Define a Bank Account

You can define bank accounts (including account information, cheque layout defaults, and transmission file information) for asset accounts. You can edit this information at any time, but your changes are not retroactive. Once an account is defined, you cannot undo the action.

You can only define an account with no prior activity. If a GL account with prior activity should have been defined as a bank account, you must journal entry the balance, inactivate the account, and create a new account that can be defined.

1. From the Home screen, do one of the following:
    

   • Click Configure on the navigation panel.

   • Click Areas > Configure on the menubar.
   • Click the down arrow next to Home on the options bar and select Configure.

From any other area of the program, do one of the following:

1. • Click the down arrow to the right of the Home options bar button and select Configure.

   • Click Home > Configure on the menubar. The Configure screen displays

2. Click Accounting on the navigation panel or Areas > Accounting on the menubar.

3. Click Chart of Accounts in the navigation panel.

4. The chart of accounts displays in the list. Click a column heading to sort the list by that column.

Click the account to be defined, and then do one of the following:

5. • Click Actions > Define Bank Account on the options bar.

   • Click Actions > Define Bank Account on the menubar.
   • Right click the account and select Define Bank Account.

5. Select the Vendor. The Vendor dropdown menu populates with all active vendor accounts defined in the system that have at least one agency in common with the GL account.
   
   Note: A vendor account must be associated to each bank account. If no corresponding vendor account has been added, close the Bank Account screen and add the vendor before reattempting the workflow.
6. Select the Default agency.
7. Enter the selected account's Bank account number.
   
   Note: MICR fonts are available for this field. Click here for more information.

   You can insert any of the following characters can be inserted by typing the corresponding symbol or capital letter:

   = or D inserts the Dash symbol =

   ; or B inserts the Amount symbol;

   : or A inserts the Transit symbol:

   < or C inserts the On-Us symbol<

   Note that any MICR characters you enter here will pull into the check layout only. They will not be reflected in the output of any other report that pulls bank account information (such as the Deposit Register or the Bank Reconciliation Worksheet).

8. The next step differs depending on whether the bank is located in the United States or Canada.
   • If you are defining an account for a bank in the United States:
   • 1. Enter the account's ABA routing number.
     2. Enter the Fractional routing number.
        
        Note: MICR font characters are available for the ABA routing number and Fractional routing number fields. Click here for more information.

        Any of the following characters can be inserted by typing the corresponding symbol or capital letter:

        = or D inserts the Dash symbol =

        ; or B inserts the Amount symbol;

        : or A inserts the Transit symbol:

        < or C inserts the On-Us symbol<

        Note that any MICR characters you enter here will pull into the check layout only. They will not be reflected in the output of any other report that pulls bank account information (such as the Deposit Register or the Bank Reconciliation Worksheet).

   • If you are defining an account for a Canadian bank:
   • 1. Enter the bank's institution number in the Bank number field. The leading 0 defaults and cannot be revised.
     2. Enter the bank's branch ID in the Transit number field.
     3. Enter the bank's data center code.
9. If you will be sending payment transactions to the bank via electronic transmission file, select the appropriate service class to identify the transactions that will be sent. (If you will not be sending transmission files, you may skip to step 12.)
10. Enter the Originator ID. This is a unique agency identifier provided by the bank.
11. The Sequence ID # indicates the number that will be assigned to the next transmission file created for this bank account.
12. In the Cheque Layout section, select the Print cheques checkbox if the selected account is a chequing account. Select EFT for electronic funds transfer.
13. Select the Use system generated cheque checkbox if applicable. If you select this checkbox, enter the Next available cheque #.
14. Make the appropriate selections in the remaining dropdown menus to choose the cheque layout. For each entity type, you can select the system default, the system default with conditional areas, or any customized cheque layouts installed in your system.
    
    The System default is a basic layout option that contains the same data elements regardless of what the disbursement detail rows are applied to.
    
    The System default - Conditional areas option includes conditional detail sections that are triggered by the Apply to selection for the disbursement detail rows. These sections include supporting detail pulled from the items paid by the cheque. Click here for more information on the conditional detail areas.
    

    Note that you cannot add or delete conditional areas from a cheque layout. If a disbursement does not contain any detail rows that would trigger a particular area, that area will not print on the cheque.

    Conditional Detail Area	Triggered By Detail Rows	Default Data Columns
    Premium Payables/Direct Bill Commissions	Any row applied to Cash on Account (available on Broker and Company disbursements) Any row applied to a Premium Statement (available on Broker and Company disbursements)	Branch Name Account Item # Policy # Policy Effective Date Policy Expiry Date Transaction Code Transaction Effective Date Agency Commission Amount Detail Line Amount
    Producer/Broker Payables	Any row applied to a Commission Statement on a Broker disbursement	Branch Name Account Item # Policy # Policy Effective Date Policy Expiry Date Transaction Code Transaction Effective Date Agency Commission Amount Pr/Br Commission Amount Detail Line Amount
    Accounts Receivable	Any row where the Premium checkbox is selected (available on Broker, Client, Company, Finance Company, and Other Interest disbursements)	Branch Name Account Item # Policy # Policy Effective Policy Expiry Transaction Code Transaction Effective Date Detail Line Amount
    Government Payables	Any row applied to a Government Statement on a Vendor disbursement	Branch Name Account Name Item Number Participation Policy Number Policy Effective Policy Expiry State/Province Transaction Code Transaction Effective Date Rate %/Amount Detail Line Amount
    General Expenses	Any row applied to the General Ledger (available on Broker, Client, Company, Employee, Finance Company, Other Interest, and Vendor disbursements)	Branch Name Account Invoice # General Ledger Account Schedule Detail Description Detail Line Amount

    • Broker
    • Client
    • Company
    • Employee
    • Finance Company
    • Other Interest
    • Vendor
15. In the Transmission File Default Information section, select the Default receipt type that should be used to send payment transmission files for this bank account.
• BACS-DATA: This is the standard format type used by banks in the United Kingdom.
• CPA - 1464: This is the standard format type used by banks in Canada.
• CPA - 80: This is the previous format type used by banks in Canada.
• NACHA: This is the standard format type used by banks in the United States.

Contact your banking institutions to determine which CPA format they require.

16. Select a Receipt mapping to use when creating a transmission file for this bank account. (Options are filtered based on the Default type you selected in the previous step.)
17. Choose your Default disbursement type.
• BACS-DATA (used by UK banks): Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services
• BACS-RBS (used by U.K. banks): Royal Bank of Scotland
• CHAPS (used by UK banks): Clearing House Automated Payment System
• IAT (used by UK banks): Inter-Account Transfer
• NACHA (used by U.S. banks): National Automated Clearing House Association

Select a Disbursement mapping to use when creating a transmission file for this bank account. (Options are filtered based on the Default type you selected in the previous step).

18. Click Finish to complete the workflow.
    
    Click Cancel or press [Esc] to close the Bank Account window without saving any changes.