BMO HARRIS ONLINE BANKING SM FOR SMALL BUSINESS. Automated Clearing House (ACH) User Guide

Transcription

1 BMO HARRIS ONLINE BANKING SM FOR SMALL BUSINESS Automated Clearing House (ACH) User Guide

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME...6 Who should use this guide...6 What it covers...6 How it is organized...6 What the symbols mean...6 Where to get help...6 GETTING STARTED...8 ACH Product Overview...8 ACH REPORTS...8 SECURITY...8 CREDENTIAL AUTHENTICATION...8 LOGIN PASSWORDS...9 APPROVALS...9 Where to go from here...9 INTRODUCTION TO ACH...10 The Automated Clearing House Network...10 How ACH payments are processed...10 CREDIT AND DEBIT TRANSACTIONS...11 Credit transaction example...11 Debit transaction example...11 SETTLEMENT...12 BATCH CYCLES, CUTOFF TIMES AND LEAD TIMES...13 CUT-OFF TIMES...13 LEAD TIME...13 MAKING PAYMENTS...14 Payment Types...14 Creating Payments...14 DIRECT DEPOSIT...15 DISBURSEMENTS...18 BUSINESS DISBURSEMENT...21 Collections...23 PERSONAL COLLECTION...23 BUSINESS COLLECTION...25 CHILD SUPPORT

3 IMPORTING ACH FILES...30 ACH Upload or Import ACH Files Using the Payment Center...30 SEARCH FOR PAYMENTS...32 ADVANCED SEARCH...34 MODIFY PAYMENT...35 ABOUT UPDATING PAYMENT RECORDS...38 ABOUT RECURRING PAYMENTS...38 VIEW OR PRINT PAYMENT DETAILS...41 DELETE PAYMENT...44 WORKING WITH RECIPIENTS...46 About Recipients, Recipient IDs and the Recipients Master List...46 Adding or removing recipients in payments and templates...46 ADDING RECIPIENTS TO A PAYMENT OR TEMPLATE...46 CHOOSE FROM RECIPIENT LIST...47 CREATE NEW (ONE-TIME) RECIPIENT...49 Importing Recipient Files...50 FILE TYPES...51 Importing Recipients...53 REMOVING RECIPIENTS FROM A PAYMENT OR TEMPLATE...55 Creating a recipient in the master list...60 Managing Recipients...66 SEARCH FOR RECIPIENTS...68 MODIFY A RECIPIENT...70 DELETE A RECIPIENT...78 USING TEMPLATES...86 Unique template features...86 PRENOTES...86 OPTION TO LINK TEMPLATE RECIPIENTS TO THE MASTER LIST...86 LINK A TEMPLATE RECIPIENT TO THE MASTER LIST...87 CONTROLS ON RECIPIENTS AND PAYMENT AMOUNTS...89 DIRECT DEPOSIT...90 DISBURSEMENTS...91 COLLECTIONS...95 Working with templates...99 SEARCH FOR TEMPLATES INITIATE A PAYMENT FROM A TEMPLATE

4 MODIFY A TEMPLATE DELETE A TEMPLATE APPROVING PAYMENTS AND TEMPLATES Understanding approvers and authorizations PAYMENT APPROVAL OPTIONS TEMPLATE DUAL AUTHORIZATION OPTION The authorization process TIPS FOR MANAGING APPROVALS Authorization Procedures CHECK THE INFO CENTER APPROVE A PAYMENT GLOSSARY OF TERMS APPENDIX A: ENTRY FIELD QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE Create/Edit [Payment Type] PAYMENT INFORMATION PANEL RECIPIENTS PANEL (PAYMENTS) CREATE NEW (ONE-TIME) RECIPIENT WINDOW Create/Edit [Payment Type] Template TEMPLATE INFORMATION PANEL Create/Edit Recipient (master list) and Edit Recipient (payment/template record) RECIPIENT INFORMATION PANEL CONTACT INFORMATION PANEL SECONDARY ACCOUNT INFORMATION PANEL ADDITIONAL OPTIONS PANEL STANDARD BANKS PANEL (SEARCH WINDOW) Payment Center PAYMENT SELECTION PANE PAYMENT INFORMATION PANEL (ADVANCED SEARCH WINDOW) Recipients RECIPIENTS SELECTION PANE RECIPIENT INFORMATION (ADVANCED SEARCH) WINDOW

5 List of Tables Figure 1: Automated Clearing House Network Figure 2: ACH Credit Transaction Figure 3: ACH Debit Transaction Figure 4: ACH Settlement Figure 5: ACH Batch Cycle Figure 6: Create Payment Page Figure 10: Payment Selection Search Pane Figure 12: Edit Payment Page Figure 13: How to go to the Edit Payment or View (Sent) Payment pages Figure 14: View (Sent) Payment Page Recipient Import txt file screen: Import Recipient Data Information source file defined Figure 15: Create Recipient Page Figure 16: Optional Secondary Account Information Panel Create Recipient Page Figure 17: How to go to the Create Recipient Page (from Payments menu) Figure 18: How to go to the Create Recipient Page (from Recipients panel) Figure 19: Recipients Page Figure 20: How to go to the Recipients Page Figure 21: Recipient Selection Pane Figure 22: Recipient Information (Advanced Search) Window Figure 23: Edit Recipient Page Figure 24: Edit Recipient Window (from payment or template) for Individual Figure 25: Edit Recipient Window (from payment or template) for Organization Figure 26: Standard Banks Window Figure 27: Standard Banks Window Search Pane Figure 28: Create Template Page Figure 29: Initiate from Template Page Figure 30: How to go to the Initiate from Template Page Figure 32: Edit Template Page Figure 33: Payment Authorization Window Figure 34: Info Center on Home Page

6 0BWELCOME 10BWho should use this guide BMO Harris Online Banking SM for Small Business ACH User Guide is for BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business customers who use the ACH Payments option of the Cash Flow Management product line. This option allows users to make or collect electronic payments via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. 1BWhat it covers The ACH User Guide covers ACH Payment functions and procedures of interest to operational users i.e., those who make or approve ACH payments. It does not cover administrative procedures, such as managing ACH entitlements or maintaining the preferred bank list. Those topics are covered in BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business Company System Administrator (CSA) Guide. 12BHow it is organized The first chapter, Getting Started, gives you an overview of the ACH network and of the ACH functions available to BMO Harris Online Banking Customers. The next chapters Making Payments, Working with Recipients and Using Templates go into detail about ACH functions and tools. They begin with a general discussion of the topic, followed by step-by-step instructions for performing the tasks associated with it. The rest of the guide contains help and reference material, including Quick Links to Procedures, a list of procedures with links to all the instructions given in this guide. 13BWhat the symbols mean Not all of the topics and procedures in this guide may pertain to your installation. To help you quickly see which ones do, we use symbols to identify a particular version of the product or an optional product or feature being discussed. Topics and procedures that pertain only to special versions are preceded by an icon: Multi-user version of BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business Template Dual Authorization Option Add-on feature for multi-user systems that requires two users to modify templates one to make changes and one to approve them. 14BWhere to get help Help in this document is provided in Appendix A: Entry Field Quick Reference Guide. This section describes all the entry fields used on ACH forms and where you will find them; it also includes guidelines for filling them out correctly. 6

7 If you need help while using BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business, click Help at the top of any screen or contact BMO Harris Online Services. (Look for the We re Here to Help panel in the ACH Payment Center or below any Info Center panel): 7

8 1BGETTING STARTED In this chapter we give you an overview of the BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business ACH Payment option. 15BACH Product Overview The ACH Payment option enables you to make electronic payments and collections via the Automated Clearing House Network, a nationwide network of financial institutions. ACH payment types include direct deposit payments, disbursements, collections and child support payments. Customers may choose which of these payment types to include in their setup. Besides the ability to make and manage ACH payments, the ACH payment option includes enhanced reports and security features. 43BACH REPORTS Two sets of standard ACH bank reports are included with the Enhanced Reports package: Current Day ACH Detail and ACH Summary reports. For information on using and customizing these reports see BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business Enhanced Reports User Guide. 4BSECURITY The ACH Payments option requires additional security to protect your accounts. Depending on whether you have a single-user or multi-user setup, up to three types of security may be used at your site: Credential Authentication Signing Passwords Approvals (Multi-user ACH installations only) 45BCREDENTIAL AUTHENTICATION Besides your login ID and password, which are your credentials, BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business requires two-factor credential authentication at login for all businesses using the ACH Payment option. You authenticate your credentials by entering a PIN and a code number generated by an RSA SecurID token. Therefore you need this token with you whenever you sign on to BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business. For information on logging in with and setting up your token see BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business RSA SecurID Token User Guide. 8

9 If you don t have an RSA SecurID token, contact your Company System Administrator or BMO Harris Online Services. You won t be able to access your accounts without it. 46BLOGIN PASSWORDS Online Banking requires that users enter their passwords when creating, modifying or authorizing ACH transactions. This prevents unauthorized persons from bypassing credential authentication by using a workstation that was left unattended. Only the user who has signed on to the workstation can make ACH payments from it. 47BAPPROVALS In multi-user installations, BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business requires that every ACH transaction be approved by at least one other authorized user before the transaction can be completed. Above this minimum requirement, you can choose to have additional approvers and set approval thresholds, as well as require dual approval on changes to payment templates. The approval process and instructions for approving payments and templates are discussed in the chapter Approving Payments and Templates. Information on how to designate approvers and manage the approval process is provided in the BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business Company System Administrator Guide. 16BWhere to go from here The ACH User Guide is a reference book designed to serve a variety of customers. It s not necessary to read it cover-to-cover. You can go to just the topics that interest you and follow the links if you need more information. Here are some suggestions for where to look first: If you re new to ACH payments, read Introduction to ACH. This chapter explains ACH terminology and how ACH payments are processed. To start making payments, go to Making Payments. This chapter talks about the different payment types and includes step-by-step instructions for creating each one. It also discusses automatic recurring payments and how to edit pending payments. If you plan on re-using recipients in multiple ACH transactions, look at Working with Recipients. This chapter covers how to create and maintain a central list of recipients and their associated banking information, as well as how to enter and edit recipient information in payments and templates. If you want to set up templates for ACH payments, see Using Templates. Templates simplify making common ACH payments and let you set controls on how much or whom to pay. Finally, if you are responsible for approving ACH payments at a company set up with multi-user access to Online Banking for Small Business, read Approving Payments and Templates. 9

10 2BINTRODUCTION TO ACH 17BThe Automated Clearing House Network ACH payments are made through the Automated Clearing House interbank network. The ACH network has central facilities for clearing electronic payments among participating financial institutions. Because they are transmitted electronically, ACH payments are processed much faster than paper checks, which must be physically handled. Figure 1: Automated Clearing House Network All ACH payments go through an ACH Operator also known as a clearing house. The clearing house forwards payment instructions, distributes funds and settles the transactions of member organizations, which typically send payments on behalf of their customers. Although you don t deal directly with the ACH, if you understand how ACH payments are processed you will know what to expect. 18BHow ACH payments are processed When you make an ACH payment, you give instructions to your bank and it sends these instructions to the ACH clearing house, which routes them to the other financial institutions involved in the transaction. What 10

11 happens next depends on the type of payment you are requesting. Unlike checks, there are many types of ACH payments and we discuss the ones you can make through BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business below. You ll see they fall into two categories: (1) credit transactions and (2) debit transactions. 48BCREDIT AND DEBIT TRANSACTIONS In a credit transaction, your payment instructions tell the institutions involved to take funds from your bank account and deliver them to one or more recipient accounts. In a debit transaction, funds are taken from another party s account and transferred into yours. In either case, when you are initiating the transaction, you are considered the originator of the instructions and the other party is the receiver or recipient. The terms credit and debit are applied from the point of view of the recipient. Of course, you can t just tell a bank to take money from someone else s account and give it to you. You need written authorization from the recipient. 19BCredit transaction example Let s say you operate an office supply company and you want to pay an employee by direct deposit. In this case, the recipient is receiving money, so it is a credit transaction. You submit a direct deposit request through BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business, which verifies the information, debits your account and forwards your instructions to the ACH operator. The clearing house then routes the transaction to the employee s bank, which credits the employee s bank account. Figure 2: ACH Credit Transaction 20BDebit transaction example Now let s suppose you have leased office equipment to another business and you ve agreed to collect the money via an ACH payment. In this case the recipient of the payment instructions is paying you, so it is a debit transaction. You submit an ACH collection request through BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business and BMO Harris forwards the instructions to the clearing house. The clearing house routes the instructions to the recipient s bank, which checks your authorization, debits the recipient s account and notifies the clearing house that the funds are available. The clearing house forwards that information to BMO Harris which then credits your account. 11

12 Figure 3: ACH Debit Transaction 49BSETTLEMENT After it s been established that all the payment instructions have been carried out successfully, the clearing house settles the transaction and disburses the funds. The date this occurs is called the settlement date, and banks post the transaction to customer accounts as of this date. Figure 4: ACH Settlement From the time your ACH payment request is accepted until the transaction is posted is usually between one and two business days. This depends partly on whether any problems were encountered in processing the payment, but it also depends on the type of transaction and when it entered the ACH batch cycle. 12

13 50BATCH CYCLES, CUTOFF TIMES AND LEAD TIMES ACH payments are not processed individually. Given the huge volume of transactions an ACH clearing house deals with, that wouldn t be efficient. Instead the clearing house accumulates transactions, sorts them by destination and sends them in batch at prearranged times. The financial institutions processing ACH transactions also accumulate and process them in batch. That s why BMO Harris, as well as other financial institutions, has cut-off times for submitting ACH payment requests. Figure 5: ACH Batch Cycle 51BCUT-OFF TIMES Cut-off times for BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business vary depending on the type of ACH payment and the business unit processing the request. The point to remember is that payment requests submitted before the cut-off time will be sent in a batch that day; otherwise they will be sent on the following business day. To find out what your cut-off times are, consult the documentation you received when you signed up for ACH payments. 52BLEAD TIME Batch cycles are the main reason you or your recipient might not see a transaction posted immediately after settlement. Some institutions run their batches overnight, so their transactions wouldn t appear until the day after they were settled. In any case, payments will always be dated as of the settlement date. Still, if an employee is expecting a pay check, not seeing it posted on payday can be disconcerting. That s why we ask you to allow up to two business days lead time for credit transactions and one business day for debit transactions, starting the day after your payment is sent for processing. That allows enough time for the transaction to be posted to all the accounts involved. Cut-off time and lead time are calculated into the default Effective Date that appears on the BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business payment entry form. 13

14 3BMAKING PAYMENTS In this chapter, we introduce you to the different ACH payment types you can originate from BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business and how to create each one. We also talk about how to use the Payment Center to locate payment records and to edit or delete pending payments. 21BPayment Types The ACH payment types you can originate through BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business are: Direct Deposit A credit transaction that transmits funds to one or more individuals. Funds may be allocated to primary and secondary accounts for each recipient. Disbursement A credit transaction that deposits funds to the primary account(s) of one or more recipients. If the recipients are individuals, it is called a personal disbursement. If organizations, it is a business disbursement. The difference between an ACH disbursement and a direct deposit payment is that disbursements may go to organizations as well as to individuals and that a direct deposit payment may be split between two accounts for a single recipient. Collection A debit transaction that collects funds from the primary accounts of one or more recipients. If the recipients are individuals, it is a personal collection. If the recipients are organizations, it is a business collection. Child Support A credit transaction that transmits funds to one or more child support enforcement agencies. The payment types that appear on your menu depend on your setup. You may not see all of them. Refer to Creating for instructions for creating each type of payment. 2BCreating Payments You can create ACH payments for the following payment types: Direct Deposit Disbursements Payments are created on a Create Payment page named for the payment type. There are minor variations on these pages, but the basic elements are depicted in Figure 6 14

15 Figure 6: Create Payment Page The page contains two panels: (1) the Payment Information panel, in which you enter the originator account and effective payment date as well as any recurring payment information; and (2) the Recipient Information panel, in which you enter one or more recipients and their payment amounts. If you initiate the payment from a template, much of this information is filled in for you. 53BDIRECT DEPOSIT To create a direct deposit payment: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Direct Deposit. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 15

16 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) TIP: Use the default date that appears in the text box if you want the next available date with the recommended lead time. It takes into consideration the cut-off time and the transaction type. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. In the Recipients table, at Amount, enter the amount to pay the recipient. 16

17 8. If you want to provide additional instructions or more information about the payment, enter them at Addendum. 9. If you want to change the amount to deposit to a secondary account, change the value under Secondary Account Information. 10. Click Preview. 11. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 17

18 12. Click Submit. Because ACH payments are scheduled for future payment dates, we do not check balances when you submit them. Make sure there are sufficient funds in the account during the scheduled processing period, or the payment may be rejected. 54BDISBURSEMENTS There are two types of ACH disbursements: Personal Disbursement Business Disbursement 102BPersonal Disbursement To create a disbursement to individuals: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Personal Disbursement. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 18

19 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) TIP: Use the default date that appears in the text box if you want the next available date with the recommended lead time. It takes into consideration the cut-off time and the transaction type. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 19

20 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. In the Recipients table, at Amount, enter the amount to pay the recipient. 8. If you want to provide additional instructions or more information about the payment, enter them at Addendum. 9. Click Preview. 10. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 20

21 11. Click Submit. Because ACH payments are scheduled for future payment dates, we do not check balances when you submit them. Make sure there are sufficient funds in the account during the scheduled processing period, or the payment may be rejected. 5BUSINESS DISBURSEMENT To create a disbursement to organizations: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Business Disbursement. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) TIP: Use the default date that appears in the text box if you want the next available date with the recommended lead time. It takes into consideration the cut-off time and the transaction type. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and 21

22 b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. In the Recipients table, at Amount, enter the amount to pay the recipient. 8. If you want to provide additional instructions or more information about the payment, enter them at Addendum. 9. Click Preview. 10. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. 22

23 If you want to edit them, click Edit. 11. Click Submit. Because ACH payments are scheduled for future payment dates, we do not check balances when you submit them. Make sure there are sufficient funds in the account during the scheduled processing period, or the payment may be rejected. 23BCollections There are two types of ACH collection Personal Collection and Business Collection. 56BPERSONAL COLLECTION To create a collection from an individual: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Personal Collection. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) TIP: Use the default date that appears in the text box if you want the next available date with the recommended lead time. It takes into consideration the cut-off time and the transaction type. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and 23

24 a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. In the Recipients table, at Amount, enter the amount to collect from the recipient. 8. If you want to provide additional instructions or more information about the payment, enter it at Addendum. 24

25 9. Click Preview. 10. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 11. Click Submit. 57BUSINESS COLLECTION To create a collection from an organization: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Business Collection. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) TIP: Use the default date that appears in the text box if you want the next available date with the recommended lead time. It takes into consideration the cutoff time and the transaction type. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and 25

26 a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. In the Recipients table, at Amount, enter the amount to collect from the recipient. 8. If you want to provide additional instructions or more information about the payment, enter them at Addendum. 26

27 9. Click Preview. 10. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 11. Click Submit. 58BCHILD SUPPORT To create a child support payment: 1. On the Payments menu, choose ACH >> Create Child Support Payment. 2. At Account, select an account from the dropdown list. 3. At Description, enter a brief phrase identifying the payment. (Be careful to enter it correctly. You won t be able to edit it after you submit the payment.) 4. At Effective Date, select the expected settlement date from the pop-up calendar. (Click next to the text box.) It cannot be earlier than the Pay Date. 5. If you want this payment to be repeated periodically, select Make This Payment Recurring, and 27

28 a. Select How Often from the dropdown list; and b. Enter How Many times to repeat the payment. If you don t want to set a limit, select No End. 6. Add one or more recipients to the Recipients table. (See Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template for instructions.) 7. At Addendum, click Edit Addendum. The Child Support Addendum window will be displayed. (Figure 7, below) Figure 7: Child Support Addendum Window (with example data) 28

29 8. Fill in the form. The required items are: Application Identifier Case Identifier Pay Date Child Support Amount Non-Custodial Parent SSN Optional items are: Medical Support Indicator Non-Custodial Parent First Name Non-Custodial Parent Last Name FIPS Code Employment Termination Indicator (See Child Support Addendum Window Help for a description of items in the Child Support Addendum or click one of the items above.) 9. Click Save Addendum. 10. On the Create Child Support Payment page, click Preview. 11. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 12. Click Submit. Because ACH payments are scheduled for future payment dates, we do not check balances when you submit them. Make sure there are sufficient funds in the account during the scheduled processing period, or the payment may be rejected. 29

30 4BIMPORTING ACH FILES 24BACH Upload or Import ACH Files. You can upload or import NACHA formatted ACH files from your bookkeeping/accounting software. Importing your ACH direct deposit, payment or collection transactions for your customers, employees, vendors allows you to upload your entries from your bookkeeping/accounting software saving you time from having to duplicate keying the information in. Your bookkeeping/accounting software may need additional software to actually create a NACHA formatted file for importing to our website. Go to Importing Recipient Files & ACH Files. 25BUsing the Payment Center Once you have a submitted an ACH payment, you can access it in the Payment Center: Figure 8: Payment Center Page 30

31 The Payment Center page is divided into two main sections: The Payment Selection search pane on top, and the Payments list immediately below it. (The third section, on the right, gives you access to the Info Center and Help resources.) If the list is long enough, a page selection bar, which lets you jump to different pages of the list, also appears at the bottom of the screen. From the Payment Center page you can Search for payments Modify payment View or print payment details Delete payment If you are an approver, you can also Approve a payment. Approvals are discussed in the chapter Approving Payments and Templates. To go to the Payment Center page: 1. Go to the Payments tab. 2. On the Payments menu, choose Payment Center OR choose ACH. Figure 9: How to go to the Payment Center OR TIP: To save time, do not click the Payments tab, just point to it, then move the pointer down to the Payments menu and click Payment Center. 31

32 59BSEARCH FOR PAYMENTS The Payment Selection search pane (Figure 10, below) is used to find and display payments in the Payments list. You can use the search pane to display payments from any date range; you can specify other criteria as well. There are two ways to search for payments: (1) by changing the view on the search pane directly; or (2) by changing the view by specifying more complex criteria in the Advanced Search window. Figure 10: Payment Selection Search Pane 103BChanging the view by date, payment type or status If you want to do a simple search by date, payment type or status, you can change the view directly on the search pane by selecting a payment type or payment status (or both) and specifying a date range: When you click Change View, only the payments that match your criteria will be displayed in the Payments list: If there are multiple pages in the list, a page selection bar appears at the bottom of the panel. This lets you browse or jump to different pages of the list. 32

33 To search for payments by type, status or date range (simple search): 1. Go to the Payment Center page. (On the Payments menu, choose Payment Center.) 2. On the Payment Selection pane, under Select Date Range, enter the first and last effective dates of the payments you want to view. (Click to select a date from the calendar.) 3. If you want to view only one type of payment, select it from the dropdown list at Type. 4. If you want to view payments with a particular status, select it at Status. 5. Click Change View. Payments matching your criteria will be displayed in the Payments list. 33

34 60BADVANCED SEARCH If you want to look for payments based on criteria other than date, type or status, or if you have more complex selection criteria if, for example, you re looking for more than one type of payment use the Advanced Search window (Figure 11).. Figure 11: Advanced Search Window Payment Information In the Advanced Search window, you enter selection criteria for the items by which you want to search. If you enter values, the items containing the values you enter will be selected. For example, if you type payroll in the Template Name box, any payments made from templates that have payroll somewhere in the template name, such as Employee payrolls for 2009, would be selected. When you click Search, your specifications for all the items are combined, so that only payments meeting the combined criteria will be displayed in the Payments list. 34

35 See Payment Information Panel Help (Advanced Search) for more information about each item in the window and how to enter selection criteria. To search for payments using complex criteria (Advanced Search): 1. Go to the Payment Center page. (On the Payments menu, choose Payment Center.) 2. On the Payment Selection search pane, click Advanced Search. 3. When the Advanced Search window appears, enter your criteria. You can enter selection criteria for the items below. (If you enter no selection criteria for an item, all values will be returned.) Search is case sensitive. ( Company and company are not the same.) Reference ID Template Name Confirmation Number Recipient First Name Recipient M(iddle) I(nitial) Company Name Recipient ID Payment Type Status Source Account Effective Date Payment Amount See Payment Information Panel Help (Advanced Search Window) for more information, or click one of the items above. 4. Click Search. Payments matching your combined criteria will be displayed in the Payments list. 61BMODIFY PAYMENT Sometimes you may need to modify a pending payment. This is done on the Edit Payment page. 35

36 Figure 12: Edit Payment Page The type of payment appears in the heading, and some of the items that appear on the page may vary slightly depending on the payment type, but basically, the page always contains two panels: (1) the Payment Information panel, on which you can change, the account, effective date and recurring payment information; and (2) the Recipients panel, on which you may change recipients and their payment amounts as well as update addenda. See About updating payment records, below, for more information. If the payment is a recurring payment, you can also specify whether your changes apply only to this particular payment or to the entire series of payments. This option appears in the Recurring Payment pane above the Payments Information panel. See About recurring payments, below, for more information. Only pending payments can be modified. Payments that have already been sent to the clearing house can only be viewed. You can tell whether a payment has been sent to the clearing house by checking its status. 36

37 A status of Completed means that the payment can no longer be modified. ( Completed means only that Harris has sent the payment to the ACH operator, not necessarily that the transaction has been processed there or posted to your account. To see if a payment has been posted, go to the Account Register page.) To go to the Edit Payment or View Payment page: 1. Go to the Payment Center page. 2. On the Payments list, under Payment, click the payment link of the payment you want. Figure 13: How to go to the Edit Payment or View (Sent) Payment pages. If the payment has not yet been sent, the Edit Payment page will be displayed. If the payment has been sent, the View Payment page will be displayed. 37

38 62BABOUT UPDATING PAYMENT RECORDS When you create a payment, all the necessary information, such as the amount, date, recipient s name, address and bank account number is saved in a payment record created especially for that payment. If you initiated the payment from a template or selected a recipient from the Recipients master lists, a snapshot of that information is taken from the source and copied into the payment record. This ensures that payment records remain intact, even if the sources that were used to generate them are later changed. Generally, you want changes to an individual payment to affect only that payment. But there are situations in which you d want to update payment sources too. For example, if you want to make a payment to a client who just notified you of her new address, this change may affect future payments. It would be useful to update the Recipients master list, as well as any templates that reference this client, at the same time you enter the payment. That s why whenever you enter or edit recipient information in a payment record, you are always given the option to save this information to the Recipients master list. (See Modify a recipient for more information.) This is a special copy function that is available only for recipient information. Keep in mind that once a payment record is created, it is independent of all other payment records and sources. If you want pending payments to reflect changes made elsewhere, you must edit them separately. This is especially important to remember for recurring payments, because recurring payment records replicate themselves when they generate payments; they do not go back to their original sources for current information. (See About recurring payments, below.) 63BABOUT RECURRING PAYMENTS Recurring payments are payments that are repeated automatically. You can set up a recurring payment for regularly scheduled payments like a monthly installment loan remittance, a weekly rent collection or a biweekly payroll. This saves you from having to create each ACH payment individually. (For repeating payments that are scheduled on demand, see Using Templates.) To make a payment recurring, select the Make this Payment Recurring option, when you create or modify the payment. Then specify how often you want the payment to repeat and how many times. You have several options for how often to schedule recurring payments weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, annually, every six months or every last day of the month and you can specify a set number of repetitions or continue the series indefinitely. You can convert a recurring payment back into a regular, one-time payment at any time simply by unselecting the Make this Payment Recurring option. Recurring payments are just like one-time payments with one significant difference: when the scheduled date arrives, the recurring payment record replicates itself automatically, creating a new recurring payment for the next date in the series; the original record then turns into a one-time, scheduled payment and is processed that way. If you specify a set number of repetitions, the value automatically decreases every time the payment record is replicated. For example, if you had set up monthly ACH payments of an installment loan amortized over 12 months, and 6 payments had already been made, you d see a 6 in the How many? box when you opened the recurring payment record. Recurring payments are easy to set up and, if you don t make any changes, you don t need to think about them. However, if you modify a recurring payment, here are a few points to keep in mind: 1. The last scheduled payment in the series is the recurring one. The recurring payment record, or the record from which future payments are generated, is always the 38

39 last one in the series, because each recurring record turns into a one-time (non-recurring) payment after replicating itself. So if you want to make a change that affects future payments, make sure you edit the latest record in the series. (DO NOT select the Make This Payment Recurring option for an earlier scheduled payment, because that will create a new series.) 2. Only a recurring payment gives you the option of updating future payments. One way to distinguish a recurring payment record from a one-time payment in the series is to open the record for editing and look for the Recurring Payment option above the Payment Information panel. (See Figure 12.) This option, which lets you choose whether to update only this payment or all (future) payments in the series, appears only in a recurring payment record. 3. Updating the entire series of recurring payments affects only the payment you are editing and future payments, not payments that have already been scheduled. Think of the recurring payment record as a kind of template from which future one-time payments are automatically generated. Once they are generated, however, they become independent, one-time payments. If you want them changed, you have to edit them separately. (See About updating payment records, above.) 4. Make sure you explicitly select the Recurring Payment option you want. The Recurring Payment option, which is available only when you edit a recurring payment, lets you choose whether to update just the current payment or the entire (future) series. It s located above the Payment Entry form (see Figure 12.) Recurring payment options include: Current payment only (Default) In this option when you submit your changes, the old information is replicated as a recurring payment scheduled for the next date in the series, and the current record, with your changes, is saved as a one-time payment. Entire series of payments Only the recurring payment record is modified when you submit your changes; those changes will be replicated in future payments at the appropriate time. If you don t make a choice, you get The current payment only by default, and if that s not what you wanted, making a correction requires you to delete one of the two payments that were saved because of this choice, and modify the other. You must also re-establish the sequence of the recurring payments. For example, if you delete the future (recurring) payment, you d have to modify the current payment to make it a recurring payment. (Remember it became a one-time, regular payment after replicating the old version of itself.) That means you d need to know how many payments were remaining in the series. (To create a recurring payment, you must enter values for How often? and How many?). But if you delete the current (one-time) payment, you d have to update the recurring payment again with your changes, as well as set the date back to the previous one in the series and increment the How Many? counter to the correct number of remaining payments. That s why it s always better to explicitly choose the option you want. 5. Recurring payment information is not automatically updated. It s up to you to keep it current. If you create a recurring payment from a template or take its recipient information from the Recipients master list, keep in mind this information will not be reflected in future recurring payments. Updates to sources have no effect on recurring payments, even if those payments have not yet been scheduled. Remember that recurring payments replicate themselves from existing payment records, so each payment in the series is already pending in that its payment record already exists. Pending payment records are independent from their sources; they are always updated separately. (See About updating payment records, above.) To update future recurring payments you must update the current recurring payment record. 39

40 To modify a pending payment: 1. Go to the Payment Center page. 2. On the Payments list, under Payment, click the link for the payment you want to edit (Use the Payment Selection search pane if you don t see the payment on the list.) Only pending payments (i.e., payments with a status other than Completed ) may be modified. If you choose a pending payment, the Edit Payment page will be displayed. 3. If you want to add or remove recipients, see Adding or removing recipients in payments and templates for instructions. If you want to edit recipient information, see Modifying a recipient in payments or templates.) 4. Edit any other items you want to change. The items on the Payment Information panel you can edit are: Pay To/Pay From Effective Date Make This Payment Recurring (If recurring) How Often (If recurring) How Many or No End (See Payment Information Panel Help for a description of items on the Payments Information panel or click one of the items above.) The items on the Recipients panel you can edit are: Amount Addendum Also, if this is a direct deposit payment and recipients have elected to split payments between accounts, you may edit Secondary Account Information. (See Recipients Panel Help for descriptions of items on the Recipients panel, or click one of the items above.) 5. If you are editing a recurring payment record, at Recurring Payment, select one of the following options: 40

41 The current payment only choose this option if your changes should be applied only to the payment you are editing. The entire series of payments choose this option if you are changing the number of occurrences (How Many Times or No End) or if your changes should be applied to this payment and to all future payments in this series. For Help, click Recurring Payment. (See also About recurring payments.) 6. Click Preview. 7. When the preview window appears, review your entries. If they are correct, type your login password at Enter Password. If you want to edit them, click Edit. 8. Click Submit. 64BVIEW OR PRINT PAYMENT DETAILS As discussed earlier, one way to view details of payments is to click the payment link in the Payments list: This displays the Edit Payment page for pending payments and the View Payment page for payments that have already been sent to the clearing house. 41

42 Figure 14: View (Sent) Payment Page Another way to see payment details is to view the transaction receipt, which is also available from the Payment Center s Payments list. This method is useful for printing payment records, since the transaction receipt has a printable view for all payments, pending and sent. To view or print payment details: 1. Go to the Payment Center page. 2. On the Payments list, under Reference ID, click the Reference ID link of the payment you want to view or print. (Use the Payment Selection search pane if you don t see the payment on the list.) 42

43 The Transaction Receipt window will be displayed. 3. To print, click Print Screen. 4. When the printable view appears, click Print Screen. 43

44 65BDELETE PAYMENT Deleted payments are considered errors and therefore they do not require approval. Only pending payments can be deleted. To delete a pending payment: 1. Go to the Payment Center page. 2. On the Payments list, under Payment, click the payment link of the payment you want to delete. (Use the Payment Selection search pane if you don t see the payment on the list.) Only pending payments (i.e., payments with a status other than Completed ) may be deleted. If you choose a pending payment, the Edit Payment page will be displayed. 3. Click Delete. 44

45 4. When the preview window appears, type your login password at Enter Password. 5. Click Delete. BE CAREFUL ABOUT DELETING PAYMENTS. No warning message is given prior to deleting and once a payment is deleted, it can t be recovered. 45

46 5BWORKING WITH RECIPIENTS This chapter covers creating and maintaining a central list of recipients and their associated banking information, as well as entering and editing recipient information in payments and templates. 26BAbout Recipients, Recipient IDs and the Recipients Master List All ACH transactions involve at least one recipient. Because ACH transactions are electronic, the recipient information entered with the payment must include the recipient s bank account and bank routing number, or ABA number, as well as the recipient s name. Other contact information, such as a telephone number or address, is also useful if there are issues with a payment and the recipient needs to be contacted. In BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business, recipient information is collected in a recipient record that is identified by a recipient ID a name you create that represents a combination of the recipient and its primary bank account (or, in the case of some direct deposits, its primary and secondary bank accounts). Because ACH customers often work with the same recipients, BMO Harris Online Banking for Small Business gives you the option of storing recipient records in a central list, where they can be kept current and re-used for multiple payments. This list is referred to as the Recipients master list or simply the master list. If you save a recipient in the master list, the recipient ID you choose must be unique. If you don t intend on using a recipient again, you can enter just the required minimum recipient information directly into the payment. This is called a one-time recipient. A recipient ID is still required, however, because until the payment is sent, you have the option of copying recipient information to the master list. The Recipients master list is discussed in more detail in Creating a recipient in the master list and in Managing Recipients. One-time recipients are discussed in the next section, Adding or removing recipients in payments and templates. 27BAdding or removing recipients in payments and templates This section discusses procedures for adding and removing recipient information in payment records and templates. Adding Recipients to a Payment or Template Removing recipients from a payment or template For information on creating, modifying or deleting recipients in the Recipients master list, see Creating a recipient in the master list and Managing Recipients. 6BADDING RECIPIENTS TO A PAYMENT OR TEMPLATE When you create a payment or a template, you are required to have at least one recipient. You have two options for adding recipients: 46