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58
Vote
Batch Payments: Export to BACS with supplier's reference (UK)
Started by Helen Sammon in Feature Requests | Under Consideration
I pay a lot of different electricity suppliers by BACS. They all require their individual account numbers to be referenced on the BACS payment. I currently use the 'Export Batch File' and then 'BACS' option to get a file I can import into the bank system (Lloydslink).
I do have to make some amendments to this file however. I remove the header and footer information which are not required for the import. The biggest problem though is adding in the supplier references. The individual references appear in the csv option in Export Batch File but not in the BACS option.
At the moment I import the file to Lloydslink and then go through and change them all manually once on the bank's system. This takes considerable time and I am always worried that I will copy over one incorrectly and the payment will go to the wrong account on the electricity company's system.
Is it possible to add the field from the 'Transaction:Batch Payment' screen called 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' onto the BACS export file? Or is this something suitable for a developer to write a customised report for us?
Thanks,
Helen
I do have to make some amendments to this file however. I remove the header and footer information which are not required for the import. The biggest problem though is adding in the supplier references. The individual references appear in the csv option in Export Batch File but not in the BACS option.
At the moment I import the file to Lloydslink and then go through and change them all manually once on the bank's system. This takes considerable time and I am always worried that I will copy over one incorrectly and the payment will go to the wrong account on the electricity company's system.
Is it possible to add the field from the 'Transaction:Batch Payment' screen called 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' onto the BACS export file? Or is this something suitable for a developer to write a customised report for us?
Thanks,
Helen
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Official Xero Reply
Hey Everyone, completely get the frustration and just want to provide some assurity that we are passing your thoughts back to the right eyes. Batch payments were released in Xero in December of 2009 - Being one of the remaining older parts of Xero, we know they are well due some attention!
The good news is, we have a Product team focused on a new batch payments experience right now (end of July '19). This'll mean a new interface & workflow to make it much easier to manage your bills. Though, these things do take time to develop, test, & tweak before being fully available, and we are still in the very early stages.
While not directly working on this request right now, I'm going to move it to Under Consideration, and we'll be back to update you when plans firm up.
The good news is, we have a Product team focused on a new batch payments experience right now (end of July '19). This'll mean a new interface & workflow to make it much easier to manage your bills. Though, these things do take time to develop, test, & tweak before being fully available, and we are still in the very early stages.
While not directly working on this request right now, I'm going to move it to Under Consideration, and we'll be back to update you when plans firm up.
Best Reply as chosen by Helen Sammon (Original Poster)
The way I'd worked out to do this was to export as a csv and then upload into Lloydslink using the Sage template they include. Basically this method is editing the Xero csv file to match the format of the csv Sage would create. It's not as tricky or long winded as it seems - the following are the instructions I'd given to a client previously:
Firstly - for each supplier paid by BACS, the bank details and reference need to be entered into the supplier record in the correct format
Bank Account Number: This is sort code then comma then account number. You must use the comma so that the csv splits the field into two columns.
Bank Account Name: This should be left blank as it’s not needed in the import file. An entry here will add an unneeded column to the csv.
Details: This is equivalent to the reference field in Sage - so it could be your account number or reference with that supplier.
If any of these details are missing on a supplier when you create the batch, you can enter them on the batch payment screen and those details will be saved onto that supplier record.
If we skip forward now, assuming you have created the batch payment and downloaded the csv. You need to open the file in Excel. There are 3 things to do here.
1. Delete Column E: This is likely blank unless you entered a batch detail/narrative, but the column isn’t needed either way, so highlight the whole column, right click and delete.
2. Move Column A: This is the amount field. Highlight the whole column, right click and cut. Then Highlight Column F, right click and paste.
3. Delete Column A: This will now be blank having moved the entries. Highlight the column, right click and delete.
This should leave you with 5 columns (A to E). Sort Code, Acc Number, Payee, Reference and Amount. Save this file (saying yes to any format warnings) and it’s ready to upload.
Happy to elaborate on any of these points.
Lee.
Firstly - for each supplier paid by BACS, the bank details and reference need to be entered into the supplier record in the correct format
Bank Account Number: This is sort code then comma then account number. You must use the comma so that the csv splits the field into two columns.
Bank Account Name: This should be left blank as it’s not needed in the import file. An entry here will add an unneeded column to the csv.
Details: This is equivalent to the reference field in Sage - so it could be your account number or reference with that supplier.
If any of these details are missing on a supplier when you create the batch, you can enter them on the batch payment screen and those details will be saved onto that supplier record.
If we skip forward now, assuming you have created the batch payment and downloaded the csv. You need to open the file in Excel. There are 3 things to do here.
1. Delete Column E: This is likely blank unless you entered a batch detail/narrative, but the column isn’t needed either way, so highlight the whole column, right click and delete.
2. Move Column A: This is the amount field. Highlight the whole column, right click and cut. Then Highlight Column F, right click and paste.
3. Delete Column A: This will now be blank having moved the entries. Highlight the column, right click and delete.
This should leave you with 5 columns (A to E). Sort Code, Acc Number, Payee, Reference and Amount. Save this file (saying yes to any format warnings) and it’s ready to upload.
Happy to elaborate on any of these points.
Lee.
I also have this problem, and it was a feature that worked flawlessly in our old accounts package. Showing our company name is fine when we're paying small suppliers, but account numbers are a requirement when paying larger companies.
Have you had any luck in getting batch payments via BACS to work? We've just started using batch payments and the BACS file and csv file are in formats that will not upload directly to Lloydslink without some manual adjustments. It's a shame there can't be some sort of export template list for different banks.
Lee,
No I am still removing the header and footer information from the BACS file and adding in the supplier references manually. My son is learning Visual C# so I'm hoping he will be able to write a program to automatically produce the file I need from the two currently available. Yes, I agree it would be much better if this were directly available on Xero.
No I am still removing the header and footer information from the BACS file and adding in the supplier references manually. My son is learning Visual C# so I'm hoping he will be able to write a program to automatically produce the file I need from the two currently available. Yes, I agree it would be much better if this were directly available on Xero.
I brought this up with Xero when we started to use the package. Its a big problem. Why doesn't the information entered in a field labelled Details to appear on a contacts bank statement, appear in the output file? Cmon Xero please sort this out.
I have had an argument with Xero about this - initially they blamed my bank, until I pointed out that the references were not being written to the BACS file by Xero. They are now saying that inserting supplier references in to a BACS payment file is a 'New Feature Request', with limited user demand, so no timescale, but I feel it's a current feature that doesn't work properly. In every payment run we make, manual editing must be done, which slows things down and increases the chances of a mistake being made.
Xero response...
Currently, no changes have been made to the BACS file to include the supplier reference.
Please note, from the outside, it may sometimes feel like your feedback isn't taken on board. However, rest assured that this is definitely not the case. Each feature goes through the same process when we're deciding what to develop.
Firstly, we look at customer demand for the feature and we've got a number of sources for customer feedback, such as Xero Community, emails sent to support or conversations with customers and partners, to name a few.
When looking at these, we consider the value to Xero of the feature and we take into account the resources needed for any particular feature. We balance small numbers of large projects against large numbers of small ones.
We aim to let our customers know as soon as possible when work on a feature begins in earnest and is firmly locked in. As you are aware, our Product owners will often post updates on the Xero Community thread for the feature request to keep those interested in that feature up to date.
We appreciate that changes haven't happened as planned but comments posted, and votes placed in Community are certainly taken into consideration by the Product team when they look at new functionality to develop. Other important factors are emails sent into Support, regional requirements and other business considerations.
While we'd like to work on everything at once, different users want different things and features have to be prioritised.
Currently, no changes have been made to the BACS file to include the supplier reference.
Please note, from the outside, it may sometimes feel like your feedback isn't taken on board. However, rest assured that this is definitely not the case. Each feature goes through the same process when we're deciding what to develop.
Firstly, we look at customer demand for the feature and we've got a number of sources for customer feedback, such as Xero Community, emails sent to support or conversations with customers and partners, to name a few.
When looking at these, we consider the value to Xero of the feature and we take into account the resources needed for any particular feature. We balance small numbers of large projects against large numbers of small ones.
We aim to let our customers know as soon as possible when work on a feature begins in earnest and is firmly locked in. As you are aware, our Product owners will often post updates on the Xero Community thread for the feature request to keep those interested in that feature up to date.
We appreciate that changes haven't happened as planned but comments posted, and votes placed in Community are certainly taken into consideration by the Product team when they look at new functionality to develop. Other important factors are emails sent into Support, regional requirements and other business considerations.
While we'd like to work on everything at once, different users want different things and features have to be prioritised.
It could be argued that some core functionality is overlooked whilst nice to have functionality is rolled out. In this case Sage manages to have a seamless link with Lloyds - I hate it when I have to mutter the phrase "Sage does that better" but in this case it does. Obviously overall Xero is a far superior product but this gap needs to be filled.
Like previous posters, for us this bulk payment feature is totally useless without being able to add the supplier's reference. How are they supposed to match the payment to our account with no kind of identification on it?
I've just started using Xero to create my BACS batch file. I just can't get Lloyds link to recognise the BACS file. Would any one be able to briefly explain the process please? Lee mentions editing a BACS file above, but in what format can you edit the BACS file? This is driving me mad because Xero support say they can't help, and Lloyds just refer me to their help document, which I've tried to work through without success. Any help would really be appreciated.
Hi Rob,
I still haven't got a better solution to work so am currently using this procedure:
1) Make sure bank details are complete for all suppliers in payment batch. The bank account number field should be the 6 digit sort code immediately followed by the 8 digit account number.
2) Process the batch payment in Xero.
3) Select Export batch file and then select BACS.
4) Open the BACS file in notepad (It doesn't have to be notepad, any document handling program should do it, but that's what I use).
5) Delete the four header lines and four footer lines, save and close file.
6) Open Lloysdlink payment management and choose the import option.
7) Select BACS multiple fixed length option and browse to the amended BACS file.
8) Follow Lloydslink's prompts until the batch payment appears on the system.
9) After importing the file go through and amend all the references so that your suppliers can actually tell what the payments are for. Silently curse the fact that there are much better things you could be doing with your time.
Regards,
Helen
I still haven't got a better solution to work so am currently using this procedure:
1) Make sure bank details are complete for all suppliers in payment batch. The bank account number field should be the 6 digit sort code immediately followed by the 8 digit account number.
2) Process the batch payment in Xero.
3) Select Export batch file and then select BACS.
4) Open the BACS file in notepad (It doesn't have to be notepad, any document handling program should do it, but that's what I use).
5) Delete the four header lines and four footer lines, save and close file.
6) Open Lloysdlink payment management and choose the import option.
7) Select BACS multiple fixed length option and browse to the amended BACS file.
8) Follow Lloydslink's prompts until the batch payment appears on the system.
9) After importing the file go through and amend all the references so that your suppliers can actually tell what the payments are for. Silently curse the fact that there are much better things you could be doing with your time.
Regards,
Helen
Best Reply as chosen by Helen Sammon (Original Poster)
The way I'd worked out to do this was to export as a csv and then upload into Lloydslink using the Sage template they include. Basically this method is editing the Xero csv file to match the format of the csv Sage would create. It's not as tricky or long winded as it seems - the following are the instructions I'd given to a client previously:
Firstly - for each supplier paid by BACS, the bank details and reference need to be entered into the supplier record in the correct format
Bank Account Number: This is sort code then comma then account number. You must use the comma so that the csv splits the field into two columns.
Bank Account Name: This should be left blank as it’s not needed in the import file. An entry here will add an unneeded column to the csv.
Details: This is equivalent to the reference field in Sage - so it could be your account number or reference with that supplier.
If any of these details are missing on a supplier when you create the batch, you can enter them on the batch payment screen and those details will be saved onto that supplier record.
If we skip forward now, assuming you have created the batch payment and downloaded the csv. You need to open the file in Excel. There are 3 things to do here.
1. Delete Column E: This is likely blank unless you entered a batch detail/narrative, but the column isn’t needed either way, so highlight the whole column, right click and delete.
2. Move Column A: This is the amount field. Highlight the whole column, right click and cut. Then Highlight Column F, right click and paste.
3. Delete Column A: This will now be blank having moved the entries. Highlight the column, right click and delete.
This should leave you with 5 columns (A to E). Sort Code, Acc Number, Payee, Reference and Amount. Save this file (saying yes to any format warnings) and it’s ready to upload.
Happy to elaborate on any of these points.
Lee.
Firstly - for each supplier paid by BACS, the bank details and reference need to be entered into the supplier record in the correct format
Bank Account Number: This is sort code then comma then account number. You must use the comma so that the csv splits the field into two columns.
Bank Account Name: This should be left blank as it’s not needed in the import file. An entry here will add an unneeded column to the csv.
Details: This is equivalent to the reference field in Sage - so it could be your account number or reference with that supplier.
If any of these details are missing on a supplier when you create the batch, you can enter them on the batch payment screen and those details will be saved onto that supplier record.
If we skip forward now, assuming you have created the batch payment and downloaded the csv. You need to open the file in Excel. There are 3 things to do here.
1. Delete Column E: This is likely blank unless you entered a batch detail/narrative, but the column isn’t needed either way, so highlight the whole column, right click and delete.
2. Move Column A: This is the amount field. Highlight the whole column, right click and cut. Then Highlight Column F, right click and paste.
3. Delete Column A: This will now be blank having moved the entries. Highlight the column, right click and delete.
This should leave you with 5 columns (A to E). Sort Code, Acc Number, Payee, Reference and Amount. Save this file (saying yes to any format warnings) and it’s ready to upload.
Happy to elaborate on any of these points.
Lee.
Thank you for sharing how you're getting round the problem Lee. That would certainly stop the need to go in and change the references individually. I've had a problem in the past where Excel loses trailing zeros in numerical references but should be able to get round that using a apostrophe so that it treats the reference as text. I'll give it a go!
Helen
Helen
Confirming this works a treat and many thanks Helen!
Just a shame Xero cant/wont make it work without the hack!!
Just a shame Xero cant/wont make it work without the hack!!
Just to confirm that this is definitely a bug in Xero ...
The BACS export file is using the wrong variables .... I have reported this to Xero but so far not had any form of concrete response.
It is a simple thing to fix, but it is definitely a bug .. the question is whether or not Xero are prepared to fix it I guess (and how quickly)
Currently the BACS export feature is useless until this bug is fixed .. and we really really really shouldn't have to kludge around the bug like you're suggesting above ...
if this was a free product then maybe, but it isn't, it is a commercial application ....
The BACS export file is using the wrong variables .... I have reported this to Xero but so far not had any form of concrete response.
It is a simple thing to fix, but it is definitely a bug .. the question is whether or not Xero are prepared to fix it I guess (and how quickly)
Currently the BACS export feature is useless until this bug is fixed .. and we really really really shouldn't have to kludge around the bug like you're suggesting above ...
if this was a free product then maybe, but it isn't, it is a commercial application ....
Hi Jon,
Yes I agree. I've resigned myself to using a work-around when the problem is an error in Xero's report. The whole point of having the supplier's reference information is so that it can be used for matching when the payment comes into the supplier's bank. I did raise this issue with Xero before starting this thread and got this response:
'There is no automatic way to capture this on the export file, I have logged this as a suggestion with our Product Team for you.'
I hope that lots of users will raise this as an issue and bump it up Xero's priority list.
Helen
Yes I agree. I've resigned myself to using a work-around when the problem is an error in Xero's report. The whole point of having the supplier's reference information is so that it can be used for matching when the payment comes into the supplier's bank. I did raise this issue with Xero before starting this thread and got this response:
'There is no automatic way to capture this on the export file, I have logged this as a suggestion with our Product Team for you.'
I hope that lots of users will raise this as an issue and bump it up Xero's priority list.
Helen
Hello,
Does anyone have this working easily with any UK bank that also does direct feeds? I'm keen to get this working and would switch banks (or software!) to make it so.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Nigel
Does anyone have this working easily with any UK bank that also does direct feeds? I'm keen to get this working and would switch banks (or software!) to make it so.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Nigel
This shouldn't be something voted on, it is a bug.
The batch payment shown in xero has a column called:
"Details To appear on contact's bank statement"
When the BACS file is downloaded and viewed in a text reader, all the payments have the same payment reference which is taken from the field:
"Details To appear on your bank statement"
Why in xero does it show "Details To appear on contact's bank statement" but then that value doesn't appear anywhere in the export file so how could it appear on the contact's bank statement?
The current functionality doesn't work as it is stated it should, that is a bug, not an enhancement. It is clearly pulling the wrong field. Emailing out remittance advice from xero will email all the suppliers promising a payment which comes through with a difference payment reference, that's a bug!
If nothing has progressed in a year then that is disappointing. I have 200 payments to make each month, I have aligned suppliers so that we only have to make 2 batch payments per month on the 14th and 30th, if the batch payment doesn't have the right payment reference then it is useless and the payments will need to be done manually. If this can't be resolved then I will look for another accounting package as I haven't been using xero long enough to feel like I'm tied into it.
The batch payment shown in xero has a column called:
"Details To appear on contact's bank statement"
When the BACS file is downloaded and viewed in a text reader, all the payments have the same payment reference which is taken from the field:
"Details To appear on your bank statement"
Why in xero does it show "Details To appear on contact's bank statement" but then that value doesn't appear anywhere in the export file so how could it appear on the contact's bank statement?
The current functionality doesn't work as it is stated it should, that is a bug, not an enhancement. It is clearly pulling the wrong field. Emailing out remittance advice from xero will email all the suppliers promising a payment which comes through with a difference payment reference, that's a bug!
If nothing has progressed in a year then that is disappointing. I have 200 payments to make each month, I have aligned suppliers so that we only have to make 2 batch payments per month on the 14th and 30th, if the batch payment doesn't have the right payment reference then it is useless and the payments will need to be done manually. If this can't be resolved then I will look for another accounting package as I haven't been using xero long enough to feel like I'm tied into it.
agreed 100% ... it is a shame that Xero feel we need to vote on which bugs they fix
Basically at the moment Xero without this functionality is useless and we might as well cancel and move our companies onto another platform
Xero need to fix this asap ...
Basically at the moment Xero without this functionality is useless and we might as well cancel and move our companies onto another platform
Xero need to fix this asap ...
+1. acknowledge the fault, say what you're doing to fix it, and fix it. or if it can't/ won't be fixed then please say so & we can at least then find an alternative platform that does perform as promised
Just adding a voice to this as its been going on for while and there haven't been any comments for a few months. This does seem like a bug rather than a missing feature and definitely an irritation to have to manually input the references into the BACS file. I feel like its a fairly simple fix, just use the correct variable. It smells like a typo in the code to me!
Just wanted to add my voice to this one. We have just started to use Xero and I have exported my first BACS for upload to Natwest Bankline. Stumbled upon this problem as well, straight away. I can add the reference in the file before upload, but this does seem strange, and should be easy to fix by Xero.
I have added my vote and adding here. I am really trying to avoid handling or editing of the files before sending.
Xero have provided us with a bacs template that does not work for business use. This needs to be fixed asap. The functionality is useless without it. Please can we have an update Xero
Why is this a feature request? It is 100% a bug and Xero seem to be using the whitewash of 'Vote for a feature' to avoid fixing the bug and kick it into the long grass, terrible support.
Same issue here (desperately trying to find a convenient way to export from Xero and import to Barclays.net. I do hope that Xero are dealing with this bug.
I would add to this that are losing potential customers , unfortunately Sage does have the upper hand on this.
I've just stumbled on this problem when trying to remove the continual re-keying of information that's going on in our accounts team. The BACS export feature seems useless without filling in the correct reference. As previous people have mentioned, any sizeable/automated company requires the reference to be correct or you just end up in a world of pain trying to get your payments attributed to your invoices. It's an out and out bug, not a feature request.
I received this response in June 2016, so over a year later nothing seems to have moved on.
Many thanks for your patience while we were further investigating your case.
I've been able to confirm that while is it possible to include a beneficiary reference in a BACS file, the BACS export in Xero has not been designed to include this reference. Apologies on behalf of my colleague Mike who suggested that it wasn't possible at all in BACS.
I do appreciate that the field 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' can appear misleading. This is due to the field being there for all types of Batch Payments in all of regional versions of Xero. I've given feedback to the Product Team that this could be made clear to users in the UK, that this field won't flow through to BACS exports currently.
I've also noted your request for the BACS export to include ?a beneficiary reference from the 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' with the Product Team. Our UK Business Analyst has confirmed that this is something that we'll be looking to work with the Product Team and add in the future. Unfortunately I'm unable to give you a timeline for this, however we'll let you know as soon it's been released.
In the meantime, you'll need to continue to manually customise the BACS export from Xero to include a beneficiary reference if required before uploading into your bank.
Many thanks for your patience while we were further investigating your case.
I've been able to confirm that while is it possible to include a beneficiary reference in a BACS file, the BACS export in Xero has not been designed to include this reference. Apologies on behalf of my colleague Mike who suggested that it wasn't possible at all in BACS.
I do appreciate that the field 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' can appear misleading. This is due to the field being there for all types of Batch Payments in all of regional versions of Xero. I've given feedback to the Product Team that this could be made clear to users in the UK, that this field won't flow through to BACS exports currently.
I've also noted your request for the BACS export to include ?a beneficiary reference from the 'Details To appear on contact's bank statement' with the Product Team. Our UK Business Analyst has confirmed that this is something that we'll be looking to work with the Product Team and add in the future. Unfortunately I'm unable to give you a timeline for this, however we'll let you know as soon it's been released.
In the meantime, you'll need to continue to manually customise the BACS export from Xero to include a beneficiary reference if required before uploading into your bank.
Thanks Robert - it’s very frustrating that there has been no progress on this. It should be such a small thing to fix by allowing users to customise the format of their BACS exports.
I guess someone could write an Excel macro to do this, but it really ought to be included in Xero. In this regard, Sage is way ahead of Xero.
Perhaps the Xero Support Team can interject and let their UK customers know if progress is being made on this feature request?
I guess someone could write an Excel macro to do this, but it really ought to be included in Xero. In this regard, Sage is way ahead of Xero.
Perhaps the Xero Support Team can interject and let their UK customers know if progress is being made on this feature request?
I agree this needs fixing as a priority; it is indeed a feature that hasn't been finished properly from its initial creation rather than a mere improvement on something that already works. I have two clients where it's an issue and was first in correspondence with Xero about it over a year ago.
I have devised a workaround via the csv file output each time a batch payment is made but it's tedious and introduces risk of human error in the upload. It also needs knowledge of Excel text strings that I've had to teach the client.
As well as the missing reference, having the leading zeroes drop from the account sort code/ number within the csv file is also a pain, as my workaround then can get that detail wrong unless it's spotted.
Another annoying little touch is that the csv file output throws a wobbly if there are commas in the contact name; the parts of the name are thrown over to adjacent columns after each comma. (So dealing with my agents Pugh, Pugh, Barney Mcgrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub is a nightmare!)
It's not that difficult to sort, surely. Get a grip.
I have devised a workaround via the csv file output each time a batch payment is made but it's tedious and introduces risk of human error in the upload. It also needs knowledge of Excel text strings that I've had to teach the client.
As well as the missing reference, having the leading zeroes drop from the account sort code/ number within the csv file is also a pain, as my workaround then can get that detail wrong unless it's spotted.
Another annoying little touch is that the csv file output throws a wobbly if there are commas in the contact name; the parts of the name are thrown over to adjacent columns after each comma. (So dealing with my agents Pugh, Pugh, Barney Mcgrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub is a nightmare!)
It's not that difficult to sort, surely. Get a grip.
Xero just don't care, this happens time and time again. If you are not one of the 80% that Xero is targetted at, they don't pay any attention to these kind of bugs. They call them a 'Feature Request' and then never do anything about them, kind of makes sense, you put the effort in as a business where you make your money and if there are only 37 of us who want this bug fixed and 2000 other people who want another feature, of course they are going to go where the numbers are. Xero will at some point have to grow up as their product is used by more and more larger businesses (don't get me wrong, it is in general a good product) who need bugs like this to be fixed and hopefully will eventually 'get round to it', hopefully before I loose patience with manually editing 500+ payments a week!
Hi all, I just started using BACS feature on Xero to upload in on our Barclays account and the BACS file takes completely irrelevant information for each supplier, e.g. if there is a bank name noted on suppliers contact sheet, the BACS file takes that as a suppliers name or, as most of you've noticed already, name of the BACS appears instead of reference (inv numbers). This is clearly a huge bug and I'm really surprised that Xero does not intend to fix it. I can imagine that for companies which do hundreds of payments each month it's kind of deal breaker too.
I work with restaurants and cafes who hit this issue a lot, so I have written a bit to describe the issue and provide them with a workaround. Hospitality businesses have a very high number of low value invoices with the same group of suppliers each month, so the workaround works in that context but won't be suitable for everyone.
https://www.peripat.com/2018/03/batch-payments.html#xero
https://www.peripat.com/2018/03/batch-payments.html#xero
To this isn't a feature request and shouldn't be treated as such - it's a plain bug in the file creation which needs fixing instead of getting votes and stuff.
my 2cents :)
my 2cents :)
I totally agree; it’s been an ongoing issue for some time and very disappointing that the Xero development team are not able/willing to address. It leaves users having to come up with workarounds and ultimately, Xero will lose customers as a result.
@ Steve: At least good for the ego to hear that I'm not alone here - I was so excited about using BACS files. I also reached out to Xero but expecting a similar reply as the one above.
Just had the reply back from support that the batch file created by Xero doesn't include the individual references required for each supplier, which was surprising to say the least. This obviously makes the BACS file created by Xero completely useless - this requires a bug fix, it isn't a feature request.
Merged: Batch Payment - Coutts BACS file
Ability to export a BACS payment file for supplier payments that can be uploaded straight to Coutts online banking.
Ability to export a BACS payment file for supplier payments that can be uploaded straight to Coutts online banking.
Hi Emily, this sounds quite similar to what's being request over on this thread. Do let me know if you'd agree and I'll join your post in with those where we can keep you all updated in the one place. :)
Official Xero Reply
Hey Everyone, completely get the frustration and just want to provide some assurity that we are passing your thoughts back to the right eyes. Batch payments were released in Xero in December of 2009 - Being one of the remaining older parts of Xero, we know they are well due some attention!
The good news is, we have a Product team focused on a new batch payments experience right now (end of July '19). This'll mean a new interface & workflow to make it much easier to manage your bills. Though, these things do take time to develop, test, & tweak before being fully available, and we are still in the very early stages.
While not directly working on this request right now, I'm going to move it to Under Consideration, and we'll be back to update you when plans firm up.
The good news is, we have a Product team focused on a new batch payments experience right now (end of July '19). This'll mean a new interface & workflow to make it much easier to manage your bills. Though, these things do take time to develop, test, & tweak before being fully available, and we are still in the very early stages.
While not directly working on this request right now, I'm going to move it to Under Consideration, and we'll be back to update you when plans firm up.
Just moved to xero. This is the first question I asked - can I set up payments from xero into bank? Tried out the batch payments and although xero appears to put the correct information in beneficiary reference completely misses it off the batch file. This makes the batch file useless. Noted this was being reviewed in July 19 any news on this being corrected?
Also note your thread has no dates on, so unclear which order posts are in and how old they are!
Also note your thread has no dates on, so unclear which order posts are in and how old they are!
I know that is is supposed to be the era of Post Truth bur come on Xero, have a little more respect for your customers. I reported this 'fault' to Xero this month (Jan 2020) only to be told that "We've done some further research into this issue and can confirm that this is currently working as designed." and "At this stage, this is being treated as a feature request,". As others have already said this is a FAULT / BUG. I now see that this is a problem that has been known since 2016 but they are still giving the same lame response. There's not even a caution message next to the field "Details to Appear on Contact's Bank Statement' which would have saved a great deal of my time. Like many of Xero's customers I assumed the error was mine - not knowing the issue had been known for years and years. I wonder how many other customers will waste their time too before Xero will either come clean on this issue or actual get around to fixing it. Like others I can't see why this isn't an easy fix. Since asking that this issue be escalated to a complaint I received a phone call from a supervisor but got the impression that it was no more than a courtesy call rather than assurance that something was actually being done.
Jan 2020 (have to put the date into replies now as Xero don't show the dates issues were submitted - presumably to avoid embarrassment over how long BUGS have stayed open without action).
This is a BUG, not a feature request or an 'enhancement'.
The screen says ' Details TO APPEAR ON CONTACTS BANK STATEMENT' (the capitals are mine)
Export the file in BACS format and the details do not appear.
Come on Xero, let's have a public statement committing to fixing this - the code is already there in the CSV export (which does include the supplier reference).
If you are not going to fix the bug then you need to remove the BACS export option entirely.
Leaving this in limbo is just wasting the time of new customers who, (not unreasonably) think that BACS export will work and include the details the screen says it will.
This is a BUG, not a feature request or an 'enhancement'.
The screen says ' Details TO APPEAR ON CONTACTS BANK STATEMENT' (the capitals are mine)
Export the file in BACS format and the details do not appear.
Come on Xero, let's have a public statement committing to fixing this - the code is already there in the CSV export (which does include the supplier reference).
If you are not going to fix the bug then you need to remove the BACS export option entirely.
Leaving this in limbo is just wasting the time of new customers who, (not unreasonably) think that BACS export will work and include the details the screen says it will.
On the new, even more cumbersome batch payments interface which pushes the overpriced Transferwise, there is now a column "Details To appear on contact's bank statement" on the Transaction: Batch File page
Despite Lauren's promise, this reference does not appear in the BACS file. So now Xero is to put it mildly misleading - or bluntly down right lying. Rather than previously just missing basic functionality. Please stop your patronizing adverts on TV - business owners aren't ten year olds, and spend some money on developers and testers.
And don't remove the BACS functionality as Philip Roberts suggests. We need it to interface with Barclays.Net.
Despite Lauren's promise, this reference does not appear in the BACS file. So now Xero is to put it mildly misleading - or bluntly down right lying. Rather than previously just missing basic functionality. Please stop your patronizing adverts on TV - business owners aren't ten year olds, and spend some money on developers and testers.
And don't remove the BACS functionality as Philip Roberts suggests. We need it to interface with Barclays.Net.
28th May 2020
Just been notified of a new batch payment experience in Xero. As above, I'm not interested in using the overpriced the Transferwise product, but I did have high hopes that they may have finally fixed the BACS bug.
Sadly, nothing's changed! (Except the file extension has changed from .BAC to .txt, interestingly)
After I tried the new payments functionality, a survey request popped up. Here is the URL - I encourage everyone to use the survey link to tell Xero that this is still a problem and a bug.
https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5422143/Pay-with-Transferwise-survey?visitcount=1
Lauren - can we have an update in this please? This is a commercial product that we're all paying for, we shouldn't have to put up with such a time consuming bug like this on a daily basis.
Just been notified of a new batch payment experience in Xero. As above, I'm not interested in using the overpriced the Transferwise product, but I did have high hopes that they may have finally fixed the BACS bug.
Sadly, nothing's changed! (Except the file extension has changed from .BAC to .txt, interestingly)
After I tried the new payments functionality, a survey request popped up. Here is the URL - I encourage everyone to use the survey link to tell Xero that this is still a problem and a bug.
https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5422143/Pay-with-Transferwise-survey?visitcount=1
Lauren - can we have an update in this please? This is a commercial product that we're all paying for, we shouldn't have to put up with such a time consuming bug like this on a daily basis.
I'd just like to add as per other people's comments, and given I work in software development and delivery this is definitely a bug - and should be classed as a blocker - "No users can use the feature and no workaround available"
Please fix this Xero to match exporting batch payments usable.
Otherwise, the cynic in me is lead to believe that you have decided not to fix this to try and push into the cost addition of TransferWise (which I am not going to use).
Love Xero - but this is a VERY frustrating bug!
Please fix this Xero to match exporting batch payments usable.
Otherwise, the cynic in me is lead to believe that you have decided not to fix this to try and push into the cost addition of TransferWise (which I am not going to use).
Love Xero - but this is a VERY frustrating bug!