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Creating and Generating ACH Files

Overview

The ACH Drafter walks you through creating a draft, adding payment batches and individual entries, and then generating a NACHA-compliant ACH file ready for submission to your bank.

Creating a New Draft

  1. Navigate to ACH Drafter and click the Create Draft tab.
  2. Choose your entry method:
    • Manual Entry — Build the draft step by step using the form interface.
    • Use Template — Start from a saved template. See Templates for details.
  3. Click Start to begin.

Adding a Batch

Each ACH file contains one or more batches. A batch groups related transactions together. To add a batch:

  1. Click Add Batch.
  2. Fill in the batch details:
Field Description
SEC Code The Standard Entry Class code (e.g., PPD for payroll, CCD for corporate payments).
Entry Description A brief description of this batch (e.g., "PAYROLL", "VENDOR PMT").
Effective Date The date the transactions should be processed.
Originating Bank Select which of your configured bank accounts will originate this batch.
  1. Click Save to add the batch to your draft.

Adding Entries

Entries are the individual transactions within a batch. For each entry:

  1. Select a batch, then click Add Entry.
  2. Fill in the entry details:
Field Description
Recipient Select from your configured recipients.
Amount The transaction amount in dollars.
Transaction Type Credit (payment to recipient) or Debit (collection from recipient).
  1. Click Save to add the entry.

You can add as many entries as needed to each batch.

Draft Summary

As you build your draft, the summary panel updates in real time showing:

  • Total Batches — The number of batches in the draft.
  • Total Entries — The total number of individual transactions.
  • Total Credits — The sum of all credit entries.
  • Total Debits — The sum of all debit entries.

Review the summary carefully before generating the file.

Generating the ACH File

When your draft is complete:

  1. Click the Generate button.
  2. Confirm the generation in the dialog.
  3. The system creates a NACHA-compliant ACH file and downloads it to your browser.

The generated file appears in your Generation History on the Dashboard, where you can:

  • Download the file again at any time.
  • Send the file to your bank via SFTP.
  • View the transmission status if the file has already been sent.

Editing and Deleting Drafts

  • Edit — Click on a draft in the Recent Drafts list to modify its batches and entries.
  • Delete — Remove a draft you no longer need. Generated files are not affected.

Tips

  • Double-check the Effective Date on each batch — banks will process transactions on this date.
  • Verify the SEC Code matches the type of transactions in the batch (PPD for consumer, CCD for corporate).
  • Use the ACH Validator to check your generated files before submitting them.
  • Save frequently-used draft configurations as Templates to save time on recurring payments.