Do you use direct withdrawal for balances due?

We use direct debit somewhat frequently. It hasn't been a problem, yet.

I hate the idea of doing that for estimates, I wish we didn't offer it, and it's been a problem for at least 2 clients so far. Changing or canceling the payments requires calling the Treasury.

I make the client tell me how they want it, and they also have to verify their bank account information before I file whether it's paying balance due or receiving a refund. Some clients want it direct debit, others want to pay online.

Direct Pay isn't foolproof either. My client used it this year and just got a notice that her balance is unpaid. Her bank statement clearly shows the withdrawal so it shouldn't be difficult to fix, but I've never had that happen with Direct Debit.

Direct Pay isn't foolproof either. My client used it this year and just got a notice that her balance is unpaid. Her bank statement clearly shows the withdrawal so it shouldn't be difficult to fix, but I've never had that happen with Direct Debit.

More likely than not, this will be attributed to user error. I ask my clients to upload the confirmation printout that shows exactly how they coded the payment. e.g. tax year, payment type, withdraw date etc.

Just because a payment is debited from the client's account does not mean it was coded correctly.

Agreed.
This has happened to my clients a number of times. Most often, they code the payment to the following year instead of the year for the return they intended.

I agree with MVT in direct debit being one of the more efficient options.

2022 was the first year I used Drake and it prints out the Account Transaction Summary page that lists all the pertinent info such as bank name, numbers, type, deposit amount, withdrawal amount, and dates of any withdrawals. The client is required to review and sign this page which helps absolve any liability on my side if anything was incorrectly provided to me in the first place or if a human error was made on input.

I had zero issues with amounts coming out plus many of my new clients were happy they didn't have to send payments via mail like in the past. 9 out of 10 times my clients wanted to pay as late as possible so if I filed a return earlier in the season, I would send a reminder email to clients the week before deadline reminding them of the tax payment coming out of their account. I also didn't have to hand hold any clients for online payment options.

Direct Pay isn't foolproof either. My client used it this year and just got a notice that her balance is unpaid. Her bank statement clearly shows the withdrawal so it shouldn't be difficult to fix, but I've never had that happen with Direct Debit.

More likely than not, this will be attributed to user error. I ask my clients to upload the confirmation printout that shows exactly how they coded the payment. e.g. tax year, payment type, withdraw date etc.

Just because a payment is debited from the client's account does not mean it was coded correctly.

Not about to argue; 99 times out of 100 that's true. Frequently an extension payment that gets coded to the current year's 1st quarter. But in this particular case it WAS coded correctly.