Accounting CS Client Access: Prenoting direct deposit files

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Prenoting files involves sending direct deposit files to the bank or the third party processing your ACH files with all the bank account, employee, and vendor agent information but with zero amounts. This allows them to verify that all necessary information is present and correct, ensuring that live ACH files will not be rejected.

Although the use of prenotes is supported with International ACH Transactions (IAT), the concept of prenotes is not supported in most countries around the world. In most cases, if you are using IAT you will not receive a response to your prenote.

Prenoting information

Bank account information: In the Setup > Bank Accounts screen, click the Client Direct Deposit tab and set the Status field in the Bank account prenote information section to Prenote.

Note: The Primary bank account checkbox must be marked in this tab for one of the client's bank accounts. The primary bank account is used when prenoting employees and vendors. Accounting CS uses information from the primary bank account in the ACH file header record.

Employee information: In the Setup > Employees screen, click the Direct Deposit tab and set the Status column to Prenote for any new employee bank account information that has not previously been prenoted.

Vendor information: In the Setup > Vendors screen, click the Direct Deposit tab and set the Status column to Prenote for any new vendor bank account information that has not previously been prenoted.

Creating the prenote file

  1. Choose Actions > Process Direct Deposit.
  2. In the Process Direct Deposit screen, click the Prenoting button (in the top, right-hand corner of the screen).
  3. In the Prenoting dialog, all the accounts with prenote status are listed. The account checkboxes are unmarked by default. You can choose to process specific accounts by marking the checkboxes individually or to process all of them by right-clicking and choosing Select All.

    You can drag the Client Name or Bank header up to the Group by field to group by that information to make it easier to find the banks for a client.

    Is an employee prenote missing from the Prenoting dialog? Reasons why this may be happening

  4. When you are ready to create the prenote files, select Create Prenotes from the Action drop-down list and then click the Process button. The Status column shows a Waiting status and the prenote date is entered (based on the system date).
  5. Click the Done button to return to the Process Direct Deposit screen.
  6. If you are using Kotapay to transmit files, click the Transmission Information button and verify that you have entered your login credentials in the Transmission Information dialog, then click OK to return to the Process Direct Deposit screen.
  7. Mark the checkbox next to the prenote transactions and click the Create Files button.
  8. In the Process Direct Deposit File dialog, verify the file information and click OK.

    Notes

    • When you click OK in the Process Direct Deposit File dialog, regular prenote files are stored in the default file location shown at the bottom of the screen. If you are using Kotapay to transmit files, clicking OK will create the Kotapay prenote files, open your default web browser to display and log into the Kotapay website, and transmit the files to Kotapay.
    • Prenotes can be processed using the current date.
  9. If the prenote file is accepted, continue with the following section. If the prenote file is not accepted, refer to the If the prenote file is not accepted section.

When the prenote file is accepted

An ACH File Creation message displays to let you know that the files were created successfully.

Note: If the file was not accepted, refer to the If the prenote file is not accepted section.

  1. When the prenote information has been approved by the party processing your ACH files, return to the Prenoting dialog.
  2. Mark the checkboxes for the appropriate accounts, and then select Change to Approved from the Action drop-down list.

    Note: In the Edit > Options dialog of the Actions > Process Direct Deposit screen, you can choose to have the application automatically change the prenote status here from Waiting to Approved after three banking days have passed since the account was prenoted.

  3. Click the Process button. All of the marked accounts are approved and ready for live ACH files to be processed.

Note: To prenote accounts that already have Approved status, you will need to mark the Include accounts with Approved status checkbox to display all approved accounts. Then you can make the necessary changes to the account in question.

If the prenote file is not accepted

  1. Correct the information specified by the bank.
  2. Choose Actions > Process Direct Deposit.
  3. In the Process Direct Deposit screen, click the Prenoting button (in the top, right-hand corner of the screen).
  4. Mark the checkboxes next to the banks that need to be prenoted again. They will still show a Waiting prenote status.
  5. Select Create Prenotes from the Action drop-down list and then click the Process button. The Status column shows a Waiting status and the new prenote date is entered (based on the system date).
  6. Click the Done button to return to the Process Direct Deposit screen.
  7. Mark the checkboxes next to the prenote transactions that were just created.
  8. If necessary, click the Condensed Report or Preview Selected button to print or preview a copy of the ACH file.
  9. Click the Create Files button.
  10. In the Process Direct Deposit File dialog, verify the file information and click OK.
  11. When the prenote file is accepted, follow the steps in the When the prenote file is accepted section. 

Related articles

Direct deposit overview

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