Disbursements (ABA & BPAY): ABA Troubleshooting

Creating and managing ABA and BPAY disbursement files

ABA Troubleshooting

Claim or Payment Record Has Not Been Created But Does Show Up in Batch Selection

  1. Clients / Packaging Defaults "Client Bank Account" is checked, but disbursement should be paid by a Company Bank Account

Claim Record Has Not Been Created

Scenario 1: Disbursement Type is Set as 'Claim' But Should Be 'Recurring'

  1. Edit item to update "Disbursement Type" to 'Recurring'

  2. Re-process records either:

    • Manually run the scheduler job for 'autoBuildClaims' OR

    • Un-post and then re-post the client's Receipt Batch

  3. If fixed, a claim will have been created

Scenario 2: Disbursement Type is Set as 'Recurring'

  1. Review the Contracts / Events "SUB - Substantiation" event and update (autoBuildClaims will not process if the SUB event has been created but does not have an attachment, or is unchecked)

  2. Manually run the scheduler job for 'autoBuildClaims'

  3. Review the autoBuildClaims exception report sent by scheduler for more possible substantiation issues

  4. If fixed, a claim will have been created

BPAY Preview

This report is a default screen report.

Report Details

Field Name

Comments

BPAY ID

Blank

Bank Account

When "BPAY Type" is 'Client' [client bank account]. When "BPAY Type" is 'Company' [company bank account]

Payee

Claim Payment. Periodic Payment

Biller Code

Claim Payment. Periodic Payment

BPAY Reference

Contracts / Claim "Reference". Contracts / Payment "Supplier Ref"

Contract ID

Employees / Item "Contract ID"

Pay Cycle

Contracts / Billing "Periodic Interval"

Approval ID

If the selected record is a Contracts / Claim. Otherwise blank

Reference

Contracts / Claim "Reference". Contracts / Payment "Supplier Ref"

Date

Contracts / Claim. Contracts / Payment "Post Date"

Class

Contracts / Claim "Budget". Contracts / Payment

Description

Contracts / Claim "Description". Contracts / Payments "Payment Type"

Net

Contracts / Claim Row "Net". Contracts / Payments Row "Net"

GST

Contracts / Claim Row "GST". Contracts / Payments Row "GST"

Total

Contracts / Claim Row "Total". Contracts / Payments Row "Total"

BPAY Report

Report Details

Field Name

Comments

BPAY ID

Displays the selected BPAY ID

Bank Account

When "BPAY Type" is 'Client' [client bank account]. When "BPAY Type" is 'Company' [company bank account]

Payee

Claim Payment. Periodic Payment

Biller Code

Claim Payment. Periodic Payment

BPAY Reference

Contracts / Claim "Reference". Contracts / Payment "Supplier Ref"

Contract ID

Employees / Item "Contract ID"

Pay Cycle

Contracts / Billing "Periodic Interval"

Approval ID

If the selected record is a Contracts / Claim. Otherwise blank

Reference

Contracts / Claim "Reference". Contracts / Payment "Supplier Ref"

Date

Contracts / Claim. Contracts / Payment "Post Date"

Class

Contracts / Claim "Budget". Contracts / Payment

Description

Contracts / Claim "Description". Contracts / Payments "Payment Type"

Net

Contracts / Claim Row "Net". Contracts / Payments Row "Net"

GST

Contracts / Claim Row "GST". Contracts / Payments Row "GST"

Total

Contracts / Claim Row "Total". Contracts / Payments Row "Total"

BPAY Setup

Set-Up

Add the company_id to your bank account record.

This is the only setup step required to enable you to create BPAY Disbursements.

glbankaccounts

Field

Type

Description

bankaccountid

int(10)

unique_id

company_id

tinyint(3)

Each bank account used for creating BPAY Disbursements must be linked to a company. Populate the company_id here

glcodeid

int(10)

Enter as 0 or add glcodeid to link this to the gl_codes table for reporting. The field is not required for this functionality

bank

varchar(3)

Enter the bank code. Example: ANZ, CBA

account_name

varchar(26)

Enter the account name. This is displayed on the BECS screen in the "Bank Account" field

accountnameshort

varchar(16)

Enter the short account name, this is used to populate aba files

bsb

tinyblob

account_number

tinyblob

ABA File

This page details the general structure of the aba file. The aba file is a general format which all banks use.

ABA files can be generated from the system locations listed below. Each process below has a specific set-up that is required to generate the aba file:

  • Export / BECS - Reimbursements (ABA)

  • Export / BECS - Disbursements (ABA)

  • Payments / Periodic - Payments (ABA)

  • Receipts / Allocate - Receipts (ABA)

Header Record

Character Position

Field Size

Field Description

Specification

1

1

Record Type 0

Must be '0'

2-18

17

Blank

Must be blank filled

19-20

2

Reel Sequence Number

Must be numeric commencing at 01. Right justified. Zero filled

21-23

3

Name of User's Financial Institution

Must be approved Financial Institution abbreviation. Westpac's abbreviation is "WBC"

24-30

7

Blank

Must be blank filled

31-56

26

Name of User supplying file

Must be User Preferred Specification as advised in Application. Left justified, blank filled. All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks

57-62

6

Number of User supplying file

Must be User Identification Number which is allocated by APCA. Must be numeric, right justified, zero filled

63-74

12

Description of entries on file e.g. "PAYROLL"

All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks. Left justified, blank filled

75-80

6

Date to be processed (i.e. the date transactions are released to all Financial Institutions)

Must be numeric in the format of DDMMYY. Must be a valid date. Zero filled

81-120

40

Blank

Must be blank filled

Detail Record

Character Position

Field Size

Field Description

Specification

1

1

Record Type 1

Must be '1'

2-8

7

Bank / State / Branch Number

Must be numeric with a hyphen in character position 5. Character positions 2 and 3 must equal valid Financial Institution number. Character position 4 must equal a valid State number (0-9)

9-17

9

Account number to be credited / debited

Numeric, hyphens and blanks only are valid. Must not contain all blanks or zeros. Leading zeros which are part of a valid account number must be shown, e.g. 00-1234. Westpac recommends that (except in the above example), ALL hyphens are edited out. Where account number exceeds nine characters, edit out hyphens. Right justified, blank filled

18

1

Indicator

"N" - for new or varied Bank(FI) / State / Branch number or name details, otherwise blank filled. Withholding Tax Indicators: "W" - dividend paid to a resident of a country where a double tax agreement is in force. "X" - dividend paid to a resident of any other country. "Y" - interest paid to all non-residents. The amount of withholding tax is to appear in character positions 113-120. Note: Where withholding tax has been deducted the appropriate Indicator as shown above is to be used and will override the normal indicator

19-20

2

Transaction Code

Must only be valid industry standard trancodes. Only numeric valid

21-30

10

Amount

Only numeric valid. Must be greater than zero. Shown in cents without punctuations. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned

31-62

32

Title of Account to be credited / debited

All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks. Left justified, blank filled. Desirable format: - surname (period) blank - given names with blank between each name

63-80

18

Lodgement Reference

All coded character set valid. Reference as submitted by the User indicating details of the origin of the entry e.g. Payroll number, invoice, contract number. Left justified, blank filled. Must not contain all blanks

81-96 (81-87)

16

Trace Record (-BSB Numbering format XXX-XXX)

Bank(FI) / State / Branch and account number of User to enable retracing of the entry to its source if necessary. Only numeric and hyphens valid. Character positions 81 & 82 must equal a valid Financial Institution number. Character position 83 must equal a valid State number (0-9). Character position 84 must be a hyphen

(88-96)

9

(-Account Number)

Right justified, blank filled

97-112

16

Name of Remitter

Name of originator of the entry. This may vary from Name of the User. All coded character set valid. Must not contain all blanks. Left justified, blank filled

113-120

8

Amount of Withholding Tax

Numeric only valid. Show in cents without punctuation. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned

BECS

Below is a list of the four ABA files that can be created in Catch-e:

  • Payments / Periodic - Payments (ABA) - use this one for vehicle payments

  • Receipts / Allocate - Receipts (ABA) - use this one for creating direct debit payments to your account

  • Export / BECS - Reimbursements (ABA) - use this one for making reimbursements to novated drivers

  • Export / BECS - Disbursements (ABA) - use this one for salary packaging disbursements

Visit the Australian Payments Clearing Association website: http://www.apca.com.au/ for more information.

The following programmer blog is also helpful about the aba file layout: http://ddkonline.blogspot.com.au/2009/01/aba-bank-payment-file-format-australian.html

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Description

Reimbursements (ABA)

Reimburse posted claims by creating an ABA file for upload to your Banking System

Disbursements (ABA)

Disburse posted claims by creating an ABA file for upload to your Banking System

BECS Bank Account Setup

The details on this page are for setting up the banking and aba file records for Reimbursements (ABA) and Disbursements (ABA).

Visit the Receipts (ABA) and the Payments (ABA) pages for their requirements, as they are different.

Client Set-Up Steps

Provide your Account Manager with the bank account details you want to use.

You can use multiple bank accounts to make reimbursements. In this case, each bank account will need to be linked to a separate Company, as the "Company" of each contract is used to filter the records.

Note: If you are only using one bank account, the field "Company" is not used in the selection process.

Below are the details that are needed for a bank account:

  • Abbreviated Bank Name e.g. NAB, WBC, etc

  • Account Name

  • BSB

  • Account Number

  • Company (only required if using multiple bank accounts). Example: the name that is entered into the "Company" field on the Contracts / Contract tab

Single Bank Account

Where only one bank account is used to pay reimbursements, check the following:

  • Has one completed record

  • Contains one record where process_type = 'becs'

  • The company_id field should not be populated and is to remain as NULL. This means all reimbursements will be selected, regardless of their stored company_id

Click here to view an example of required set up.

Single Bank Account - Salary Packaged

The company_id field must be populated if you are salary packaging and using a company bank account.

Multiple Bank Accounts

If you want to pay reimbursements out of more than one bank account, you will need to:

  • Review all your contracts to make sure each one has their Contracts / Contract "Company" field populated correctly. Visit the Company page for more detail on how companies are set up and linked to contracts

  • Check and create new table records and link each of them to a bank account you are using

  • Check and update the company_id field in gl_bank_account_aba_mappings, as each record needs this to be populated and linked to the record that is in use for this bank account. i.e. if you are changing from using one bank account, the original record that has NULL set here must now be changed to link to a company

  • Once this is done, users will need to choose which "Bank Account" they are creating a reimbursement file for. Only reimbursements for contracts linked to that account's company will be selected

Click here to view an example of required set up.

Note: Take care to make sure each contract is linked to the right company. When a claim is raised and posted, the company_id is stored against the claim and cannot be changed later by the user, so it must be correct when the claim is raised.

glbankaccounts

Field

Type

Description

bankaccountid

int(10)

unique_id

glcodeid

int(10)

Enter as 0 or add glcodeid to link this to the gl_codes table for reporting. The field is not required for this functionality

bank

varchar(3)

Enter the bank code. Example: ANZ, CBA

account_name

varchar(26)

Enter the account name. This is displayed on the BECS screen in the "Bank Account" field

accountnameshort

varchar(16)

Enter the short account name, this is used to populate aba files

bsb

tinyblob

account_number

tinyblob

glbankaccountabamappings

Field

Type

bankaccountabamappingid

int(10)

bankaccountid

int(10)

process_type

enum('payables','receipts','becs','bpay')

company_id

int(10)

apca_number

varchar(6)

aba_description

varchar(12)

abaselfbalancing_flag

enum('yes','no')

BECS Troubleshooting

If you have received one of the following Validations or Alerts:

  • Banking details require set up!

  • Nothing to reimburse! (and you are expecting to see them)

  • Problem creating BECS export - Unexpected transactions!

This points to a set-up issue. Contact Catch-e Support to run checks over the banking setup for you.

Possible Set-Up Issues

  • A record has been set up with company_id = '0'

    • Update company_id to be NULL. (Only use this solution if you do not use the Disbursements (ABA))

  • A record has been updated from NULL to record a company_id

    • Check that gl_bank_account_aba_mappings has a default company set

    • Check the links in the following fields: bankaccountid and company_id

  • There is no record where process_type = 'becs'

    • Add the required record