Introduction to Direct Deposit ACH File Specifications

ACH processing involves paying vendors and employees via a file generated during a check run in Accounts Payable and Payroll by submitting the file to your bank. It is also known as direct deposit.

For more information on the setup of this feature see the appendix Implement Positive Pay and Direct Deposit in the A/P or P/R User documentation.

There is a standard ACH file format, as determined by NACHA, that the bank personnel expect when processing electronic payments.

This appendix provides the technical details of the contents of an ACH file.

ACH File Structure

An ACH file is a fixed length 94 byte length text file. There are 6 record types in an ACH file. Each record type is written to a separate line. The structure and number of lines for each record type is the following:

Record description	Record type indicator	Number of records per file
Header 1	1	1
Header 2	5	1
Lines	6	One line per payment to each employee or vendor
Batch control	8	1
File batch	9	1*

* An ACH file must have at least 10 lines in length. If there are less than 10 lines, additional “9” records (all 9s) are generated to make up the difference. These lines are for filler purposes only.

The first digit on each line is the record type indicator. The next section provides the field by field details for each record type.

ACH Field Details by Record Type

Each record type has a different set of fields. In this section of the chapter each record type is documented. For each field the position, size, status and field name and data origin is provided.

Record Type 1 - Header 1

The following is the technical information for the record 1 ACH fields.

Field	Position	Size	Status	Field Name	Data Origin
1	1	1	required	Record type	Program - always “1"
2	2-3	2	required	Priority code	Program - always “01"
3	4-13	10	required	Immediate destination	Bank accounts screen 1/ field 5 ABA routing
4	14-23	10	required	Immediate origin	Bank accounts screen 2/ field 4 ACH imm-origin tax id/ no.
5	24-29	6	required	File creation date	System date
6	30-33	4	optional	File creation time	System time
7	34-34	1	required	File ID modifier	If multiple files are created on same day, this starts as “A”, incrementing through the alphabet
8	35-37	3	required	Record size	Program - always 094
9	38-39	2	required	Blocking factor	Program - always 10
10	40	1	required	Format code	Program - always 1
11	41-63	23	optional	Imm destination name	Bank accounts screen 1, field 2 Bank name
12	64-86	23	optional	Imm origin name	Bank accounts screen 2, field 3 Imm origin name
13	87-94	8	optional	Reference code	Always “zeros”

Record Type 5 - Header 2

The following is the technical information for the record 5 ACH fields.

Field	Position	Size	Status	Field Name	Data Origin
1	01	1	required	Record type	Program - always “5"
2	2-4	3	required	Service class code	Program - always “200" indicates a mix of DR/ CR
3	5-20	16	required	Company name	Bank accounts screen 2/ field 1 ACH company name
4	21-40	20	optional	Discretionary data	Not used
5	41-50	10	required	Company identification	Bank accounts screen 2/ field 2 ACH company tax id/ no
6	51-53	3	required	Standard entry code	If P/R: “PPD” If A/P: “CCD”
7	54-63	10	required	Company entry description	Dt:(Check date in P/R and Trx date in A/P) or If P/R: “Payroll” If A/P: “A/P”
8	64-69	6	required	Company date	If P/R: The Payroll control file period ending date in YYMMDD date format If A/P: it uses the system date
9	70-75	6	required	Effective entry date	Payment (check) date from the Open item or Time transaction file
10	76-78	3	required	Reserved	Blanks
11	79-79	1	required	Originator status code	Program - always “1"
12	80-87	8	required	Originating bank ID	If the immediate origin is your company as indicated in the Bank accounts screen 2 / tab 2, then it is from the Bank accounts screen 1/ field 5 Bank Routing. If the immediate origin is your bank it uses the Bank accounts screen 2/ tab 2 ACH immediate origin tax ID/no
13	88-94	7	required	Batch number	Program - always “1”

Record Type 6 - Lines

The following is the technical information for the record 6 ACH fields.

Field	Position	Size	Status	Field Name	Data Origin
1	1	1	required	Record type	Program - always “6"
2	2-3	2	required	Transaction code	22= CR checking account 23= Pre-note CR checking account 27 = DR checking account 28= Pre-note DR checking 32= CR savings account 33= Pre-note CR savings
3	4-11	8	required	Receiving bank ID	If P/R: Based on the employee’s Banks code entered on the employee direct deposit record it uses the bank routing number and bank name. If A/P: Vendor’s bank routing number comes from a Banks record via the vendor record Bank code field.
4	12-12	1	required	Check digit	Included from Field 3 above
5	13-29	17	required	Receiving bank account #	If P/R: Employee bank account number from employee direct deposit file (includes check digit) If AP: Vendor bank account number from the Vendor file.
6	30-39	10	required	Amount	Amount to pay from the Open item or Time transaction file
7	40-54	15	optional	Individual ID Information	P/R: Employee number A/P: Vendor number
8	55-76	22	required	Individual name	P/R: Employee name A/P: Vendor name
9	77-78	2	optional	Optional data field	Not used
10	79-79	1	required	Addenda record	Program - always “0". No addenda is used
11	80-94	15	required	Trace number	This is a constructed number that consists of record 5/ field 12 bank routing number + the sequential number

Record Type 8 - Batch Control

The following is the technical information for the record 8 ACH fields.

Field	Position	Size	Status	Field Name	Data Origin
1	01	1	required	Record type	Always “8"
2	02-04	3	required	Service class code	Always “200"- DR & CR
3	05-10	6	required	Entry count	Calculated: It is the number of detail records in this batch. Add 1 for every detail record 6
4	11-20	10	required	Entry hash	Calculated: Sum of record 6/ field 3 receiving bank ID number (excludes check digit)
5	21-32	12	required	Total DR amount	Sum of total debits of record 6
6	33-44	12	required	Total CR amount	Sum of total credits of record 6
7	45-54	10	required	Company identification	Same as field 5/ record 5 This is from CTL Banks screen 2/ tab 2 Company-ID
8	55-73	19	optional	Message authentication	Blanks
9	74-79	6	required	Reserved	Blanks
10	80-87	8	required	Originating Bank ID	From record 5/ field 12
11	88-94	7	required	Batch Number	Same as record 5/ field 13

Record Type 9 - File Batch

The following is the technical information for the record 9 ACH fields.

Field	Position	Size	Status	Field Name	Data Origin
1	1	1	required	Record type	Program - always “9"
2	2-7	6	required	Batch count	Program - always “1”
3	8-13	6	required	Block count	Calculated: add 1 for every 10 records
4	14-21	8	required	Entry count	Calculated: Number of record 6 records on file.
5	22-31	10	required	Entry hash	Sum of record 6 field 3 receiving bank ID code (excludes check digit)
6	32-43	12	required	Total debit entry	Sum of all DR amounts on record 6 field 6
7	44-55	12	required	Total credit entry	Sum of all CR amounts on record 6 field 6
8	56-94	39	required	Reserved	Blank

Use of Fields for Immediate Origin Options

Immediate origin is the last business entity to handle the ACH file before it reaches the final destination where the ACH file is processed and the payments are made.

The use of the ACH fields vary depending on the immediate origin settings. The two options are:

•

Your company is the immediate origin

•

Your bank is the immediate origin

This part of the appendix documents which fields are being used in both circumstances.

The Company’s Bank is the Processing Bank

This is the most common circumstance. In this case your company is the immediate origin. These data variables are produced when the CTL Banks record tab 2/screen 2 / Is imm-origin your company field is checked (set to Y in character mode).

Record Type	Field number	ACH File Field Name	Data Origin
1	3	Immediate destination	This is your bank. This is the ABA bank routing number which comes from the CTL Banks screen 1/ tab 1 ABA routing # field.
1	4	Immediate origin no.	This is usually your company’s Federal Tax ID number from CTL Banks screen 2/ tab 2 ACH imm-origin tax id/no. This could also be the DUNS code or any other unique designation as required by your bank.
1		Destination name	This is your company’s bank name from CTL Banks screen 1/ field 2 Bank Name.
1	12	Immediate origin name	This is from CTL Banks screen 2/ field 3 Imm-origin name. Note that this is usually your company’s name.
5	3	Company name	This is from the CTL Banks screen2/ field 1 ACH Company name.
5	5	Company ID	This comes from CTL Banks screen 2/ field 2: ACH Company tax id/no. It is usually the same as Immediate Origin from ACH file record 1/ field 4. It normally contains your company’s Federal Tax ID, preceded by a “1". Your bank contact person must instruct what goes in this field and which digit to precede the number.
5	12	Originating bank	This is the same as record 1/ field 3. It is your bank’s ABA routing number from the CTL Banks screen 1/ field 5. It excludes the check digit.

The Company’s Bank is not the Processing Bank

Usually this means the Federal Reserve will process the ACH file. In this case the immediate origin is your bank. This procedure is followed when the Ctl Banks record tab/screen2 / field 3 Is imm-origin your company is unchecked (set to N in character mode).

In data below the ACH record type, ACH field number, ACH field name and where the data originates is provided.

Record Type	Field Number	ACH File Field Name	Where the Data Originates
1	3	Immediate destination	This is the processing bank’s ABA routing number. This comes from the Ctl Banks screen 1/ field 5 ABA routing #. Note that the processing bank is NOT your company’s bank.
1	4	Immediate origin	This is the receiving bank’s ABA routing number from Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 4, ACH Imm-Origin ABA routing no. IT MUST BE your bank’s ABA number.
1	11	Destination name	This is the processing bank name entered in Ctl Banks screen 1/ field 2 Bank Name. This is NOT your bank.
1	12	Immediate origin name	This is the receiving bank’s name from Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 3 Imm-origin name. This is your bank’s name.
5	3	Company name	This is your company’s name from Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 1 ACH Company name.
5	5	Company ID	From Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 2: ACH Company tax id/ no. This usually contains your company’s Federal Tax ID preceded by a “1". Your bank contact person must instruct what goes in this field.
5	12	Originating bank	When Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 3 is N for the question Is Immediate Origin your company? use the bank routing number from Ctl Banks screen 2/ field 4 Immediate Origin tax id/ no. This is the same as record 1/field 4 but excludes the first position.