How To: Configuring D365 F&SCM to Generate an ACH (NACHA) Payment File

When configuring D365 Finance & Supply Chain Management to generate an ACH (NACHA) payment file, you must compare your bank specifications to the OOB NACHA format that is found in Electronic Reporting. Most likely, you will need to edit the mapping or add default values to align with your bank specs.

To create a custom NACHA ER file, there are a few pre-requisites.

• Import the Microsoft ER configurations.
• Create and activate a configuration provider for your client.
• Complete the initial setup on bank account, vendor bank account and method of payment.
• Prepare a vendor payment journal for an ACH payment to test your format changes.

To create a custom format.

• Go to Workspaces > Electronic reporting > Reporting Configurations tile.
  
• On the Configurations page, in the configuration tree in the left pane, expand Payment model, and then select Standard NACHA – CCD (US) - vendors. Your company will use the most recent version of this ER format configuration as the base for the custom version.
• Select Create configuration to open the drop-down dialog box. You can use this dialog box to create a new configuration for a custom payment format.
• In the New field group, select the Standard NACHA – CCD (US) - vendors, Microsoft option.
• In the Name field, enter a name and description to help identify your custom format. We recommend using a bank name or a combination of company prefix and bank. Company-Bank.
• Your company’s configuration model should automatically populate.
  
• Select Create configuration.
  Version XXX.XX.XX.1 of the Company-Bank ER format configuration is created. This version has a status of Draft and can be edited. The current content of your custom ER format matches the content of the format that is provided by Microsoft.
  

Edit a custom format

You must configure your custom format so that it meets bank-specific requirements. For example, a bank might require that the Trace Number on the detail record begin with the first 8 digits of the bank’s routing number rather than the Journal Batch number as configured in the base format.

• Go to Workspaces > Electronic reporting > Reporting Configurations tile.
• On the Configurations page, in the configuration tree in the left pane, expand Payment model, and then select Company-Bank.
• On the Versions FastTab, select version XXX.XX.XX.1 of the selected configuration.
• Select Designer.
• On the Format designer page.
• Expand and review the following elements:
  • The NACHA element of the File type. This element is used to generate a payment file in TXT format.
  • The Record element of the Sequence type. This element is used to generate a single payment line in a payment file.
  • The DetailRecord element of the Sequence type. This element is used to generate individual fields of a single payment line.
• Select the traceNumber element.
  
• Click the Mapping tab, and then select the Edit Formula action.
  
• Note: The base formula allows for 15 characters. The first 11 characters are the Message.Identifcation number, which is the journal batch number. The last four characters are used to generate a sequential transaction number in the ACH file.
  
• Modify the formula as required. For this scenario, we’ve modified the formula to left justify the first eight characters of the bank routing number, followed by seven characters for the sequential transaction number.
• Select Save .
• Fields can be added, removed or moved up and down. In general, the field names and mappings are consistent with most bank specifications.
• If a field is not mapped, a value can be entered on the Format tab > Value field.
  
• Close the designer page.

Test your new format during design

Now that the first version of your custom format has been created and has a status of Draft, you can run it for testing purposes. By default, when you call an ER format from the application, only versions that have a status of Completed or Shared are considered. However, for your test runs, you can force the application to use the version of your ER format that has a status of Draft. In this way, you can adjust the current format version if any modifications are required.

To use the draft version of an ER format, you can run the ER format. You should have a Vendor Payment file prepared for an ACH payment prior to completing the next steps.

• Go to Workspaces > Electronic reporting > Reporting Configurations tile.
• On the Configurations page, on the Versions fasttab, click Run.
  
• In the Electronic report parameters dialog box, select the Journal batch number of the vendor payment journal you have prepared for an ACH payment, and then select OK.
  
• They system will generate the ACH txt file, which you can find in your downloads folder.
• Open and review your format changes.
• When you have completed your format changes, click on the Change Status dropdown on the Versions fasttab and click Complete. This will enable your changes to be run when the format is selected on the vendor payment.
  

Set up the electronic payment method

You must configure the electronic method of payment so that your custom ER format is used to process vendor payments.

• Go to Accounts payable > Payment setup > Methods of payment.
• On the Methods of payment - vendors page, select the method of payment in the left pane that will be used for ACH payments.
• Select Edit.
• On the File format FastTab, set the Generic electronic export format option to Yes.
• In the Export format configuration field, select the Company-Bank format configuration.
  
• Select Save.
• You can now generate payments from your vendor payment journal.

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can successfully configure a custom NACHA ER file in D365 Finance & Supply Chain Management. This involves importing Microsoft ER configurations, setting up a configuration provider, and making necessary adjustments to align with your bank's specifications. Testing your custom format ensures that it meets all requirements before going live. With these configurations in place, you can confidently generate ACH payment files that are compliant and efficient, streamlining your financial operations.