About bank files

With bank files, Sage Intacct enables you to make electronic payments using your local bank file format. A bank file is a standard file used by banks to make multiple payments. You upload the bank file to your online banking portal to provide your bank with the payment data contained in the file. Your bank processes the payments with the bank file.

In Sage Intacct, making bank file payments involves enabling your and your suppliers and employees for bank file payments. You select and pay your AP purchase invoices as usual, but then you generate the bank file, download it locally, and upload it to your bank portal. Your bank makes the payments you specify in the bank file. Back in Sage Intacct, you confirm that the payments have gone through, and the payments are posted to the General Ledger. Bank file payments appear as just another payment method (ACH / Bank file or Bank file on the Pay AP purchase invoices and Reimburse Expenses pages).

This topic applies to bank file payments, or using specially formatted files to make direct, bank-to-bank electronic payments. In Sage Intacct, you'll see this referred to as ACH or bank file or Bank file in the payment method fields. Sage Intacct supports bank file payments between banks that use the same currency in certain countries.

For details on turning on bank file payments, see Configure Sage Cloud Services.

Bank file workflow

❶ Pay AP purchase invoices or select expenses

❷ Generate and download bank file

❸ Upload and confirm bank file

Subscription

Cash Management

Sage Cloud Services

Expenses

User type

Business user with admin privileges
Permissions

Cash Management

  • Bank file generator: Run

  •  Bank files: List, View, Manage, Export, Confirm, Delete
Configuration
Tip

Designate Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable journals.
Restrictions

Bank file payments are only available between banks that use the same currency in the following countries:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • France
  • Ireland
  • South Africa
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

Set up bank file payments

Before you can pay suppliers using bank file payments, configure the following:

  1. Set up your to enable bank file payments.
  2. Set up suppliers to enable receipt of bank file payments.
  3. Set up employees to enable receipt of bank file reimbursements.

Make a bank file payment

You can pay supplier AP purchase invoices using bank file payments. The steps are as follows:

  1. Select and pay the AP purchase invoices for that supplier using the bank file payment method.
  2. Generate and download the bank payment file to your computer.
  3. Upload the bank payment file to your bank portal and confirm the bank file payment in Sage Intacct.

The general workflow is the same for employee expense reimbursements, which are processed in Expenses.

After you confirm the bank file payment, Sage Intacct posts the payments to the General Ledger.

Go to Set up a cheque account for bank file and ACH payments to start setting up bank file payments.

Regional availability

Bank file payments are only available between banks that use the same currency in the following countries:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • France
  • Ireland
  • South Africa
  • United Kingdom
  • United States