Importing A/R Payment and Distribution Data from Bank Files

You can import and process electronic customer payments from a bank or electronic lock box and apply them to A/R invoices.  Different banks use different file formats. Set up a Map ID for each type of file format  that will be imported.

To prepare for the import:

  • The file to be imported into the A/R Payment Import Workbench must be based on Microsoft Windows format, where end-of-line is indicated by Carriage Return (CR - CHAR(13) - \r - 0x0D) and Line Feed (LF - CHAR(10) - \n - 0x0A) control characters. Using this format allows CloudSuite Industrial to import each line into a separate row in the table.

  • Use these forms to set up mapping of the imported values to fields:

    • A/R Payment Import Field Mappings: Use this form to define a map ID that, together with the description, clearly defines the bank and the type of file to be used for an import. Also specify the default logical folders where you will place the files to be imported. Archived files are stored in the A/R Payment Import Archive Logical Folder that is defined on the Accounts Receivable Parameters form after import.
    • A/R Payment Import Conversions

    Because it is a standard format already defined in CloudSuite Industrial, you only need to specify a Map ID and the Type when you set up mapping for the NACHA CCD bank file format. For other delimited or non-delimited bank file formats, you must specify additional information about the file format and how the contents are mapped to the import workbench tables.

  1. After customers' payments are deposited in your bank, use the A/R Payment Import utility to import electronic files from your bank that provide a record of the EFT payments:
    1. Select a map ID.
    2. Verify that the appropriate import and archive logical folders are defined. These values are linked to the map ID definition on the A/R Payment Import Field Mappings form. The A/R Payment Import Archive Logical Folder is defined on the Accounts Receivable Parameters form.
    3. Click the Files button next to Import Logical Folder to display the contents of the logical folder.
    4. In the A/R Payment Imports form, click Process to import the files that are in the logical folder.
  2. Then process the data with the A/R Payment Import Workbench:
    1. To access the utility from the workbench form, click AR Payment Import. You can also open the utility standalone.
    2. Select a valid import map ID.
    3. When the map ID is specified, the Import Logical Folder for that ID is displayed. You can change the logical folder.
    4. Click Process.

      The utility reads each file in the import path and imports each file based on the mappings defined for the map ID. The data from successfully imported files are loaded into the workbench tables, and the files are moved to the A/R Payment Import Archive Logical Folder specified in the Accounts Receivable Parameters form.

      If an error occurs while importing a file, the error is captured and no more files are processed. You can view the error in the Background Task History form.

  3. Open the A/R Payment Import Workbench form to view and manipulate the values and then post the data to the A/R payment tables.

    See Processing Imported A/R Payment and Distribution Data.

Note:  Bank reconciliation records are not imported with this utility. Only A/R payments and distributions are imported and processed using the import utility and workbench. Bank reconciliations are created when the A/R payments are posted in CloudSuite Industrial.
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