps me keep my sales automatically entered into my system so that I can get on with doing the fun part: the creative products I make!
Kitty
Kitty
* Features correct as of Jan 2019