EPE - Banking and Electronic Payment

Set up bank accounts

Bank account setup:

1. First, create the no. series by using Search and entering No. Series. On the No. Series list, choose the New action to create a new no. series. This enables each bank to have its own unique identifier (for example, B001, B002, B003…).

2. After the no. series is created, use Search to open Electronic Payment. On this page, choose the New action to open a blank Bank Account Card and enter the required data.

3. The mandatory fields on the Bank Account Card are: No., Name, Bank Acc. Posting Group, Currency (only if the account is not in LCY), and Bank Account No.

4. It is necessary to create General Journal Templates for each bank.

General Journal Templates for Eletronic Payment

Once the journal is set up, you need to specify the XML file numbers used for data import and export for electronic payment applications (Office Banking and Halcom). This is configured on the General Journal Templates page by choosing the Batches action (General Journal Batches).

For each created bank, it is necessary to set up a separate journal template. To enable integration with electronic ayment applications, parameters related to journal templates must be properly configured.

In Business Central Search, enter General Journal Templates – this opens a page where you can define the following fields:

1. Name – a short name or bank code
2. Description – a brief description of the journal template
3. Type – select Electronic Payment
4. Bal. Account Type – select Bank Account
5. Bal. Account No. – select the bank account you previously created

Make sure to select the following fields for the journal line on the page:

1. Force Doc. Balance – Specifies whether posted transactions in the journal must be balanced by document number and document type, in addition to balancing by document date, to ensure full consistency of postings.

2. Copy VAT Setup to Jnl. Lines – Specifies whether VAT calculation and account balancing should be applied to the journal line.

General Journal Batches for Bank Accounts

Once the journal is set up, you need to specify the XML file numbers used for data import and export for electronic payment applications (Office Banking and Halcom). This is configured on the General Journal Templates page by choosing the Batches action (General Journal Batches).

A new page opens where you can enter the following:

1. Name – specifies the name of the journal.
2. Description – enter a short description of the journal batch.
3. Type – select Eletronic payment.
4. Bal. Account Type – select Bank Account.
5. Bal. Account No. - Specifies the account number to which the balancing entry is posted.
6. No. Series – specify the number series that will be used to generate document numbers for posted entries.
7. Export XMLPort ID – specifies the ID of the XMLPort used to export journal lines in a format adapted to the selected bank client.
8. Import XMLPort ID – specifies the ID of the XMLPort used to import bank statements into electronic payment journal lines in a format adapted to the selected bank client.

For Halcom:

Export XMLPort ID – 49021177 Import XMLPort ID – 49021178

For Office Banking:

Export XMLPort ID – 49021175 Import XMLPort ID – 49021176

Credit Ref. Formula Code - Sales & Receivables Setup

Within Sales & Receivables Setup, it is necessary to define the field Default Credit Reference Formula Code.

Once this field is set, a credit reference will be automatically generated on the sales invoice. In this way, the customer receives a reference number on the invoice, which the system uses to identify the payment and match it with the corresponding invoice that has been paid.

When we are on the Sales & Receivables Setup page and want to define the default credit reference formula code, clicking the drop-down arrow opens a list for further selection.

After that, choose the option Select from full list, as shown in the image.

Click New. You need to assign a code, a description, and a formula (in our example, the name is Invoice Number).

The formula is defined by clicking the ellipsis (three dots), then selecting the New option. A new window will open for further input.

According to our setup, the credit reference represents the invoice number, so the customer enters the invoice number in the credit reference field.

In this way, when importing a TXT file and posting the bank statement, the system recognizes the credit references and automatically matches customer entries with the corresponding invoices.

The entire functionality enables that, after setup and posting of the sales invoice, the field Credit Reference Formula Code is automatically populated in the Invoice Details tab on the sales invoice.

According to our example, this is the invoice number. The setup can also be more complex, allowing the credit reference to include the reference model (97) as well.

Payment Reference

The Payment Reference field is not automatically populated from the setup; instead, it is entered manually on the document.

It allows you to override the credit reference and the reference model that are defined by default in the Default Credit Reference Formula Code in Sales & Receivables Setup and Purchases & Payables Setup.

The Payment Reference field allows more than 23 characters, while the credit reference is limited to a maximum of 22 characters. If you need to enter a larger number of characters, you can use the Payment Reference field.

To include the reference model in the Payment Reference, it must be entered exactly as shown in the example (MOD97), followed by the desired value.

The value from the Payment Reference is transferred to the Vendor Ledger Entries, from where it is further carried into the Vendor Payment Proposal when the proposal is generated.

Additionally, the value entered in the Payment Reference is included in the payment order (TXT file) and transferred to payment systems such as Halcom, Office Banking, or Trezor.

Eletronic Payment

In the Business Central search, enter Eletronic Payment. This will open the list of bank accounts that have been previously created.

On the page, the following actions are available: Preparation, Confirmation, Order and Statement.

These actions are used for the process of creating payments and posting bank statements.

1. Within the Preparation action, payment orders are prepared.

2. Once the lines in Preparation are confirmed (using the Confirmation action), the payment order changes its status to Confirmed and moves to the Confirmation action, from where the export file is created and then imported into an electronic payment application (such as Halcom or Office Banking).

3. The exported payment orders change their status to Payment Order, appear under the Payment Order action, and remain there until the bank statement is processed.

4. The Bank Statement action is used to import the bank statement. The navigation path is: Related → Payments → E-Payments Import.

After importing the bank statement in the Statement action, based on which the payment has been executed, the lines that were previously displayed in the Order action are automatically transferred to the Bank Statement and are no longer shown in Payment Orders.

In this way, payment execution is clearly tracked – all payment lines that have not been paid remain visible in the Order action.

Action: Suggest Vendor Payments

The payment proposal is used to review due liabilities to vendors and serves as the basis for automatically creating payment orders in Business Central.

To access the Suggest Vendor Payments functionality, enter Eletronic Payment in the Business Central search. A page with the created bank accounts will open.

On the Eletronic Payment page, select the bank from which you want to make payments, and then run the Preparation action on the same page.

The Electronic Payment Journal will open. On that journal, select the Prepare action, and then choose Suggest Vendor Payments.

The data entry page will open, where the following fields need to be filled in:

1. Invoice Due Date – Enter the due date of vendor entries that will be included in the processing.

2. Summarize per Vendor – Select this option if you want all open entries per vendor to be summarized and displayed in a single line.

3. Last Payment Date – Specifies the last payment date to be considered when selecting entries.

4. Posting Date – Enter the posting date of the journal.

5. Starting Document No. – If a number series is not defined, the document number must be entered manually.

After filling in the fields, clicking OK starts the processing. The system automatically fills the journal with lines representing payment suggestions. The invoices proposed for payment are automatically displayed in the Document No. to Close field.

When the lines are created in the electronic payment journal, they have the status Preparation. While in this status, it is possible to make changes to the lines, for example to adjust the amount of a line if you want to reduce the payment amount to a vendor.

The payment order is confirmed in the Electronic Payment Journal via Related → Payments → Confirmation, which changes the status on all lines and moves them all to the Confirmation action.

By running the Confirmation action on the Electronic Payment page, you will get the payment orders that have been created and are ready for export.

The export is performed from the Electronic Payment Journal by selecting Related → Payments → E-Payments Export. This generates a file for further import into the payment application (Halcom or Office Banking).

After exporting the file, all lines are moved to Order. The order acts as a safety step because, if the Suggest Vendor Payments function is run again, the new proposals will not include payments that are already in the Payment Order. In this way, duplicate payments to vendors are prevented.

In this status – Order, the created lines remain until the bank statement import is processed.

Action: Suggest Employee Payments

The Suggest Employee Payments is used to review due liabilities to employees and serves as the basis for automatically creating payment orders from Business Central.

To access the Suggest Employee Payments functionality, enter Eletronic Payment in the Business Central search. A page with the created bank accounts will open. On the Eletronic Payment page, select the bank from which you want to make payments, and then run the Preparation action on that page.

The Electronic Payment Journal will open. On that document, select the Preparation action again, and then choose Suggest Employee Payments

A data entry page will open, where you need to fill in the following fields:

1. Summarize per Employee – Specifies whether you want the batch job to create one line per employee.

2. Calculation No. – Specifies the Calculation No. This filter is used for Salary Payments.

3. Posting Date – Specifies the posting date.

4. Starting Document No. – This is the document number that appears on the payment journal line.

On the Employees tab, you can enter an employee number if you want to create a payment proposal only for a specific employee.

After filling in the fields, clicking OK starts the process. The system automatically populates the journal with lines that represent payment proposals. The invoices proposed for payment are automatically shown in the Applies-to Doc. No. field.

When the lines are created in the Electronic Payment Journal, they have the status Preparation. While they are in this status, it is possible to make changes to the lines, for example, to modify the amount on a line if you want to reduce the payment amount to an employee.

Confirming the payment journal is done in the Electronic Payment Journal via Related → Payment → Confirmation, which changes the status on all lines so that they all move to the Confirmation status.

By running the Confirm action on the Electronic Payment page, you will get the journals that have been created and are ready for export.

The export is performed in the Electronic Payment Journal by running the Related → Payment → E-Payment Export action. A file will then be generated for further import into a payment application (Halcom or Office Banking).

The created journals move to the order status. In this status, the journals remain until the bank statement import is executed.

Action Statement

In the search, enter Electronic Payment. The statement import is performed for the selected bank by marking the line of the desired bank and then choosing the Statement option.

When you access the journal, you need to perform the statement import via Related → Payment → E-Payments → Import.

After running this function, a new window opens where you need to select the path to the .txt statement file that is being imported. After the import, the statement and its lines (entries) will be displayed.

During the import of entries, customers and vendors are identified based on bank accounts. If the bank account from the file is not found and the customer/vendor is not recognized, Business Central will display a warning.

Action Related → Payment → E-Payments Import.

A window where you need to select the file for import.

If no bank account is entered on the customer/vendor card, an error message will appear.

If some customers/vendors are not found, all transactions will still be imported. Depending on the posting side (debit/credit), the system will automatically select the account type (vendor or customer), while the Account No. field will remain blank for the lines where the customer/vendor is not found.

Customer and vendor entries that are identified based on the payment reference will be automatically selected for application in the Applies-to Doc. No. field.

Prepayments on the Statement

If you want to mark a payment, either from a customer or a vendor, as a prepayment, this is done on the statement. On the line for the payment you want to mark as a prepayment, select the Prepayment field.

This action will change the posting group for the prepayment. The posting group in the document is changed because a separate account for prepayments is defined on the Customer Posting Group and Vendor Posting Group pages. The setup defines the groups for Def. Prepayment Posting Group and Def. Prepmt. Inv. Posting Group.

Action Post Statement

After completing the data updates on the journal, posting can be performed in the Electronic Payment Journal by selecting Post/Print → Post.

Note: During statement import, the filters used to validate and identify lines from the .txt file are as follows:

• Bank account check – If it is the debit side, the system first searches for a vendor. If the vendor is not found by bank account, the system proceeds to the next check.

• Payment reference check – The system searches vendor entries and vendor numbers, checks whether the entry is open in the system, and whether the amount is on the debit side. If the entry is found, it is inserted into the statement posting journal with all data taken from the vendor entry.

• If the vendor entry is not found, the system searches general ledger accounts based on the bank account number entered on the expense account card.

• If none of the above is found, the system proceeds to search for a customer. If a customer is found, the document type in the journal line is changed, i.e., it switches from payment to refund.

• If the system does not recognize any of the above data on the debit side of the statement, the account type remains vendor, and the amount is taken from the .txt file.

• The same principle applies to customers.