There are four primary steps that would be required to set-up your system in SAP for Same-Day ACH:
· Same-Day ACH reconciliation process
· Vendor master data management
· Payment process modification for Same-Day ACH
In our final installment of our Same-Day ACH series, we will cover the remaining two steps of set-up required in SAP. (Here are links to the first two posts for this series where we outlined the history of Same-Day ACH, as well as the potential impacts on financial institutions.)
Vendor master data management
In order to support using both regular ACH and same day ACH, the vendor master data must be updated. By changing master data in transaction FK02, the appropriate payment methods can be selected.
Make sure vendor information is correct. If the vendor/receiver data was incorrect, duplicated or money may be exchanged before the problem is recognized.
The order of the payment methods is important. If you would like Same-Day ACH used for all transactions first, then put payment method S before payment method A. This would ensure that SAP will try to use Same-Day ACH first. If the payment was over $25,000, then payment method A would be used.
If Same-Day ACH will only be used in special cases, then payment method A should be selected first, then payment method S.
Payment process modification for Same-Day ACH
Your existing payment processes will require a few modifications. There three primary considerations for your processes:
- Assess the settlement windows versus the time of day you run your ACH payments. Based on the settlement windows for same day ACH versus traditional ACH, it may be best to separate them into different payment runs to align with settlement time frames from your bank.
- Consider your acknowledgement/confirmations process from your bank. You may also want these two payment types separated depending upon the payments confirmations received from your bank. For example, if you monitor payments based on their ultimate settlement status, you would need Same-Day ACH separated from regular ACH. Same-Day ACH would have final confirmation of settlement on the same day, while ACH would have final settlement available once the banking recipient has settled the payment. Same-Day ACH will also have faster notification of payment failures.
- Consider if special or different approvals are required to issue payments same-day - since transactions settle same-day.
The standard SAP payment reports from F110 do provide summaries by bank account and payment method, so these could be used to review the batch totals.
Payment parameters are entered, and a proposal generated.
Finally, your payment run is generated with the next Same-Day ACH payments.
This completes our series on Same-Day ACH. If you’d like a helpful reminder sheet of Same-Day ACH, take a look at this NACHA link.
The Same-Day ACH feature is coming, prepare for it and you’ll be glad you did.
