Positive Pay

[whfpc]

Circumstances have lead us to secure our checking account by adding "Positive Pay". I am not sure if anyone has heard of this or uses it. I am on PC 12 and the bank has provided me with a delimited file information and as I print checks they need an uploaded file which includes the information they have requested (check number, payee, date, amount).
I am unsure of which report I can use that will allow me to upload it to their format. Kinda like payroll but it's not NACHA. I am not sure how to ask the question so I am sorry if this is confusing. I have searched for anything with positive pay and I am not finding what I need. Any help is appreciated

Robin

[NeilZ]

Circumstances have lead us to secure our checking account by adding "Positive Pay". I am not sure if anyone has heard of this or uses it. I am on PC 12 and the bank has provided me with a delimited file information and as I print checks they need an uploaded file which includes the information they have requested (check number, payee, date, amount).
I am unsure of which report I can use that will allow me to upload it to their format. Kinda like payroll but it's not NACHA. I am not sure how to ask the question so I am sorry if this is confusing. I have searched for anything with positive pay and I am not finding what I need. Any help is appreciated

Robin

This is not a standard export format, and I can't find anything that comes close to this in standard reports, either in v12 or v14. You may have to request that this export be added, that said, it may not be added to v12, which means that if it is created, you'd have to upgrade to v14. I really don't know what they would do.

You will probably have to create a separate spreadsheet outside of Powerchurch to create this for the time being.

To get this feature request added, send an email to wishlist@powerchurch.com with information on what report is required for, how often you would need to run this, and how it will save you time and money.

[whfpc]

Thank you! Wish sent....

[sgbani]

Our church also uses Positive Pay feature, but with so few checks printed every month, I simply add each check manually in the Positive Pay interface, instead of uploading a file.
An export of specific details of checks printed within a given time period would be nice, though.
I concur that if a file is required for upload, you'll have to create your own spreadsheet / text file that matches the expected file format for your banking institution.

[NeilZ]

Thank you! Wish sent....

I asked the Powerchurch guys a few questions, and came up with a Custom Report that you can use to pull the data. You will need to go to
Accounting -> Accounts Payable -> Custom Reports. A selection box will appear, with buttons for POSTED, VENDORS, or CANCEL. You will need to select POSTED. Obviously you can't run this report until you've already posted to Funds Accounting. If this is your first custom report, the system will ask you to create one. It will ask you for a name, then present you with STEP 1: the list of data items to select from. Follow the process through the steps below.

The initial filter will look like this, so select the items in Italics from the list of data items.

First filter Step 1: Select Transaction Date from the list of fields, Step 2: Select "ranges from" , Step 3: click on the 'Ask Later' button. The filter will then look like this:
(Transaction Date ranges from {To Be Entered Later})

You will then add the next filter item: click on the 'ADD' button, to add the next filter, it will add the 'AND' to the filter expression:
Step 1: Select Transaction Type from the list of fields, Step 2: Select IS GREATER THAN from the list of options, Step 3: Select Invoice from the dropdown list. This filter will look like this:

Transaction Type is greater than invoice.

NOTE: In the database there are 3 transaction types listed for AP, 1= invoice, 3= computer (printed) check, 5= manual check. This query will pull both computer and manually written checks.

The complete query will look like this:
(Transaction Date ranges from {To Be Entered Later}) and
Transaction Type is greater than invoice.

You're done creating the filter. You'll next select the Output fields. Highlight the filter you just created, and click on SELECT. The system will then pop up an info box about selecting fields. If this is your first time creating a Custom Report, you should read this, then click OK. Select the fields listed below.

Reference which contains the check number for both manual and printed checks
Vendor Name this is the name printed on the check
Transaction Date obviously the check date
Transaction Amount check amount.

Then click on DONE. You'll then get a screen which will show you the filter you setup, along with the output fields selected. At the top of that window, you will see a button PICK OUTPUT TYPE. Click on that, you'll then get a window TYPE OF OUTPUT. As you want comma delimited, you should go to the bottom left, for ASCII text files. There you can select the type of delimitor the bank requires. Fixed field, comma separated, tab separated, or blank separated.

You can also enter the default file name there if you wish.

Run the query. The system will ask you for the date range. Obviously if you only want checks written on the day, enter that date twice. It will then tell you how many records were found and written to the file, and ask if you want to look at the file. You can click YES, and see the pulled data to make sure its the checks you wrote and printed today.

Hope this helps.

[whfpc]

Thank you! Their format requires me to number the columns and not use the names specified. Is there a way to change that? And I need to insert my bank account number in the first column, I chose account number but do not see a way to add our checking account number.

Robin

[NeilZ]

Thank you! Their format requires me to number the columns and not use the names specified. Is there a way to change that? And I need to insert my bank account number in the first column, I chose account number but do not see a way to add our checking account number.

Robin

Um ... this was based on what you said you needed. As you need have a header line, you can do that when you format the output in any manner you wish, as far as the checking account number, I'm fairly sure in the output you can put that in the format for the output line as a constant.

Again, this was just thrown together based on what you said you needed, any additional tweaks you'll have to do yourself. I'm also given to understand that there is no standard format in the US, so unless banks come up with a standard, a custom report may be the only easy way to pull the data.

You could just create the file, import into Excel, then add what you need.

[sgbani]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the advice on the custom report creation. That really helped, and turns out the file format / info needed by our bank is easily exported using this custom report method.

[NeilZ]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the advice on the custom report creation. That really helped, and turns out the file format / info needed by our bank is easily exported using this custom report method.

Glad to hear it works for you.