Questions and Answers

Q: This solution explains the reasons for banks to reject ACH direct deposit files transmitted though Sage Pro ERP and how to resolve the issue.

A: Each bank may have different format requirements for ACH direct deposit files. Sage Pro ACH direct deposit follows the standard format that is given by NACHA (The Electronic Payment Association), the association that regulates the ACH file format. Enhancement PTR 85254 has been submitted to engineering to have Sage Pro include a feature to edit the ACH file format. This feature is being evaluated for Sage Pro 7.5.

To conform to the ACH format of a specific bank, it will require modifications to the SYDFRMD.DBF file which stores the ACH entry definitions. The description for each entry is stored in the SYDFRMD.Notes memo field. The changes will affect both the Accounts Payable(AP) and Payroll (PR) ACH file formats.

Important
Modifications to either the APPCHK.PRG or PRPCHK.PRG file are required to change the ACH file format for either AP or PR, this is beyond the scope of the article and Sage Customer Support.

Listed below are some format requirements for ACH files requested by banks.

Example One

Display the bank account number  instead of the Federal ID (indicated in bold) in the first row of the ACH Direct Deposit file. In this example the Federal ID is “421234567.” Shown below is the first row of the ACH Direct Deposit file, the federal ID is indicated in bold.

101 063100277 4212345670702010753A094101Chase Bank             Tenth National Bank

To change the ACH file format to show the bank account number instead of the Federal ID follow the steps below.

Important
The following should only be done by a Sage Certified Consultant or Business Partner. Create a full and verified backup before proceeding. This should first be attempted in a test installation and the results should be fully verified before implementing in a live system. Modifications to the ACH file format is not supported by Sage Customer Support. The example is intended for information purposes.

1. Open SYDFRMD file in either Microsoft Visual FoxPro or SQL Server
2. Locate the record where the SYDFRMD.Flddef is populated with the value “Immediate Origin”.
3. Edit and overwrite the SYDFRMD.Flddef memo field with the following value ” ” ” + SUBSTR(a_sysdat->str2,121, 9)”
4. Save changes.

The Federal ID will now be replaced with the bank account number.

Example Two

The client needs to modify the ACH format to include the debit entry for the employer.  This includes the account number and the routing number used for the total amount taken from this employer.  In the SYDFRMD.DBF,

Important
The following should only be done by a Sage Certified Consultant or Business Partner. Create a full and verified backup before proceeding. This should first be attempted in a test installation and the results should be fully verified before implementing in a live system. Modifications to the ACH file format is not supported by Sage Customer Support. The example is intended for information purposes.

•  Open SYDFRMD file in either Microsoft Visual FoxPro or SQL Server.

1. Locate the record where the Filename field is populated with the value ” Company Identification.”
2. Edit and overwrite the SYDFRMD.Flddef memo field with the following value ” “9” + SUBSTR(a_sysdat->str2,121, 9)”
3. Save changes.

Once this is done, the ACH file will include the debit entry for the employer, the account number, and the routing number used for the total amount taken from this employer.

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