Accounts Payable - Accounts Payable Standard ACH File Format

Overview

CMiC provides the Standard ACH File Format for generating EFT files in the AP Check Printing program, which allows users to make vendor payments electronically through a bank.

What is ACH*?

Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States. ACH processes large volumes of credit and debit transactions in batches. ACH credit transfers include direct deposit, payroll and vendor payments. ACH direct debit transfers include consumer payments on insurance premiums, mortgage loans, and other kinds of bills.

ACH is a computer-based clearing and settlement facility established to process the exchange of electronic transactions between participating depository institutions.

Rules and regulations that govern the ACH network are established by NACHA1 and the Federal Reserve2.

Specifications

ACH Input File Structure

The NACHA format is a text file composed of records, where each record is 94 characters long. All records and fields are required, except Record Type Code 7 - Entry Detail Addenda Record, which is optional.

No.	Record Title	Record Type Code
1	File Header Record - This record includes your company name and company number. It also designates the immediate destination of the entries contained within the file.	1
2	Batch Header Record - This record indicates the effective entry date (the date you request the deposits/debits to be settled). In addition, this record identifies your company and provides an entry description for the credit and debits in this batch.	5
3	Entry Detail Record - This record contains the information necessary to post a deposit to/withdrawal from an account, such as recipient’s name, account number, and dollar amount of the payment.	6
4	Entry Detail Addenda Record - This record is optional. This record contains additional information relating to the prior entry detail record. It is primarily used for CCD+ and CTX, which are corporate to corporate transactions.	7
5	Batch Control Total - This record appears at the end of each batch and contains totals for the batch.	8
6	File Control Record - This record provides a final check on the data submitted. It contains block and batch count(s) and totals for each type of entry.	9

Sequence of Records

Diagram of Sequence of Records

File Header Record (1)

The file header record designates the physical file characteristics. It also identifies the bank as the immediate destination and your company as the immediate origin of the file.

Description of File Header Record (1)

Batch Header Record (5)

A batch is a collection of entries within a file which may have the same effective date, company name or company description. Whenever a change is required, a separate batch collection is used.

Entry Detail Record (6)

One Entry Detail Record is created for each entry. The record contains information about the Receiver’s financial institution.

Entry Detail Record Description (6)

The fields 2 and 10 above are highlighted in yellow to show the only value supported by CMiC and it is hardcoded to print the same value all the time.

Addenda Detail Record (7) Layout (Optional)

Addenda Detail Record Description (7) – (Optional)

Company Batch Control Record (8)

Description of Batch Control Record (8)

File Control Record (9)

Description of Fields in File Control Record (9)

Example

The EFT setup is located in Enterprise, where a file code is created by default by CMiC. This must be adjusted with values obtained from their respective banks.

The EFT Format field's drop-down list on the EFT File Format screen shows the bank formats currently supported.

Pgm: APEFTFM – EFT File Formats: Accounts Payable > Setup > Global Tables > EFT Formats

The above screenshot shows the File Header record Type Code "3" has immediate destination, which must be obtained from the bank and populated here. Other values such as Record Size "94" and Blocking Factor "10" are default values prescribed by the banks and should not be modified without specific approval from their banks.

To add Addenda Line, set Code 19 as "1".

For the Balancing Line, set Code 30 as "YY" otherwise set as "YN".

Code 28 must also be filled for the Balancing Line.

The following is a Standard EFT file generated by the CMiC AP Check Printing program (standard Treeview path: Accounts Payable > Check > Print Check).

The Company Maintenance > Company Detail > Tax2 field value (under General Information) is used for Immediate Origin field in the File Header Record. The Company Name is used in the Company Name column in the Batch Header record.

Pgm: COMPSETUP – Maintain Companies; standard Treeview path: General Ledger > Setup > Maintain Companies – General Information tab - [Company Detail] – Button

Pgm: BPVENFM – Maintain Vendors; standard Treeview path: Accounts Payable > Setup > Maintain Vendors - Accounting tab

NOTE: Users may refer to their bank for any specific field information and tweak the Company / Vendor information accordingly.

The following is the field mapping of EFT File Code maintenance in the CMiC AP application.

*File Code	APEF_FILE_CODE		File Code	STD_EFT
File Description	APEF_FILE_DESC		File Description	Standard EFT File Format
Code1	APEF_CODE1	File Header Record Type Code	Assigned by bank: The code will identify the file header record.	1
Code2	APEF_CODE2	Priority Code	Assigned by bank: The lower the number of priority code, the higher processing priority.	01
Code3	APEF_CODE3	Immediate Destination	Enter the bank's transit routing number.	071000301
Code4	APEF_CODE4	Record Size	Number of bytes per record.	094
Code5	APEF_CODE5	Blocking Factor	Enter the bank blocking factor.	10
Code6	APEF_CODE6	Format Code	Enter the bank format code.	1
Code7	APEF_CODE7	Immediate Destination Name	Optional field. Use to describe input file for internal accounting purposes.
Code8	APEF_CODE8	Reference Code	Assigned by bank: The code will identify the batch header record.
Code9	APEF_CODE9	Batch Header Record Type Code	Enter the code to identify the type of entries in the batch.	5
Code10	APEF_CODE10	Service Class Code	Optional field for company's internal use.	200
Code11	APEF_CODE11	Company Discretionary Data	Identifies the entries in the batch. Common standard entry class code are PPD - for Consumers Items, CTX - for Corporate Transactions.
Code12	APEF_CODE12	Standard Entry Class Code	Enter description of the transaction. This may be printed on the receiver's bank statement by the receiving financial institution.	CCD
Code13	APEF_CODE13	Company Entry Description	This field will be inserted by ACH operator.
Code14	APEF_CODE14	Originator Status Code	Assigned by bank: The originator status code.	1
Code15	APEF_CODE15	Origination DFI Identification	Enter your bank routing transit number.
Code16	APEF_CODE16	Entry Detail Record Type Code	Assigned by bank: The code identifies an entry detail record.	6
Code17	APEF_CODE17	Transaction Code	Enter the account type at the receiving financial institution.	27
Code18	APEF_CODE18	Discretionary Data
Code19	APEF_CODE19	Addenda Record Indicator	If there is no addenda accompanying this transaction enter '0', otherwise '1'.	1
Code20	APEF_CODE20	Trace Number	Optional field for company's internal use.
Code21	APEF_CODE21	Addenda Record Type Code	Enter the code to identify the addenda record.	7
Code22	APEF_CODE22	Addenda Type Code	Assigned by bank: The number is unique to the transaction.	05
Code23	APEF_CODE23	Payment Related Information	Assigned by bank: The code will identify the batch control record.
Code24	APEF_CODE24	Batch Control Record Type Code	Enter the code to identify the type of entries in the batch.	8
Code25	APEF_CODE25	Service Class Code	Optional field. Will depend on your bank information.	200
Code26	APEF_CODE26	Message Authentication Code
Code27	APEF_CODE27	Reserved	Enter your bank routing transit number.
Code28	APEF_CODE28	Originating DFI Identification	Assigned by bank: The code will identify the file control record.
Code29	APEF_CODE29	File Control Record Type Code		9
Code30	APEF_CODE30	Reserved	For the balancing line set as ‘YY’ otherwise set as ‘YN’.	YY