How to Upload Documents

Why do I need to upload documents?

Uploading documents to Bench offers several advantages:

• Speed up your bookkeeping: By submitting all required documentation your bookkeeping team can get to work and get your bookkeeping done faster. 

• You’re always in the know: Your bookkeeping team will occasionally reach out for critical input to allow them to complete your monthly books with total accuracy. 

• Industry-leading guidelines: Bench follows industry-leading guidelines and standards for bookkeeping and documentation collection to ensure we get all your financial details right.

Watch a short how-to video

How to upload documents

1. When your bookkeeping team has requested specific documents, you’ll see a request in the notification center. Click “upload now”

2. The amount of documents requested by your bookkeeping team will be indicated next to each document type. If a document type doesn’t have any requests, there won’t be a number next to it. 

3. When you click on ‘bank statements’ you’ll be asked to select the institution and ledger

4. Within the account, we will show all the documents that are requested for that account. 

5. By default, all documents are selected. You can unselect the ones you’re not uploading.

6. Click ‘add document’ 

1. If you are uploading bank statements, a Plaid window opens up. Follow the prompts to upload your documents. With our secure smart scanning technology, the data from your bank statements will appear in Bench within minutes. 

2. If you are uploading non-bank statements, a selection window will open up 

7. Select all the documents you’re uploading at the same time.

8. They will appear in the “documents to submit section’

7. Click ‘submit’

8. We’ll let you know when the documents have uploaded successfully

What do I do if a request has no activity for a specific month?

If a request has no activity for a specific month it is still important to let your bookkeeping team know. 

1. Next to a request click the three dots

2. Then select ‘no activity for this month’ and continue uploading all other document

What should I do if I've already uploaded a document for one or more of the requests?

If you’ve already uploaded documents for any of the open requests, make sure the checkmarks for those documents are selected. Then, upload only the new documents that haven’t been uploaded yet. For example, if you have 3 requests and have already uploaded 1 of the 3 documents, select all 3, upload the 2 new ones, and click ‘Submit’.

Our bookkeeping team will verify the documents you’ve previously uploaded and match them to the corresponding requests, so you won’t be asked for the same document again.

What if I want to upload documents that were not requested by my bookkeeping team?

To ensure your bookkeeping team can process your documents as quickly as possible and and complete your books, it is very important to upload requested documents in the dedicated area for each request. 

However if you have documents that are have not been requested but that are important to share with your bookkeeping team you can:

1. If you’re uploading an additional document for an existing request click ‘upload non-requested documents’

2. If you’re uploading a non-requested document not related to any other request click ‘show document types with no requests’

3. Click the type of document you’re uploading from the available options

4. Upload your documents and click ‘submit’

What if I don't have any document requests in the notification center?

If you don’t see a document requests in the notification center, you can access the document upload flow from the documents tab in the left hand menu:

1. Click ‘documents’

2. If there are any outstanding requests you will see them here

3. To open up the document upload flow, click on any of the requests and follow the same steps
4. To upload any unrequested documents click ‘upload’

What do I do if I’m having technical issues when uploading documents?

If you’re noticing anything unusual (glitches, it taking too long, etc.) as you're trying to upload documents, you can share that with us here and our teams will investigate the issue. 

How do I share my feedback about the document upload experience?

Your use of this new feature is extremely valuable and helps us further enhance the experience. We’d love to know how you’re finding it so far. You can share your feedback in this short survey any time.