Bank payment files allow you to pay employees through your internet banking provider. Each provider has a unique set of instructions on how to process payment. They are generated once a pay run has been finalised and then imported via internet banking.
Below is a list of links to some of the major banking sites on how to upload payment files to their internet banking sites.
Setting up your payment file
- To set up bank payment file, go to Payroll Settings.
- Navigate to Business Settings and select Payment Files.
- Click the Add button.
File Format - select 'File Format' from the dropdown. The available bank file options are:
- ANZ Domestic Payment format. Read more here.
- ASB Standard Bulk Payments format.
- BNZ Payroll format. Read more here.
- Citibank Paylink Direct Credit format
- HSBC Credits File format.
- KiwiBank GIFTS format. Read more here.
- TSB format. Refer to the following TSB article called How to make a Group Payment.
- Westpac Deskbank format. Read more here.
- Westpac Corporate Online format. Read more here
Note that the Westpac Corporate Online format is for NZ bank accounts only and can't be used for payments sent from an AU Westpac bank account
Account Number - enter in the 'Account Number'. The 16 digit account number of the account that payroll payments will be made from.
For HSBC, enter in the 12 digit account number as shown on your HSBC Statement.
Account Name - The Account Name of the account that payroll payments will be made from
Lodgement Reference - The description of the payroll payment that will appear on the employee's bank statement. e.g. “Payroll” or “Weekly wages” and you can choose to append the lodgement reference by 'Nothing', 'Pay Period Ending', 'Payment Date' or 'Pay Run ID'.
N.B. When the lodgement reference is appended with 'Pay Period Ending', 'Payment Date' or 'Pay Run ID', the lodgement reference field may have a small character limit. This is due to character limits in the reference field, as specified by certain banks. For example, due to the character limit in a Westpac bank payment file, it only allows for a 3-character entry when something is appended, and a 12-character entry when nothing is appended. This is unavoidable because of issues with the lodgement reference length at the bank's end.
Once payment file details are complete, then click on 'Save' to save details.
To make any edits to the payment file, click on the account name.
To remove a payment file, hover over the right side and click on the 'x' icon.
Generating a payment file
You can generate the payment files using the following steps:
- After you have finalised a pay run, click the 'Download Payment File' > 'Download BECS File' button from the pay run 'Actions' bar
If you only have one set of payment setting, your payment file will download automatically.
If you have multiple payment settings, ensure the correct payment setting is selected, click in 'Payment File Settings' as per below.
Select the relevant payment file from the BECS Payment Account drop down and click on 'Save'
We will remember which payment settings you last used to generate your payment file and will automatically select it for next time.
N.B: If you chose to include PAYE amounts in the bank file, the system will need to check whether IRD Details have been completed. If they haven't, you will not be able to download the bank file.