All about ABA Files

  • The acronym ABA stands for Australia Banking Association and an “ABA file” is a file name with a suffix .aba which conforms to a standardised content that can be used to upload into a bank’s website.
  • An ABA file is a widely used, standardised file that is accepted by all Australian banks.
  • The ABA file is a method of uploading payments to be made from one bank account to one or more different bank accounts.
  • You can use ABA files for Payroll, Accounts payable (supplier invoices) and in some cases, Accounts receivable (customer payments).

Given that the ABA file is a collection of payments, we generate this out of Accentis using Accounts Payable - Automated remittance. This allows us to collect a bunch of related payments together and then “remit” in one of two ways:

  1. Print cheques
  2. Create an electronic file for upload to the bank (ABA file)

The ABA file is a list of all the payment details contained within the payments on the automated remittance. The Automated remittance form itself does not contain information about bank accounts, BSB or anything else – just a list of payments. All the information about the bank account, BSB and amount is stored on the payment itself so if it needs to be changed, then you will need to change the details in the payment.

  1. Ensure you have a General ledger account set up as a bank account
  2. Ensure that the account has the Bank Accounts Details entered
  3. Open the account and click on the Options tab
  4. Make sure “This account is a bank account” is ticked
  5. Click on the 'Bank account details…' box and make sure the following details are entered and correct:
    • APCA # (also called DEUserID) – This number comes from your bank, if not sure, use 0. You can also contact your bank or look in existing ABA file to find it. Most banks need it, but some do not.
    • Bank account details. Especially account number, BSB and account name.
  1. Using the Automated remittance form, select the type to EFT, select the payments for remittance (Choose select all, click on an individual payment or hold down Ctrl and click to choose multiple files)

    It is best practice to keep Payroll payments and Supplier payments separate, they should not be combined together on the one Automated remittance
  2. When you click Update, Accentis will pop up a box to Generate EFT data file:
    1. Check the details are correct
    2. Choose the file location and file name
    3. Click OK – the new ABA file will now be in your chosen file location
    4. Accentis will then ask if you would like to email a text-based remittance notification to all suppliers of payments in this remittance
  1. Open your Automated remittance form and click fetch.
  2. Find the remittance you would like to re-create the file for, go to the Special menu and click on Generate EFT data file.
  3. The Generate EFT data file box will pop up, check the details and click ok. The new file has been created.

Do not leave them lying around – they contain sensitive data. Save the files to a secure location.

You can choose to write over the old ABA file as a new file is created or you may choose to keep every ABA file you create. If you choose to keep every ABA file you create, make sure they are named in a way to easily identify the file you want to use, e.g. using the date.

Some banks require a debit side entry in ABA files, this is an option that can be turned on in System > Preferences > Accounts payable > Include Debit side entry in ABA files created for automated remittances .

Some banks require the use of ‘N’ instead of a blank indicator, this is an option that can be turned on in System > Preferences > Accounts payable > Use 'N' in preference to a blank payment indicator within ABA file output.

Your ABA header file will contain a branch code for your company, which can be set up in System > Preferences > Company > Branch code (reports) . The length of this code will affect how it is displayed in the ABA file as follows, where <CODE> represents your Branch code:

  • Branch codes 3 characters or shorter will display as "PAYMENTS <CODE>".
  • Branch codes 4 characters or longer will display as "PMNTS <CODE>".

Yes, but it represents the same remittance, so you should not upload it more than once. You can re-create the file if you misplaced the last one or if something about one of the payments has changed, e.g. bank details. See How to re-create an ABA file from an existing automated remittance.

Yes, see How to re-create an ABA file from an automated remittance.

Yes, but the bank will only accept one with the correct dates, so when creating the file, change the date to the date you will be making the payment.

There are two options for this:

  1. Open the payment that is incorrect, click the special menu and choose Void remittance. This will remove the payment from the remittance. You can then edit the payment to change the details.

    You will then need to re-create the ABA file for the original Automated remittance as this will have changed and create a new ABA file for the updated payment that the bank details were changed on. See How to re-create an ABA file from an existing automated remittance.
  2. Delete the Automated remittance.

    Once the Automated remittance is deleted find the payment, click edit and correct the bank details on the payment.

    Once the details have been corrected, you can then create a new ABA file, including all the payments you had in the previously deleted Automated remittance. See How to create an ABA file.

There may be several reasons, depends on the error and the bank, why an ABA file might not be accepted. Some of the most common reasons are:

Yes. Click on the payment to open it. On the payment screen click the Special menu, then click Void remittance. A popup will ask if you are sure you want to void the remittance for this payment. If you click yes it will be removed and no longer a part of your automated remittance. Now Re-create the ABA file. See How to re-create an ABA file from an existing automated remittance.