Payment Services

AP Automation is available to all customers operating in US Dollars. To activate the features, please send an email to licensing@accountingseed.com.

Overview 

Payment Services or Automated Payment Distribution provides an easy way to have the system automatically pay your Vendors. Our partner in the Payment Services (invoice-to-pay) integration is Edenred Pay. The ability to use Payment Services starts with completing the AP Automation Onboarding Process. With the configuration completed, you will be able to use the automation process to have Edenred pay your Vendors using one of the three Payment Service Types:

• Virtual Card – this is a virtual (one time use) credit card that will be sent via email to a Vendor, which can be used to pay the bill. Edenred Pay is the card issuing authority, which uses Visa and Mastercard networks.
• ACH – Automated Clearing House is an electronic payment that will be sent via email to a Vendor with this preference for payment
• Check – a check will be mailed to the Vendor, along with a remittance email to notify the Vendor that the check has been mailed.

The Payment Proposals article provides information to create a Payment Proposal batch, along with the various ways in which you can continue the process to Payment Services. Essentially, once you have created a Payment Proposal and it has been approved, you can have the Cash Disbursements and the cash/credit application records automatically created.

Cash Disbursement Post

Once the Cash Disbursements are posted, they will be sent to Edenred Pay to pay your Vendor. The Vendor will be paid based upon the selected preferred payment method as set on the Cash Disbursement.

Best Practice: Since it is the posting of the Cash Disbursement that sends the payment information to Edenred, we recommend scheduling automated jobs in the exact order listed below:

1. Schedule the Pay Payment Proposal job in the Automated Jobs (to create the Cash Disbursements and applications)
2. Schedule the Cash Disbursement Scheduled Post job.
3. If your AP Disbursements are not set to auto-post, add the AP Disbursement Scheduled Post job.
4. Schedule the Scheduled Bank Download job to run after the Cash Disbursement Scheduled Post job so that it can bring in your bank transactions from your bank auto-matching and reconcile on your Bank Reconciliation.

Cash Disbursement Void

Voiding a Cash Disbursement reverses the associated transactions. With Payment Services, voiding a Cash Disbursement will depend upon the Payment Services Type:

• Virtual Card – if the balance on the Virtual Card is zero (0), a message will display to indicate that you cannot void a Virtual Card once it has been used. However, if the balance on a Virtual Card is greater than zero (0), you can void the Cash Disbursement. When you void a Cash Disbursement, Edenred Pay will automatically be notified, and will prevent the Vendor from using the Virtual Card.   
• ACH – an ACH payment cannot be voided once the payment has been sent. When you receive information that the ACH payment was sent to the Vendor, you will need to issue a refund (instead of voiding the Cash Disbursement). However, a Cash Disbursement can be voided when the Payment Service Status is one of the following, which indicates that no money is being sent via ACH:
  • Cancelled
  • Published_cancelled
  • Reconcile_declined
  • Reconcile_cancelled
• Check – a check can be voided in any Payment Service Status. As always, you will want to create a “stop payment” on the check at your bank.

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Pay Screens

Payment Services can be used in the Payable Pay and Pay Batch intermediate screens. Once the Cash Disbursement(s) has been posted and Payment Services selected in the Type field, a request for payment will automatically be sent to Edenred Pay to pay your Vendor.

Note: When using the Payable Pay and Pay Batch intermediate screens, Payment Services must be selected as the Type before you click Pay/Pay & Post or Create/Create & Post.

Payment Services on the Cash Disbursement 

The following Cash Disbursement fields are related to Payment Services:

• Type – this drop-down list has the Payment Services value that must be selected on the Cash Disbursement in order to pay your Vendors using Edenred Pay.
  
  Important:
  • The Type field is automatically set to Payment Services when the Cash Disbursement is created from the Payment Proposal.
  • When using the Payable Pay and Pay Batch intermediate screens, it is important to select Payment Services in the Type field.
  • When using Payment Services with Edenred Pay, setting this field to Check or Electronic is invalid and will not be sent to Edenred.
    
    
    
    
  • When the Type is set to Payment Services, in order for a Cash Disbursement to post, the balance must be 0 (zero). Otherwise, an error message will display that the record cannot post.
    
    
• Payment Service ID – as a part of the automatic processing of the payments, Edenred will update this field with an identification number to use as a reference for this payment. This along with the Payment Services Status should be tracked for payments.
• Payment Service Status – the statuses in this drop-down list will automatically be updated by Edenred. For example, when the Cash Disbursement is initially submitted to Edenred for payment, it will be updated to “Pending.” In the sample screen below, the status is “Reconcile_Complete,” which indicates the payment has been sent to the Vendor. Using this example, an email with a Virtual Card was sent to the Vendor to use for paying the bill.
  
  Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 
  
  Note: When the Payment Service Status has been updated to “Reconcile Complete,” the Payment Status on the Cash Disbursement will be updated to Paid (since the Payment Status was set to “Pending” when the Cash Disbursement was initially posted). The Payment Status field will only include values of “In Process” or “Pending” when the Type on the Cash Disbursement is Payment Services.
  
  
• Payment Service Status Note – if added, this field will display any additional notation status that was included with the payment submission.
  
  
• Last Payment Service Sync Date – this field will be updated with the last date and time the Payment Services information section on the Cash Disbursement was updated by Edenred.
  
  
• Payment Method – if this is a Virtual Card payment, this field will automatically be updated with a hyperlink to the Payment Method record so that you can continue to monitor the payment. For example, you can click to the Payment Method record to determine the Available Balance. If the Available Balance is 0.00, this would indicate that the Vendor used the Virtual Card to pay the bill. The Payment Method Type on the Payment Method record will display for Virtual Card payments as Credit Card.
  
  If this is an ACH payment, a Default Payment Method (Vendor) record must already exist in Accounting Seed for the Vendor. The Payment Method Type on the Payment Method record will display for ACH payments as Bank.
  
  Note: The Payment Method (Vendor) must be active and must be set as the Default. Otherwise, if the Payment Method is inactive, an error message will display. The Cash Disbursement will not be posted. If posting from the list view, the Payment Method Not Active” column will display to easily locate the record(s) that has an in active Payment Method.
  
  Important: When the Payment Method on the Vendor Account record is added, updated, or deleted, Edenred Pay will automatically be notified about the Payment Method change.
  
  
• Bank Disbursement – this field can be associated with only one Cash Disbursement. However, in a future release, it will function as a grouping mechanism for Cash Disbursements and credit Journal Entry Lines, similar to Bank Deposits.
  
  
• Payment Proposal and Payment Proposal Line – if this Cash Disbursement is related to a Payable that was a part of a Payment Proposal, these two fields will automatically populate. Both the Payment Proposal and Payment Proposal Line will display as hyperlinks back to the record, along with the line including a link to the related Payable record.   
  
  
• Payment Services Type Override – this field is used to override the default preferred payment type on the Account/Vendor for the selected Cash Disbursement. This field on a Cash Disbursement can be left with the default of “None.” However, if a Vendor has explicitly asked for a one-time payment to be made in a different way, you can use the Payment Services Type Override field to have Edenred process the payment using a payment type that is different from the one on the Account record. You will need to ensure that all of the required information is present for the new selected Payment Services Type.
  
  Note: If Check is selected as the Payment Services Type Override, and you include information in the Memo field on the Cash Disbursement, it will be printed on the check that Edenred mails to the Vendor.
  
  Important:
  • When using Payment Proposals, the selection in this field will also be a part of the automation process.
  • When using the Payable Pay and Pay Batch intermediate screens, the Payment Services Type is set on the Cash Disbursement if this is set on the related Vendor record.  
    
    If you need to modify the Payment Services Type field after the Cash Disbursement has been created, refer to the Change Payment Services Type after Cash Disbursement Creation step instructions in this article.

Payment Services List View on the Cash Disbursement

The Cash Disbursements screen includes a Payment Services list view, which can easily be selected by clicking the drop-down arrow to select that particular list view. The column headings that are automatically included on the Payment Services list view display below. However, as with any list view, you can modify the default column headings, as necessary.

• Cash Disbursement Name
• Payee
• Accounting Period
• Posting Status
• Amount
• Type
• Payment Services Type
• Payment Services Status
• Payment Service ID
• Payment Method
• Payment Proposal
• Reference
• Ledger

Enrolled in Payment Services list view on the Account

The Accounts screen includes an Enrolled in Payment Services list view, which can easily be selected by clicking the drop-down arrow to select that particular list view. The column headings that are automatically included on the Payment Services list view display below. However, as with any list view, you can modify the default column headings, as necessary.

• Account Name
• Enable Payment Services
• Payment services Enrollment Status
• Last Payment Service Sync Date
• Payment Services Type

Payment Methods on the Account

With Payment Services, the Account record for a Vendor will include a Payment Methods related list.  

This related list will include the following information:

• Payment Method Name(s) – a hyperlink will be available to access each Payment Method record.
• Default – this checkbox will be selected if this is the Default Payment Method for the Vendor.
• Payment Method Type – this will display as Credit Card, ACH, or Check.
• Last Four Digits – the last four digits of the credit card number.

Click View All to see additional information about the Payment Method related list, such as the Status to determine if this is an active Account record.

Note: Depending upon the field names that you included on this related list, there may be additional columns such as Bank Account Type, Available Balance, Account Holder Name, etc.

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AP Remittance Email on the Account record

The AP Remittance Email field on the Account record is required in order to post a Cash Disbursement with Virtual Card as the Payment Services Type. Otherwise, an error message will display when you attempt to post a Cash Disbursement.

Remittance Emails

This section includes a sample screen for each type of remittance that Edenred Pay will send to your Vendors based upon their preference for payment. The remittance will be emailed to the email address of the Billing Contact that is on the Vendor record. Additionally, the Inv Number on the remittance will display the information that was included in the Payee Reference field on the Payable. 

• Virtual Card when the Vendor's email system uses TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol
  
  
  
  
• Virtual Card when the Vendor's email system does NOT use TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol
  
  
  
  
• ACH (Automated Clearing House)
  
  
  
  
• Check
  
  
  

Payment Services and other Payee Types

Payment Proposals and Payment Services currently support the paying of Payables for Vendors. Payables with the Payee set to a Contact or Employee cannot be paid using Payment Services. 

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Change Payment Services Type after Cash Disbursement Creation

Use the steps below to change the Payment Services Type once the Cash Disbursement is created, for example from ACH (default from Vendor) to Virtual Card.

1. Ensure the Vendor record has the necessary information for that specific Payment Services Type. For more information, refer to the AP Automation Onboarding Process article.
2. Edit the Vendor record to change the default Payment Services Type to the new one (example, Virtual Card).
3. Click Save. This will send the change to Edenred along with any other required information. This one-time setup will allow you to change the Payment Services Type directly on the Cash Disbursement, going forward.
4. After a few minutes, you can set this field back to the original value. This one-time setup will allow you to change the Payment Services Type directly on the Cash Disbursement, if necessary.

Create Manual Cash Disbursements with Payment Services

With Payment Services, you can also create Cash Disbursements manually and have them processed via Edenred Pay. However there is an important distinction: these manual Cash Disbursements must be applied before they can be posted. 

1. Create the manual Cash Disbursement with Type set to Payment Services and a Payment Services Type selected.
   Important: Do not post the Cash Disbursement.
2. Click Apply/Unapply to apply the Cash Disbursement to the related Payable.
   Note: For the time being, this might need to be a placeholder.
3. Post the Cash Disbursement.

If you attempt to post a Cash Disbursement that has the Type set to Payment Services, but with a Balance that is greater than 0, an error will display.

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Winter '25 Preview 1 Release

Release Notes and Schedule

The AP Remittance Email field is required on the Account record when the Payment Services Type is Virtual Card. 

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Summer '24 Release

Release Notes and Schedule

• The Payment Services Type field was renamed to Payment Services Type Override.
• Payment Services was added to the Cash Disbursements screen as a list view.
• The Enrolled in Payment Services list view was updated.