Setting Up Direct Deposit (ACH)

You are able to set up direct deposit (ACH) of any monies paid to Accounts Payable vendors and then process the direct deposits during check processing.

Setting up direct debit (ACH) involves 3 main steps:

Enable direct deposit for your agency.

Enable direct deposit for the appropriate bank account.

Enter bank account direct deposit (ACH) information.

Access Accounts Payable

From the Main Menu screen, click SETUP and then SETTINGS. The Default Settings tab of the Accounts Payable Setup screen appears.

Enable Direct Deposit for Agency

Click

and check the enable direct deposit checkbox.

Note: If a tenant has bank account information already entered for them (because direct debit is used in Tenant Accounts Receivable program), the system marks them as Direct Deposit in Accounts Payable for their refund check when this checkbox is checked.

Enter the name of the ACH file in the file name (w/ ext) textbox. For example, “APACH.txt.”

Note: This saves the ACH file to a public file location, and anyone potentially has the ability to access the file. You also have the option to save the file to a more secure, private location in a single, local computer’s files. See "Saving Direct Deposit (ACH) Files to a Local Folder".

Enable Direct Deposit for Agency ACH Bank Account

This is the bank account to which you will be sending the gathered ACH file, and is your agency's bank account from which the monies paid to vendors will be taken.

Click

to return to the Payable Setup screen and then click BANK ACCOUNTS. The Browse Bank Account screen appears.

Search for the bank account, highlight it in the table, and click

. The Maintain Bank Account screen opens with the Main tab selected.

Enter Direct Deposit Info

Click

again on the toolbar to make the screen available for editing.

Check the checkbox to enable direct deposit (ACH) for this bank.

Enter the bank name, bank routing #, and the bank account #.

From the information provided from the bank, enter the bank’s federal reserve name and federal reserve routing #, select the direct deposit (ACH) format (this is the type of file format the bank requires. PPD = Prearranged Payment or Deposit; CCD = Cash Concentration or Disbursement), specify the company TIN prefix - file (enter a “1” unless otherwise specified)and batch, immediate origin, and transmission file prefix data (this is a communication header for banks that use a system of file transfer other than a direct upload, such as a dial-up modem).

10.

In the remaining fields, fill out as much information as possible.

Bank generates entry to this account - A balanced file shows both the payments to the employees and a final line to take the money from the Housing Authority's account. If you check this box, the final line is not included in the file and the bank will manually enter the transaction to take the money from the agency's bank account. Again, this is determined by the bank's way of doing business.

Treat federal reserve as origin - Some banks want the bank flagged as the immediate origin, but on a second line show the federal reserve ID and routing number.

Fill settlement date with blanks not zero's - On the second (number 5) line, there is a space for the settlement date, or the date the file is processed. Normally this is filled in at file creation with zero's, but some banks want this left blank.

Note: Most fields on this screen are required; the Transmission File Prefix Data is required by only 2 different banks. It is very important to enter the information exactly as it was received from the bank to ensure payments will be correctly processed.

Save!

11.

Click

to save your changes and set up the direct deposit (ACH).

Once a sample file is created, a trial attempt should be tested with the bank.

The standard file name that is created with each check run is a text file (.TXT) and this file is overwritten with each subsequent check run. For more information on processing checks, See "Processing Accounts Payable Checks".

The ACH file can be recreated, if needed. See "Recreating Direct Deposit (ACH) Files".

Bank information must be entered, and the direct deposit option must be enabled, for eachvendor who wants to take part in direct deposit.

You also have the option to set up the stub information/addenda for your vendor ACH checks.