Business ACH for banks

ACH for business allows end users to create, edit, and initiate batch ACH transfers within the Banno app. Specialized permissions can give access to specific actions and fields to different members of the business’s team, giving a high level of control to business users. Using ACH in Banno Online, end users can:

• Create and edit batches, including prenotes and tax payments
• Review and initiate batches
• View ACH history

Depending on the number of enabled payment entitlements, ACH displays individually or in a drop-down under Payments in the app’s navigation menu.

View and search ACH batches

From the ACH list view, end users can view, edit, initiate, and uninitiate ACH batches. Depending on the ACH status, a batch displays in the Active list or History list for an account.

Active

Batches in a Ready, Initiated, or Pending approval status.

History

Batches in a Processed status that have been sent to their recipients.

Uninitiated batches ready to be initiated have a status of Ready or Pending approval. Click one of these batches to view the entered details, edit details (including recipients), or to initiate.

Status

Depending where a batch is in the transmit process, it’s in one of the following statuses:

Ready

The batch is created and ready to initiate sending funds to the recipient.

Initiated

The batch has been sent and will begin processing for the selected effective date.

Processed

The ACH batch has been completed and recipients have received the transfer as of the effective date listed.

Pending approval

The batch was initiated by an end user and awaits approval from another end user.

Create ACH batches

Creating a batch requires the following information:

ACH name

An end user defined name for the batch.

ACH company

Brings the end user to a list of ACH companies to choose from. Information shown includes the company name, company ID, SEC code, and requirements for batches created using the given ACH company.

Entry description

Optional additional information about the batch.

Discretionary data

Allows the end user to enter or edit discretionary data.

Recipients

The end user must enter one or more recipients for the batch. When more than ten recipients are added, recipients will be listed in separate pages, ten at a time.

Edit or delete ACH batches

When selecting an uninitiated ACH batch from the ACH list, an end user can edit any of the details used when creating a batch and save the new details.

Review and initiate ACH batches

Initiated batches have a status of Initiated. Clicking these batches shows the details of the initiated batch. These can also be uninitiated at any time before the cutoff time on the selected effective date, reverting the batch to a Ready status.

The bulk actions icon allows end users to select up to ten batches at a time to initiate. Dates can be set individually or for all selected batches, while offset accounts must be selected for each batch. End users can bulk initiate tax payments, prenotes, and standard batches in ready or pending approval status.

End users can filter all batches based on their type (including prenote and tax payments), as well as by effective date using the calendar. Multiple dates may be selected at once to show all batches for the chosen dates.

Error messages

If one of the following error messages display, make sure to review limits set at the appropriate level(s):

ACH Limited Exceeded

The batch exceeds the cash user limit & the Netteller ID limit.

ACH Daily Credit Exposure Limit Exceeded

The batch exceeds the ACH Company limit.

Importing batches

The Upload a file options accepts NACHA-formatted .txt and .ach files, creating batches based on the data in the file. If there is an issue with the file, an informative error including the problem found and the line number it was found on is shown to the end user. From here, the end user can edit their file and try the upload again.

A user is unable to initiate their ACH file

The Banno Business platform has checks and balances built in to ensure user compliance with your financial institution’s expectations and Nacha regulations. If an organization user has difficulties initiating their file, consider these issues.

Company Header Validation Against the Core

Parameters within core control validation rules for an organization user’s Nacha file header ensure your client submits payment information about the ACH entity that your financial has on file and monitors. You can check your financial institution’s settings within ACPAR > ACH General Parameters. This commonly includes Company Name and Company ID.

Compare your financial institution’s settings for the client’s ACH Company set up within ACPAR > ACH company maintenance against the information within the client’s Nacha file header. This information must match exactly as it’s listed in the core menu, including case sensitivity.

If the information does not match, either the institution must change it on file on the core or the user must update it in the file to ensure a match.

Transaction information does not meet requirements

Your institution controls the types of transactions that a user is allowed to originate, such as credits, debits, and offsetting transactions. If an organization user tries to initiate a batch that violates these settings, they are not able to proceed. These settings are viewable within ACPAR > ACH Company Maintenance.

If the company is set to ‘Create Offset’, their file can only include all credits or all debits and cannot include the offsetting transaction. The file must be unbalanced.

If the company is set to ‘Balanced’, their file must contain equal credit and debit amounts to proceed.

Adding recipients

When creating a new batch, the end use must add one or more recipients. This is done in a flow where the end user can enter a recipient, save recipients, or add additional recipients. Creating a recipient requires the following information:

Recipient name

The name of the recipient.

Amount

The dollar amount for the transaction to this recipient.

Credit/debit

The type of transaction to perform on the recipient’s account.

Account number

The recipient’s account number at their financial institution.

Routing number

The routing number for the recipient’s financial institution. This entry field can be used to search for a given routing number by institution name.

Account type

The account type the batch will be sending the transaction to.

Recipients can also be listed as prenote or can be put on hold. Optional fields include the ability to add an ID number or addenda. All required fields for each recipient must be filled to save the recipient list.

Prenotes

Prenotes are zero dollar test transactions used to validate a recipient’s account information. These can be initiated via the Recipients screen of another batch during either creation or editing. Selecting the prenote box will put the given account on hold until a prenote ACH has been completed. Prenote batches are created automatically, and prenotes for multiple recipients on the same ACH batch will group together in a single prenote batch. Once initiated, any errors with the account appear within 2-5 days. If no issues are found, the batch will succeed. Remember to delete the prenote batch and update the amounts for each recipient in the original batch before initiating.

All prenote batches are denoted with the prefix PNT- in the ACH list.

Tax payments

Tax payments are a specialized type of ACH batch used for paying state or federal taxes. They work similarly to other batches, but require some specialized information during creation:

Tax authority

The end user can select between federal or state taxes.

Batch name

An end user defined name for the batch.

Tax period

The period covered by this tax payment, including the month and year.

Pay from

The offset account for the payment. Unlike a normal batch, this must be selected when creating the batch, rather than when initiating.

Pay to

The institution to send the ACH batch to. This field is automatically populated with the bank for either federal or state taxes.

Taxpayer ID

A unique field to designate your taxpayer ID.

Tax code

Provides a list of available tax codes to select from.

Amount

The amount of the payment. Depending on the selected tax code, this has one or more fields to be filled out.

Once all data above has been filled in, the end user can create the ach batch for their tax payment. Tax payment names always have the prefix Tax FD automatically prepended to the user created name. After creation, tax payments can be initiated just like any other batch.

Activity

Full information for ACH payments are available in the activity feed of each user. This includes details for any created or edited ACH batches. Users can filter activity by ACH for easier access to ACH events.

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