REP billing not giving credit for large payment in January NO ONE TO PHONE THAT UNDERSTANDS

[PuzzlingInGa]

Anybody else not being credited by REP for payments???? I paid a large amount early January in advance for REP (I try to get close to what I will owe for the primary season so as not to overlook a statement.  I WILL NOT enroll in auto pay for ANYTHING in my life; for heavens sake why would I trust computer systems that can't even credit my manual payments??)   I called the only number given us to talk to a human. Human wanted my credit card information. It was a though she didn't even hear me speak the fact that I OWE NOTHING at this time.    I sent a doc to Lacerte with evidence of payment. This is exceedingly frustrating, especially during our stressful time of primary tax season.   gahhhh... What is going on????

[Karl]

As gently as I can say this, and please don't shoot the messenger, I think you're wanting a custom level of service (being able to pre-pay for REP charges and get them applied) that might be difficult or impossible for Intuit/Lacerte to provide.

I'll concede that they *should* be able to easily do this. But sometimes in big organizations with big legacy systems, the right hand can't talk to the left hand in unique ways (like prepayments being applied to charges).

Think of this in terms of your practice. We all get to run our practices differently. Some tax pros will bend over backwards to make an easy and smooth experience for the client. I take a pretty rigid approach with my clients: do these things my way or you respectfully cannot be a client (upload all docs to portal, all calls must be scheduled, work is entirely remote). Every exception takes extra energy and processing time, and I am willing to forego the revenue from the clients that would want to bring me paper docs or phone me on their timetable.

The best I can recommend is to call the Support number and when they ask you to describe your issue, say "billing." That should get you over to the Sales team away from the Support team. Maybe you've already done that, I don't know from your post.

But if you want to reduce these headaches for yourself in the future, and you want to stay with Lacerte, I'd gently recommend you consider doing REP payments their way and setting whatever reminders or systems you need in place to allay your concerns and make sure you don't miss a statement.

[PuzzlingInGa]

lol. Not going to shoot the messenger.   Please understand that I have been with Lacerte since their beginnings. I have done exactly this procedure every year for a very long time: since long ago when I was several days late with a payment because mail was delayed, and they threatened to freeze my account.  SO.... if they have CHANGED their procedures so they can no longer handle this, one would think that during the past seven weeks since my payment was received by them... they'd have notified me???   OR sent me a refund if they aren't capable of handling my payment?   We're talking thousands of dollars here that I'm not credited with... for a seven week period.  Yes, I did say "billing". Yes, that got me to the Billing person on staff, who wanted my credit card information since I "haven't paid".   Thanks very much for your gentle advice.   It doesn't help me to get credited for that payment, however. 😉   (Been in business 43 years)

[Karl]

Thank you for receiving it graciously. I agree that you should have been notified if there was a process change on their end.

I'm sorry getting over to billing didn't help. After that, the only thing I'd recommend is asking for a supervisor if you don't feel understood.

I hope you're able to get it resolved soon. I know you definitely have other things to focus on this time of year. 🙂

[PuzzlingInGa]

I am happy to report that I FINALLY got my money back.  That's all I wanted. Therefore I am no longer stressing.   The entire issue was handled in a less than professional manner. I can forgive this due to the excellent services of so many prior years.   It is only within the last 3 years that I've observed concerning actions and behavior within Lacerte.      For the curious, this is what happened.  I, as I have done for many years, paid my anticipated thousands of dollars for REP... in advance.  The payment cleared the bank (as in WAS CASHED) January 6, 2025.   I did all I would normally need to do with Lacerte of the past, or any other business when I was NOT credited in my REP account for payment.  Lacerte failed dismally to be able to handle the issue. One of the things I did was to send a copy of my bank statement to the accounting dept, asking that they PLEASE credit me for my payment.   Interestingly, after my drawing attn to this on the community boards, I received a voice message on my cell stating that Lacerte had sent my check back. Um. No.  My check was CASHED.   The day after my last comment on the boards, I received a check from Lacerte, made out to Lacerte, and alerting me to contact my BANK to get my 'refund'.   (New procedure for me ENTIRELY)  The check imo should have been made out to my BUSINESS.   Fortunately, when I called (taking MORE of my time; real lack of appreciation for the customer, here, Lacerte?)  my bank knew what to do.  A STOP PAYMENT was somehow retroactively applied (by the way, Lacerte BACKDATED the check to Lacerte to a couple days after my check cleared... but did not SEND it to me until a postmark of last week...  Long long story short. As of today that money FINALLY cleared my bank and is back into my account.   OHHHH. And in the envelope containing this check made out to Lacerte that caused extra steps during tax season (I worked 80 hour weeks until just a couple years ago, during tax season) there was an insert informing me that CHECKS will no longer be accepted by Lacerte as of SUMMER 2025.   I'm nobody, not important, so I won't express my opinions about the many failures imo Lacerte is experiencing except maybe to say... go back to KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE, might be a good choice, Lacerte.     A LONG time ago someone advised me to do just that, because SIMPLE leads to and keeps SUCCESS.    Lacerte, you are trying to provide TOO MANY SERVICES that have NOTHING to do with assisting your customers; you might want to do some internal assessments.   Not just in billing dept, but... well, SOFTWARE incompatibility issues that I have needed to address that were due to lack of diligence by Lacerte imo.  BUT remember. I'm not nobody. Nothing to see here. Thanks for giving my money back.  😉     You're still the best. At least... I think you are. I haven't looked elsewhere for decades.

[PuzzlingInGa]

btw SEVEN WEEKS... my money sat out there for SEVEN WEEKS before I got it back

[JkG]

I left Lacerte for one year and tried another software program a few years ago for the issues I had with their billing department.  I've been using Lacerte since 1993 and never had problems until recently.  It took about 3 or 4 months for one of my payments (over $2,000) to show up in my account even though they acknowledged receipt.  They finally issued me a refund after many phone calls.

I didn't like the other software so now I'm back with Lacerte and I pay autopay to make sure I don't accidentally pay too much during the busy tax season.

[PuzzlingInGa]

Thanks, JkG.  🙂

My solution, at the moment, is that as soon as I turn on the REPs... I go on-line to Lacerte REP and pay with my credit card.  I seriously don't trust Autopay for any business yet.   I am old and I worry about my entire bank account being wiped out... and you and I both know how long it can take to be repaid.  :-Did

And... you are back, so... I won't go looking at other places, perhaps.  😄  I am pretty sure I've been with Lacerte since they started. My math says I likely have paid them close to a quarter million accumulatively over the years.  Maybe.  Maybe more.   Maybe a little bit less. However, I know I am just a drippy drop; not important.   I've been preparing returns since they were done with a pencil, and then typed once all was complete, and then trotted (ok, drove; no horses involved) over to the copy shop (cuz no small business could afford their own copy machine back then) to make copies, and back to the office for stapling!  Fun times.  😉

[PuzzlingInGa]

oh oh oh... AND CARBON PAPER before the print shops! lol. I just remembered that.   I'll be dead in a number of years, and Lacerte will likely go on and on.