Summary

Pre-note Direct Debit batches are zero dollar transactions used to verify that the bank account information entered on customer accounts is correct. This process will generate an export file for your processing bank that contains the bank account information of selected customer accounts. The processing bank will process the zero dollar transactions in the export file and return to you the results of the pre-note batch. If the bank account information on a customer account is incorrect, you can change the bank information and then resubmit the new information in another Pre-note batch. If the bank information is correct, you will not have to run a Pre-note batch on the customer account again unless the bank information changes on the account.

Pre-note Direct Debits for AR invoices is available to all users. Pre-note Direct Debits for UB accounts is a Premium Feature. Please contact Springbrook Support to discuss Premium Feature activation.

Step by Step

1     Open or create a new Direct Debit batch.

• Open the Direct Debit window (CH> Direct Debit). The Batches window will display all the open Direct Debit batches.
• Select a batch and click DETAILS to open the selected batch.
• Select a batch and click the Delete button to delete the selected batch.
• Click the Create New Batch button to create a new batch. This will open the Create Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Direct Debits process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• The Batch Month and Batch Year fields default to the current date and are used for reference only and do not affect the transaction or journal entry date of the transactions in the batch.
  • The general ledger will not be affected by the pre-note batch because no dollar amount will be associated with the pre-note batch transactions.
• Click CREATE to create the new Direct Debit batch.

2     Open the Batch Overview page.

• The Batch Overview page provides a general overview of the selected batch.
• The left navigation menu displays all the steps in the Direct Debits process.
• In the main section you'll see information about batch steps that are currently processing, next available batch steps, and the last completed batch step.
  • Batch steps that are currently processing will display a blue indicator bar to alert you that the step has not yet completed.
  • Once the preceding batch step is complete, the next available batch steps will be enabled and you can select the next step you would like to run.
    • While some batch steps are optional, any batch step that includes the Required tag   must be completed before the batch is allowed to proceed through to the Commit step.
• The Batch Outputs section on the right will display any reports or exports that have already been generated in the Direct Debits process.

3     Select the customer accounts to include in the pre-note batch.

• Only customer accounts that have not been processed in a Pre-Note batch will be included in the batch.
  • When a customer account is processed in a Pre-Note Direct Debits batch, the Clearing House Pre-Note toggle will be checked on the customer account. If this toggle is checked, the customer account will not be included in the batch.
    • On AR customer accounts, the Clearing House Pre-Note toggle is on the AR Account Maintenance window (AR> Maintenance> Account> ACH Info tab> Bank Account section).
    • On UB customer accounts, the Clearing House Pre-Note toggle is on the UB Account Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Account tab> ACH Info sub-tab> Bank Account section).
      • Pre-note Direct Debits for UB accounts is a Premium Feature. Please contact Springbrook Support to discuss Premium Feature activation.
  • The Clearing House Pre-Note toggle will be checked for all customer accounts included in a Pre-Note batch, even if the bank account information was incorrect and the Pre-note batch returned an error on the account. If you have corrected the bank account information on a customer account, you must uncheck the Clearing House Pre-Note toggle to include the customer’s bank information in the Pre-Note batch.
• Select Generate Pre-Note from the Direct Debit menu. This will open the Generate Pre-note window.
• Select the AR or UB Billing Cycles of the customer accounts you would like to include in the pre-note batch in the Cycles field. The contents of this field will update based on the selection in the Batch Type field to the right.
  • You can view the billing cycle attached to an AR customer account on the AR Account Maintenance window (AR> Maintenance> Account> General tab> Cycle field).
  • You can view the billing cycle attached to a UB customer account on the UB Account Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Account tab> Account sub-tab> Billing Cycle field).
• Select the Batch Type that you would like to include in the pre-note batch in the drop-down menu. This will determine if the system generates pre-notes for AR accounts or UB accounts.
  • Pre-note direct debits for UB accounts is a Premium Feature and the UB option will only display after activation. If you are interested in generating pre-note direct debits for UB accounts, please contact Springbrook Support to discuss Premium Feature activation.
• The Account field is used to include a single account in a pre-note batch. This option is generally used if you are creating a batch for a customer account that has already been processed in a Pre-Note batch but the bank account information returned an error.
  • Click the Account field search button to select a customer account from a list. This will open an account selection window that displays all of the available accounts in the Batch Type selected above.
• Click the Submit button to generate the pre-note batch.
  • You can view the progress of the Generate Pre-Note step on the Job Viewer window.

4     View the customer accounts included in the pre-note batch. This is an optional step.

• The Generate step on the Direct Debit batch is used to generate Direct Debit batches that are not used for Pre-note verification. This step will be checked after the Generate Pre-Note step is complete.
• The Edit step is an optional step that allows you to remove any customers that the system added to the Pre-Note batch.
• Select Edit from the Direct Debit process. This will open the Edit window.
• The Edit window will display all the customer accounts included in the pre-note batch.
• Highlight a customer account and click DELETE to remove the selected account from the batch.
• The Amount column will always be zero and cannot be edited when you are processing a pre-note batch because there will be no dollar amount attached to the pre-note transactions.
  • The Account Balance field will display the balance on the customer account, but it does not affect the Pre-Note batch.
• Uncommitted transactions are not included in the Account Balance field.
• Click the Submit button if any changes were made.

5     Print and review a proof list of the pre-note batch.

• The Proof List will display the transactions in the Direct Debits batch.
• Select Proof List from the Direct Debit menu. This will open the Proof List window.
• Select how you want the report to sort in the Sort By drop-down menu. The selection will change how the information will display, not what is displayed in the report.
• Once the required report settings have been specified, click the Print button   to print your report.
• Click the options arrow on the right side of the Print button to see other print options.
  • Select Send PDF to Job Viewer to print the report in the default Springbrook format.
  • Select Send Excel to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Select Send Excel (Formatted) to Job Viewer to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
• Click the Schedule icon next to the Print button in order to schedule the report to generate at a later date and time.
  • Enter a Date and Time to generate the report and click SUBMIT.
• The proof list will display the Source, Account Number, Customer Name, Transfer/Route Number, the last four digits of the bank Account Number, total Amount for each account, and the total amount for all of the pre-notes being processed.
  • The Source column will display the batch information of the batch that created the transaction. Since the transactions in the Pre-Note batch were created in the Clearing House module rather than from a transaction batch, the Source column will display only zeros.
    • The format of the Source field is System code (xx), Batch number (xxxxx) –, Batch Month (xx) –, Batch Year (xxxx) and an (M) or (C).
• The Source will always display a C unless the transaction was created by a manual check.
  • The transfer, route and check digit number are pulled from the bank information attached to the customer account. You can view the bank information on the Bank Maintenance window (SS> Maintenance> Bank).
    • Banks can be attached to multiple customer accounts, so changes to the transfer, route or check digit could affect the bank account information of more than one customer account.
  • The Amount column will display zeros because there are no amounts attached to the pre-note batch.

6     Create the file that will be used by your processing bank to process the ACH pre-note batch.

• The Export ACH File step will create a file to send to your processing bank that contains the bank account information of the customer accounts included in the batch.
• Select Export ACH File from the Direct Debit palette. This will open the Export ACH File window.
• The options in the Export ACH file are intended to be used in conjunction with ACH RULES: A complete Guide to Rules & Regulations Governing the ACH Network, published by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA). Your processing bank may also have information about what format they would like the ACH file submitted in.
• The Export Options section is used to set up how the export file will be configured.
  • The fields referred to below that are in CAPITALS are fields that display in the export file.
• The Tax ID Start Digit field is used to enter a tax ID digit before the Immediate Origin Info field. This will add the value in the field to line 1, position 14 of the export file.
  • The Immediate Origin Info field will generally display the Federal Tax Identification number set up in SS> Utilities> System Setup> Organization tab> Fed Tax ID field.
  • If there is a value entered in the Web Direct Information field, the value in the Tax ID Start Digit field will display before the web direct information number.
• The ANSI ID field is used to enter the ANSI ID number, which is also referred to as the ANSI Identification Code Designator (ICD). The ANSI ID NUMBER is placed in front of the COMPANY IDENTIFICATION field on the export file. The value in this field will display on line 2, position 41 of the export file.
  • Leave the ANSI ID Number field blank if an ANSI ID number should not be included on the export file.
  • Standard Identification Code Designators are:
    • IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN): 1
    • Data Universal Numbering Systems (DUNS): 3
    • User Assigned Number: 9
  • The appropriate ANSI ID Number for most Springbrook customers is “1”.
  • The selection in this field affects: Record Type 8, position 45.  Record Type 5, position 41.
• The Web Direct Info field will display on the first line of the export file in position 14 through 22. If you enter a value in the Web Direct Information field that is less than nine digits, the value will be padded with zeroes (For example, 99 will display as 000000099 on the export file).
  • Entering a value in the Web Direct Information field will replace the federal tax identification number that normally displays in this position. If the Use Routing Number for Immediate Origin toggle is checked, the value in that position will be the routing number in the Immediate Origin Info field.
  • If there is a value entered in the Tax ID Start Digit field, the Web Direct Information number will shift one position over and will display in position 15 through 23 of the first line.
  • The federal tax identification number is entered in the System Setup window (SS> Utilities> System Setup> Organization tab> Federal Tax ID field).
• Check the Generate with Zero Amounts toggle if you would like all transaction amounts in the file zeroed out. This option is generally used on pre-note batches to verify the bank account information of customer accounts before processing transactions on those accounts. All direct deposit amounts will be reported as 0, but no changes will be made to the Direct Debits batch. The direct deposit amounts will still display on the proof list and GL distribution report of the Direct Debits process.
  • The TRANSACTION CODE (positions 2-3) of record type 6 will be incremented by 1 if this option is checked.
  • The Default TRANSACTION CODE for Direct Deposits is 22 (Automated Deposit), pre-notification code is 23.
  • If a PPD Offset record is being created (Use Sweep Account toggle on the Export ACH File window is not checked and the Include Offset Record toggle is checked), the TRANSACTION CODE of the offset record will also be incremented by 1.
  • The selection of this toggle affects: Record Type 6, positions 2-3; Record Type 6, positions 30-39.
• Check the Use Routing Number for Immediate Origin toggle to replace the Federal Tax ID number on the first line of the export file with the route, transfer and check digit of the Origin Bank.
  • If this toggle is checked, position 14 will have a blank space, and the route, transfer, and check digit will be placed in position 15 through 23.
  • If there is a value in the Web Direct Info field it will be overwritten on the export file by the route, transfer and check digit.
• Check the Use Immediate Origin for Trace Number toggle to put the IMMEDIATE ORIGIN TRACE NUMBER position on the export file.
• Check the Use Sweep Account toggle to set the ‘debit’ and ‘credit’ to zero.
  • The selection on this toggle affects: Record Type 8, positions 21-32; Record Type 9, positions 32-43.
• Check the One Transaction Per Account toggle to combine export line items with the same bank account into a single line item.
  • Check this toggle if a single customer is regularly responsible for more than one UB or AR account. This will create a single debit on the customer's account rather than multiple debits for multiple UB or AR accounts.
  • By default, the same bank account information will display on two separate line items if the same bank account is used by more than one UB or AR customer account.
• Check the Include Offset Record toggle to include an additional line in the file that contains the ‘credit’ sum of the file.
  • If the Use Sweep Account toggle is checked, no offset record will be created.
  • The selection on this toggle creates one additional Type 6 record after all regular Type 6 transaction records have been created. Amount field will contain a sum of all Record Type 6 amounts.
• Check the Suppress Carriage Return/Line Feed toggle if you would like to remove carriage returns and line feed characters from the export file. The data will be stored in a single line on the output file if this option is selected.
  • The selection in this toggle will affect all records in the export file.
• The Bank Information section is used to specify the details associated with the bank that will be receiving the exported ACH file.
• The Destination Name field displays the name of the bank that is used to process the ACH transactions.
  • This field will display the bank name of the bank selected in the Immediate Destination Info field. This field will not be enabled.
  • The selection in this field affects: Record Type 1, positions 42-63.
• The Immediate Destination Info field displays the routing number of the processing bank. The selection in this field will also affect the bank name that displays in the Destination Name field.
  • Click the field search button   to select the processing bank from a list.
• The processing bank must be set up on the Bank Maintenance window (SS> Maintenance> Bank).
  • The field displays 10 characters and begins with a blank in the first position, followed by the four-digit Federal Reserve Routing Symbol, the four-digit ABA Institution Identifier, and the Check Digit.
  • The selection in this field affects: Record Type 1, positions 4-13; Record Type 5, positions 80-87; Record Type 6, positions 13-29.
• The Origin Name field will display the bank description of the bank selected in the Immediate Origin Information field. The value in this field will populate on the export file if the Use Routing Number for Immediate Origin or the Use Immediate Origin for Trace Number toggle is checked.
  • The origin is the ACH operator or sending point that is sending the file.
  • The origin will appear on line one, position 64 through 86.
• The Immediate Origin Info field will display the routing number of the sending point of the export file. This field will be included in the export file if the Use Routing Number for Immediate Origin toggle is checked.
  • The 10 digit field begins with a blank in the first position, followed by the four-digit Federal Reserve Routing Symbol, the four-digit ABA Institution Identifier, and the Check Digit.
  • The immediate origin code will display on the first line of the export file in position 14 through 23.
  • If there is a value in the Web Direct Info field, the value in that field will overwrite the Immediate Origin Code.
• The Effective Date field is used to enter the effective date of the batch.  This field will default to two days from the current date because banks usually take two days to complete the file transfers.
  • The effect date will display on line 2, positions 70 through 75.
• The Originator Status Code field is “1” for most Springbrook customers.  This code refers to the ODFI initiating entry. Currently assigned Originator Status Codes:
  • ADV file prepared by an ACH Operator: 0
  • Depository financial institution that has agreed to be bound by ACH rules: 1
  • Federal government entity or agency not subject to ACH rules: 2
  • The originator status will display on line 2, position 79.
• The Login Information field is used to add text to the beginning of the export file.
  • The Login field can be up to 255 characters in length.
• Click the Submit button when complete to generate the export file.

7     The GL Distribution step does not apply to a pre-note batch because there are no dollar amounts associated with the pre-note transactions.

8     Commit the pre-note batch.

• Committing the Pre-note batch has no effect on the general ledger. It simply places a check in the Clearing House Pre-Note toggle on the AR or UB accounts and completes the batch.
• Select Commit from the Direct Debit menu. This will open the Commit window.
• Click the Commit button to commit the batch.
  • You can view the progress of the Commit step on the Job Viewer window.