The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Vancouver's Bench Accounting suddenly ceased operations Friday, potentially putting hundreds out of work and leaving customers of the bookkeeping company -- which had raised more than $100-million (U.S.) from leading tech investors, including Shopify -- scrambling for alternatives. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that the previous homepage of the Bench website was replaced Friday with a "notice of service closure" that said its platform was no longer accessible and that customers can expect to receive more information about how to access their data by Dec. 30. In a post on X, Shopify chief operations officer Kaz Nejatian blamed the shutdown on the decision in late 2021 to replace Bench co-founder Ian Crosby with Jean-Philippe Durrios as chief executive officer. "Bad investors destroyed a great Canadian company by replacing the founder with so-called professionals," he wrote. Tobi Lutke, Shopify's founder and CEO, replied to Mr. Nejatian's post expressing agreement. Multiple unverified reports said Bench has filed for creditor protection and that its roughly 450 employees had been laid off, though Mr. Durrios did not respond to multiple requests for confirmation.