This article has been written as an opinion piece from an accounting firm, and will discuss the syncing issues we have encountered with the bank feeds on a few accounting software platforms over the past couple of years.
In pursuance of this topic, I can see no other way but to start at the beginning. The first cloud accounting software to link data from banks was Xero in 2006. They met with ASB Bank in New Zealand, pitched the idea, and the dawn of a new age began. Xero is a company based out of Wellington, New Zealand and when they began they were able to not only connect personally with the banks, but were also able to achieve a direct link from the bank itself to the software. In 2009, their reach expanded outside New Zealand and Australia, to the UK and the United States of America. This in itself showcased the necessity for bank feeds to have a link to financial institutions. However, their reach was too great and therefore Xero could not establish personal relationships with banks anymore. This led to the integration of a third party software to be the intermediary between Xero and the bank institutions – enter Yodlee. Yodlee is a well-established company in the US, as well as the first bank feed partner, that provides a secure connection between the accounting software and the bank. This intermediary serves as an easier way for the accounting software to receive the data. Xero is not the only accounting software to use Yodlee. Zoho Books and FreshBooks have also made good use of Yodlee through the years.
However, Yodlee is not the only third party company out there to be the intermediary between accounting software and the bank institutions. There are other accounting software platforms that use bank feed partners, including Sage, Zoho Books, Freshbooks, and NetSuite. Sage operates with Plaid as their bank feed partner, NetSuite uses Salt Edge Limited in their SuiteApp, and Freshbooks and Zoho Books upped the ante by implementing three different integration partners that let their clients choose which one works best for them. FreshBooks and Zoho Books might be leading the industry when it comes to bank feed partners, but there is still a long way to go before all platforms can become anchored in the reliability of their bank feed connections.
There have been numerous concerns about why bank feeds are not operating as they should be. Errors and syncing issues have been plaguing bank feeds across the board on many accounting software platforms. QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Sage, Xero, Netsuite, FreshBooks, and Wave occupy the majority of the market and yet only a few have affirmed what the real issue is. Typically, when you look into bank feed syncing errors, a lot of the information puts the onus onto the customer to troubleshoot. In our exploration into this topic, we have encountered many articles and blogs on how to fix bank feed issues. From the accounting software support pages to professional sites dedicated to helping others navigate and troubleshoot, those who are having issues with their bank feeds have to go through a rigmarole of steps as seen in the example below.
Figure 1
Screenshot of a troubleshooting example from the Sage online support page.
Note. The image was created as a screenshot from Sage online support page to represent troubleshooting steps for errors found in bank feeds. From Resolve Issues With a Bank Feed article by Sage, 2022.
(https://help.accounting.sage.com/en-ie/accounting/banking/bank_feeds/problems-with-a-bank-feed.html)
However, all of the troubleshooting aside, the onus may not entirely rely on the user, and may be found with the bank institution, or the third party company that is the direct line of communication between the bank feed and the bank itself. Not all bank feed partner integrations are a one size fits all approach, which is why Freshbooks and Zoho Books decided to integrate three. Furthermore, Quickbooks doesn’t seem to use a bank partner, and users can connect directly from the app or website to the bank institution of choice provided it is available. Quickbooks connects directly with banks all over the world, but this is not available to every country and not with every bank. So, the only question of concern here is, are some of these platforms fully transparent on whether it is something they need to fix on their end or something that needs to be fixed on the user’s end.
Naturally, if there is a problem, it is best practice to begin with troubleshooting. The user would benefit from ensuring that, before panic sets in, all bases are covered by going through the step by step processes when contacting support. At the same time, customers deserve transparency and have the right to know if there is a connection issue with the accounting software, with the bank, and especially with a third party intermediary company that holds the line of communication on the back end. Quickbooks is a perfect example, as we cannot seem to find an article on their support page that provides enough reassurance as to why there have been syncing issues, errors, and even connectivity concerns in their bank feeds. With a list of steps, it gives the customer the opportunity to troubleshoot, which we will say we are quite grateful for, but it doesn’t actually bring us to the source of the problem even with the reasoning below.
We have seen some sufficient reasons for why there are errors, such as:
Screenshot of examples of error messages and their meanings from QuickBooksHelp online.
Note. The image was created as a screenshot from QuickBooksHelp by Intuit to represent various errors found in bank feeds for specific banks and their rationale. From Quickbooks Online Bank Feed Status article by QuickBooks, updated January 2023.
(https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ca/help-article/banking/quickbooks-online-bank-feed-status/L4GlqKaTN_CA_en_CA?uid=lcqg11op)
However, the most recurring rationale we have noticed on Quickbooks for these issues is, “Please be aware that our engineers are aware of this issue, and are in the process of investigating.” as seen in the below example.
Figure 3
Screenshot example of error messages and their meanings from QuickBooksHelp online.
Note. The image was created as a screenshot from QuickBooksHelp by Intuit to represent various errors found in bank feeds for specific banks and their rationale. From Quickbooks Online Bank Feed Status article by QuickBooks, updated January 2023.
(https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ca/help-article/banking/quickbooks-online-bank-feed-status/L4GlqKaTN_CA_en_CA?uid=lcqg11op)
Furthermore, we are concerned with the implications that these bank feed issues may have on business owners who do their own books and do not have the wealth of experience of seasoned accountants. They might not be aware that some transactions are missing and in that case will have an incomplete set of books. It may also stand that if there is a bookkeeper working on their books who doesn’t reconcile the accounts, the bookkeeper won’t be aware of any missing transactions either. This can cause a lot of headaches for a lot of people. In addition, when the errors and syncing issues have been resolved, how do we ensure that all banking transactions have been added? Perhaps an option for a quick reconciliation can lead the way to a full resolution and ease the distress for all users. We need to have a holistic approach.
If there is an obstacle that is not permitting us to connect with our banks through the software within the bank institutions or with the third party bank feed partners, then we deserve to be informed as opposed to only being directed to resolve it our own. Ultimately, it leaves us hopeless because there is absolutely nothing we can do but wait and watch our frustration mount as we keep trying to troubleshoot wondering if maybe, just maybe we did something wrong.
So next time you are having syncing and connectivity errors with your bank feed on any of these accounting software platforms, perhaps inquire into the bank itself or the very third party that is your line of connection as to what the problem is. It may be something on your end, but it may also be completely out of your hands and will require a bit of patience and advocating before you can be up and running again. Take heed and remember, this is a concern for a lot of people and you are not alone.
On a final note, I will conclude that while there is movement into resolving this problem, we are still a ways away from a solution. There needs to be more action taken to prevent implications. Money is a serious business.
Written by,
Meggie Finelli
SFIR Consulting Ltd.
