ABA File User Guide

ABA File User Guide

About 


Careview has the capability to generate a file in the Australian Banking Association (ABA) format. This file, sometimes called Direct Entry, is the de-facto standard for bulk electronic payments and is used by all major Australian financials institutions to interface with business accounting packages such as Xero and MYOB. 


File Format 


The ABA file format consists of: 
  1.  One ‘type 0’ record (i.e. line) which describes and provides processing instructions for the batch 
  2.  One or more ‘type 1’ records which provide the detail for each payment in the batch 
  3.  One ‘type 7’ record which confirms the size and totals of the batch. 

 


The ABA File is a plain-text format that uses fixed-width fields. Most fields are constrained to specific character widths. Details about the format can be found on the below website:  


ABA File Process Details 

  •  Each Invoice selected will have a type 1 line in the batch  

  •  Only invoices that have a status of Extracted, Provider Paid or Fully Reconciled - Ready for Provider Payment can be included in a batch 

  •  Invoices associated to your own company cannot be included in the batch 

  •  The Supplier Invoice Number is used as the Lodgement Reference within the type 1 line 

  •  A Balance Transaction type 1 line can be added 

  •  The type 7 line includes the total amount and total number of invoices in the batch 

  •  If a Service Provider does not have BSB, Account Number and Account Name the batch will not be created 

  •  You can elect to exclude a Service Provider from the ABA process, e.g., if paying by BPay  

  •  Once the batch has been successfully created, the Status of each Invoice in the batch will be updated to Provider Paid 

  •  A Remittance Advice will be emailed for each Invoice included in the batch 

  •  You can elect to not send a Remittance Advice to a Service Provider by updating their record in Careview 

  •  This is a stand-alone process within Careview that does not integrate with external accounting systems such as Xero, MYOB or Reckon.  

  •  The ABA File generated from Careview needs to be manually uploaded into your online banking system. 


Financial Institution Requirements 


In order to use the Careview ABA functionality you will need the following information from your financial institution.  

Abbreviated FI Name 


This must be the approved Financial Institutions abbreviation. As an example, the Bank of Queensland’s abbreviation is BQL and Westpac’s abbreviation is WBC. 
 

FI Identification Number 


Each Financial Institution has its own identification number (or possibly several, depending on the size of the bank). The FI Identification number can also be referred to as the APCA Number.  This field is mandatory, the FI number can be up to 6 digits, zero filled.


Financial Institution Batch Sizes 


Please also check with your Financial Institution on whether they impose a limit on the number of type 1 lines that can be included in a single batch. For example, some Financial Institutions only allow a total of 500 payments to be processed in a single batch. You will also need to ensure your bank account has the required funds to pay the total amount in the batch. 



Careview ABA File Process Setup 



In order to generate the ABA file from Careview, the following steps must first be completed: 

  •  Save your Company BSB and Bank Account Number that you transfer payments from in Careview 

  •  Add the Bank Account details of your Service Providers 

  •  Add the Email Address for the Service Providers (used to email the Remittance Advice) 

  •  Enable the Remittance Advice Setting 

  •  Enable the ABA File Generation Setting. 

We recommend that you update the Service Provider bank account details before activating the ABA File Generation Setting. When the ABA File Generation setting is activated, Careview will send an email whenever the Service Provider bank accounts details are updated. 



Adding Your Company Bank Account Details 


To add the bank account details for the account that you are paying the Service Provider Invoices from: 


1.      Click on Settings (gear icon in the top right hand corner next to your User Name). 

2.      In the System section, click on Organisation Settings. 

 


3.      Under Bank Settings, enter the BSB and Account Number and click Save. 

 



Bulk Updating Service Provider Records 


We have updated the Service Provider list so that you can now download all of your Service Provider records to a CSV file, make the required changes and then upload the CSV file back into Careview to update the existing records. This process will also create new Service Providers if the Service Provider is not already in Careview. 


Please note that this process enables up to 5000 Service Provider records to be uploaded into Careview. If you need to load more than 5000 Service Providers you will nee to do so in multiple files. 


  1. 1. Click on Settings (gear icon in the top right hand corner next to your User Name). 

 

  1. 2. Scroll down to the Suppliers section and click on Service Providers. 

 

  1. 3. Click Action and select Download to CSV. 


 


 


  2. 4. Once you have downloaded the CSV, edit it and add the following information: 

  1. a. BSB, Account Number and Account Name 

    1. i. BSB must be entered as NNN-NNN, e.g., 123-456, no letters are allowed. 

    2. ii. Account Number must be numeric.

    3. iii. Account Name can be a combination of letters and numbers. 


  1. b. Email Address 

    1. i. If Email Address is left blank the system will not send the Remittance Advice to the Service Provider. 

 

  1. 5. Set IsSendRemittanceEmail column: 


  1. a. Set as FALSE if you do not want to send the Remittance Advise to the Service Provider. 

  1. b. Set as TRUE if you want to send the Remittance Advise to the Service Provider. 

 

  1. 6. Please note the ABN Number must be an 11-digit number. 

 

  1. 7. Once you have finished updating the CSV file save the file. 

 

  1. 8. In the Service Provider list in Careview select Upload from CSV and select your file. 


 



  2. 9. The CSV file will be validated and then the upload will begin.  


A progress bar will indicate the progress of the upload. Please note that loading times will vary depending on the number of Service Provider records being uploaded. 


 


  1. 10. Once the upload has completed you will see the below message. 

 

  1. 11. Click Cancel to close the upload window. 


 



Single Service Provider Editing 


You can also edit Service Providers manually by opening the Service Provider list and clicking on the Service Provider record that you need to update. 


 

 


Enable the Remittance Advice Setting 


  1. 1. Click on Settings (gear icon in the top right hand corner next to your User Name). 

 

  1. 2. Scroll down to the Auto Generated Outputs section and click on Remittance Advice. 


 



  1. 3. Enable the setting to send remittance advice email.


4. You can enable invoices to be included in a single Remittance Advice for each Service Provider selected from the Invoice Entry screen. Please note this aggregation only occurs when using the Mark As Paid option. Using Send Remittance Advice will still generate individual Remittance Advice's.

 

  1. 4. Set the From Email Address. 

 

  1. 5. If you wish to receive a copy of each Remittance Advice sent from Careview add the CC Email Address. 

 

  1. 6. Click Save.


  3. When Invoices are selected and the Mark as Paid action is used, a single Remittance Advice will now be created.




Please note this process does not change the ABA File. It will still contain a payment transaction for each Invoice selected for each Service Provider.

 

Enable the ABA File Setting 


  1. 1. Click on Settings (gear icon in the top right hand corner next to your User Name). 

 

  1. 2. Scroll down to the Plan Management section and click on ABA File Generation. 


 


  2. 3. Change Enable ABA Extract to Enabled. 


 


 

  1. 4. Enter the Abbreviated FI Name. 

    1. Cannot be blank and must be 3 characters only. Please consult your financial institution for the correct details. 

 

  1. 5. Enter FI Identification Number (also referred to as the APCA Number). 

    1. Cannot be blank - up to 6 digits, zero filled. As an example, unless otherwise specified by Westpac, for Westpac Clients the FI Identification Number is 000000. Please consult your financial institution for the correct details. 

 

  1. 6. Enter User Preferred Specification. 

    1. Up to 26 characters. Check with your Financial Institution as some dictate the value of this field and others are less restrictive, e.g., can be your Bank Account Name.   if the bank does not specify, as the field is mandatory, just enter for example 1234.

 

  1. 7. Enter Description. 

    1. Up to 12 characters. This is passed to the type 0 record. Use a descriptive value about the batch such as PAYMENTS. 


 


  1. 8. If your bank requires a Balance Transaction in the ABA File, enable the setting.


9. Where the Enable Change Summary Row Position option is left as disabled, in the File Total Record row (type 7):
  1. File (User) Net Total Amount will be in character positions 21-30,
  2. File (User) Credit Total Amount will be in positions 21-40,
  3. File (User) Debit Total Amount will be in character positions 41-50.
By enabling the Enable Change Summary Row Position option, this will change the File Total Record row (type 7) so:
  1. File (User) Debit Total Amount is in character positions 21-30,
  2. File (User) Net Total Amount and File (User) Credit Total Amount are in character positions 31-50.

10. Where the Enable Aggregate ABA File toggle is enabled under the ABA File Generation Settings. The lodgment record field in the ABA File will now display the Organisation Name (truncated for the 18- character limit) as opposed to COMBINED.

 

  1. 11. Click Save.

  2.  



Creating the ABA File 


Once you have finished completing the configuration tasks in the previous section you are now ready to start creating ABA Files in Careview.  


Additional Actions 


Once the ABA File setting has been enabled, the following changes will appear under the Action button in the Invoice Entry screen: 


  1. 1. The Mark a Paid Action will display with a Bank icon. 

  1. 2. A new Action called Send Remittance Advice will be displayed. 

  1. 3. A new Action called Generate ABA File will be displayed. 


 


Mark as Paid Action 


This is the Action that you use to generate the ABA File. This Action will be used to generate the majority of the ABA Files that you create from Careview. 


Send Remittance Advice Action 


This is the Action that you use to generate a Remittance Advice only. This Action will note generate an ABA File. An example of where you would use this Action is if the Service Provider has requested another copy of the Remittance Advice to be emailed to them. 


Generate ABA File Action 


This Action will re-generate the ABA File for selected Invoices which have the status 'Provider Paid'. If you don't want to send Remittance Advices please un-check the Send Remittance Advices checkbox.


For more information, you can refer to the 'Re-generate an ABA File' knowledge article.

 

The ABA file is in Invoice Date order, oldest first.

 

Missing Bank Account Information Validation 


You can still create Invoices for Service Providers that don’t have the required bank account details (BSB, Account Number and Account Name) in Careview. The Service Provider will display in red in the Invoice Entry screen and validation will prevent you from creating an ABA file if they are selected in the batch.  


You can click on the Service Provider name from the Invoice Entry screen to update their bank account details. Once you update their details, refresh the Invoice Entry screen to pickup the change. 


Where the Service Provider has all the required bank account information they will display in blue in the Invoice Entry screen. 


As an example, in the below screenshot 180 Disability and Mental Health Services is shown in red, indicating bank account information is missing. You can click on the Service Provider name to update their details. 



 


Invoice Statuses 


Only invoices that have a Status of Extracted or Provider Paid can be included in an ABA File download. The ABA File process will ignore all other Invoice Statuses.
 


Internal Invoices & Excluded Service Providers


Invoices such as for your monthly Plan Management fee or for Service Providers that you have elected to be excluded from the ABA File can still be updated as Provider Paid. 

 

Creating an ABA File 


 

  1. 1. Open the Invoice Entry screen. 

 

  1. 2. Select the Invoices that you want to include in the ABA File. 

  2.     Only Invoices that have a Status of Extracted or Provider Paid can be included in the ABA File. 

 

  1. 3. Under Action select Mark as Paid. 


 


  2. 4. Click Continue. 


 



  2. 5. To download the ABA File click CONFIRM. 


 


  1. 6. Click on the ABA File to download it. 


 



  2. 7. You can check the ABA File before uploading via your online banking portal. 


 


  1. 8. Log into your online banking portal and upload the file from its saved location.


Auto Generated Emails

The following auto generated email notifications are available to our customers, and are sent out when either an event or setting has been enabled.

All email notifications that are sent to the email present in the Notification Sender Email field or Contact Field where the Notification Sender Email field is null. Under Organisation Settings.


Change of Bank Account Details Email 


If you change the bank account details on the Service Provider, the below email will be generated. Please note this email is only generated when the ABA File Generation setting is enabled. 


 

 



Remittance Advice Email 


Careview will generate the below Remittance Advice for each Invoice in the ABA File. Please note that if the Service Provider does not have an Email Address or you have the Send Remittance Email field unchecked, a Remittance will not be created. 


 


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