EFT File Format

Christy Salinas
Christy Salinas
Fourth Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Facilitator 1
in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT® General Discussions

Hi! We are looking at using the EFT payment function to pay our vendors, but the file that is generated by Blackbaud is a “.ach” file and our bank requires a “.csv” file. Is there a way to get Blackbaud to generate a “.csv” file?

Comments

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    Hi, @Christy Salinas - I checked with our products team, and they have a question for you: the EFT payment file is in a NACHA (.ach) format, as required by most banks. Are you talking about the file to upload to your bank to pay the vendors or the file that you may need to upload to your bank for Positive Pay?

  • Christy Salinas
    Christy Salinas
    Fourth Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Facilitator 1

    Hi @Sarah Curry ! I don't believe it's Positive Pay…just a file that I would upload to pay the vendors via EFT.

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Christy Salinas - I think we have a couple of options for getting that. I am going to email you!

  • Manny Garcia
    Manny Garcia
    Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Participant Facilitator 1

    @Sarah Curry Hi! I have the same situation as i am trying to implement ACH payments for our company. when i exported the file, it exports in NACHA format but it is not what our bank requires. Our bank is looking for an .csv file, so is our best bet to go and process a query report? and if so, it doesn't consolidate the invoices for payment because the query is by invoice…:/ any thoughts?

  • Sylvia Cook
    Sylvia Cook
    Kudos 5 Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Participant

    @Christy Salinas
    Are you in the USA or Canada? I'm in Canada and use the 1464 format (not ideal but we work with it). When the EFT file is created I have to open it in Notepad and then save as an ASNI file and then the bank can accept it.

  • Sarah Curry
    Sarah Curry
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Participant

    @Manny Garcia Hi Manny! My apologies, I missed this until today. I am asking around and will get back to you!

  • Audrey Wu
    Audrey Wu
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Facilitator 1

    @Sarah Curry Hi. I am also having the same problem that everyone is mentioning here. Our bank also wants the file to be in csv. as well, but we are unsure how to get the file created by Blackbaud to fit what our bank needs. Any guidance you can give me would be helpful.

  • Dane Murphy
    Dane Murphy
    Third Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1

    @Sarah Curry I am trying to get this set-up for my organization. My bank will only accept CSV or TXT file types. I tried to import the (.ach) file and it wouldn't accept the file. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

  • Jennifer Wood
    Jennifer Wood
    Tenth Anniversary Name Dropper Participant Facilitator 1

    @Sarah Curry We are also unable to upload the Web View EFT file to our Canadian bank. Are you able to help us troubleshoot this issue? We need to find a solution before we lose Database View.

  • Jennifer Wood
    Jennifer Wood
    Tenth Anniversary Name Dropper Participant Facilitator 1

    @Christy Salinas I have worked out a method to convert the ACH file to a CSV file that my Canadian bank (Scotia) accepts. It adds about 3 minutes per file to the process, but works on files with single or multiple payments.

    Here is a summary of the steps so you can decide if you would use this solution:

    • You open the ACH file in Notepad
    • Use Find & Replace to add commas at the start of each row (I can provide more details)
    • Save file as TXT
    • Open TXT file in Excel
    • Text File Wizard will open automatically
    • Set to Delimited by comma & finish
    • Copy row 1
    • Move Cursor to row 2 and Paste Special - Transpose
    • Remove row 1
    • Save As CSV file
    • Upload to your bank

    I would be happy to create a narrated how-to video if anyone wants.

    Ideally Blackbaud would build in other EFT File formats, but until this happens, this will allow you to generate EFT payments in Web view and submit to Canadian banks.

  • Christy Salinas
    Christy Salinas
    Fourth Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Facilitator 1

    @Jennifer Wood Thank you for giving us this information! Do you find that you ever have issues with this process being prone to errors? I would worry that in editing the file I might make just one tiny mistake that could end up being a huge problem in the long run.

  • Jennifer Wood
    Jennifer Wood
    Tenth Anniversary Name Dropper Participant Facilitator 1

    @Christy Salinas No, the changes is so minor (adding 2 commas to the file) that I don't worry about it. If you messed up and put them in the wrong place the bank would not recognize the file. I am uploading a video of how to convert the ACH file to the CSV file here for others to try. EFT ACH to CSV File Conversion.mp4

    Let me know how it goes.

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