Good bookkeeping software support means a real person helps when a client file fails, answers fast enough that a month-end close is not held up, and walks you through setup at the start. Before you sign, get the response times, the support channels and the name of your onboarding contact in writing, then test them during the trial.
What should bookkeeping software support cover?
Bookkeeping software support should cover three kinds of help: fixing a file or feature that does not work, answering how-to questions, and getting your practice set up. A plan that covers only the first leaves you guessing about the rest. Ask which of the three the price includes and which costs extra.
Use this checklist when you talk to a vendor. Each item is something to confirm in writing, not just hear on a call.
- Channels. Email, chat, phone or a ticket form, and which of them reach a person.
- Hours and time zone. When a human answers, and whether that overlaps your working day.
- First response time. How long until someone replies, for an urgent and a normal issue.
- Failed file help. Whether support will look at a statement that did not convert.
- Onboarding. Whether setup sessions are included and how many.
- Named contact. Whether you get one person who knows your account.
- Status updates. Where outages and known problems are posted.
- Feature requests. How they are logged and whether you hear back.
- Exit help. Whether support will help you export everything if you leave.
The last item links to a wider question about getting your data out, which the post on bookkeeping software data portability covers in full.
Support for a failed or flagged statement
Support for a failed statement is the help a conversion tool needs most often. When a client file will not read, or is flagged because its balances do not tie, someone should look at that exact file and say whether the statement or the software is at fault.
Ask whether support will open your file, and how files you send are handled.
A flagged statement is not always a support case. AutoBankConvert, for example, flags a statement that fails its balance check instead of exporting it, and the cause is often a missing page or a scan cut off at the bottom. Those you can fix by asking the client for a better copy. A statement from a common bank that fails every month is different. That is a pattern support should pick up and explain.
When you raise a case, include the bank, the statement period, the page where the output goes wrong, and what you expected to see. A vendor's answer to a clear report tells you a lot about how the next one will go.
How fast should software support answer during month end?
Software support should give a first reply within one working day for normal questions, and faster for anything that blocks a close. Month end is when you need help most and when vendors are busiest. Ask what response time the vendor commits to, and whether it changes in the first and last weeks of a month.
Response time and resolution time are different. A fast "we are looking into it" is useful, but only if a fix or workaround follows. Ask the vendor for both numbers, and ask what happens when they miss them.
Plan your own buffer as well. If the whole close depends on one tool, keep a fallback for a stuck client, such as entering that one statement by hand. The month-end close checklist for bookkeepers gives an order for the close that leaves room for a delay.
Onboarding sessions and named support contacts
Onboarding sessions are the meetings where a vendor helps you set up your firm, your first clients and your rules. A named contact is one person who stays with your account after that. Both matter more than a help library, because the first month on a new tool is when questions pile up fastest.
Early-access products often give more of this than mature ones. A small vendor onboarding firms in groups may set up a session for each one and reply in person to every question. The trade-offs of buying at that stage are covered in early-access bookkeeping software. AutoBankConvert is in that position now: it brings bookkeeping firms on in small groups and replies to each request with a setup time.
Ask how long the named contact lasts. Some vendors assign one for the first month only, then move you to a general queue.
Testing a vendor's support before you sign
Testing a vendor's support means sending a real question during the trial and timing the answer. Choose a question that needs a person to think, such as why one of your statements came back with a wrong date, rather than one answered by a help article. The reply shows you the speed, the tone and whether anyone read your message.
An example test ticket, with made-up details:
Subject: January card statement for one client, dates off by a year
We converted a credit card statement for the period December 18 to January 17. The January lines came back dated in the previous year. The bank is a large card issuer. Could you look at the file attached and tell us whether this is a setting or a reading problem?
Note the time you sent it, the time of the first reply, and whether the answer solved it. Send a second ticket in a different channel and compare.
Ask one more thing: is support the same for desktop and cloud products? A vendor that sells both may handle them through different teams. The guide to downloaded versus cloud accounting software explains why some clients still run desktop files, which is when this matters.
If you want to test support on a statement tool, ask AutoBankConvert for a setup time and have your hardest file ready when the reply comes.