e-cheques… …or how we learned to stop worrying about printing and distributing cheques and start loving direct deposit Denise Cordrey & Leanne Rooney

WHO? Small University in Vancouver, BC specializing in Art, Design + Media Offers 4 year Bachelor Degrees and 2 year Masters Degrees as well as a thriving Continuing Studies Department

1,700 credit students & 1,200 Continuing Studies students each semester 120 staff & admin 150 credit faculty & sessionals 65 Continuing Studies faculty

WHAT? Electronic transfer of funds from one bank account to another Processed through your Finance/AP module Does not interface with the HR/Payroll module

WHY? Sustainability Convenience Clears faster – no more trips to the bank No more lost or stale dated cheques No more sorting and distributing paper cheques No more mailing costs/cheque paper costs No more printer jams

HOW? we started with e-cheques for students we felt we would get good buy in from that group because of the convenience and immediacy soft roll-out, participation was optional considering compulsory full participation for Fall 09 term refunds

we are now rolling out e-cheques for employee expenses full roll-out in September 09 many staff have ‘heard through the grapevine’ and have already chosen to sign up haven’t tackled Vendors Payments yet, but in the future…

Getting Colleague Ready Start in your TEST account and work with your Bank to make sure it all runs smoothly before moving anything to PRODUCTION

First thing - Bank set up Your ‘in-house’ bank administrator will set up the person transmitting the file Talk to your bank – they will help to define what you need You will need a different Canadian client number for e cheques that is not the same as your payroll routing code Talk to the bank’s IT group regarding setting up a testing schedule

BKCM (detail on EFT Information Field) → ECPD Set ‘Process e-cheques’ to ‘Yes’. Either use the US EFT format or the EFT subroutine. Datatel delivered sub routine is set up to Royal Bank standards. ‘Include Carriage Return’ – set to ‘No’. Canadian client number for AP e-cheques that is not the same as your payroll routing code.

Then, turn the e-cheque process on: APDE - AP Parameters definition – at the bottom third of the screen ‘ types’ - More than one type can be entered. We created a return that can be checked by more than one user in the Finance Department. Detail to APEP

APEP – AP e-cheque Parameters Set ‘Allow e-cheque payments’ to ‘Yes’ Enter the maximum amount your institution will allow for each e- cheque. Select the default advice method for notifying payees that their cheque has been processed. Compose your notification paragraphs. Terms and Conditions entered here will appear on the website when students/staff register their bank accounts to receive e-cheques.

advice set-up: Payee, date and bank account number will populate in the

Sample of advice The bank account number will automatically populate in the

Enter Bank Account Numbers You have options: Send out instructions to show participants how they can enter their own information using WebAdvisor Make forms available for participants to register to receive e- cheques then enter the data manually Get signed permission forms from employees that would allow you to copy information from the payroll account (you can’t assume they would use the same account)

Using WebAdvisor Add the link to your menus:

Add the Bank information:

How to find the correct Bank Account Number:

…or Manually BAIE – Bank Account Info Entry At the address resolution screen on the selected PERSON file, Colleague wants you to select an address to attach the bank information to. IMPORTANT: F9/Update will take you to a default bank information form and will work for any address on that file OR - Set up the Bank information for a specific address listed (for Vendors)

BAIE Canadian banks (or at least ours) do not need the Routing Number or Pre-Note. Select the Account Type and ‘ ’ or ‘paper’ advice. If bank info changes, add new info on the next line. This automatically makes the old info ‘Historical Bank Information’.

Everything is in place You have dealt with your bank to arrange User security, an AP routing code, a testing schedule Colleague is set up Payees Bank Accounts are in BAIE You are ready make payments without printing and distributing cheques!

e-cheque/paper cheque workflow

CKSE - Cheque Payment Selection The same as you would normally run paper cheques except: Allow e-cheque payment Select cheque Production type

Combined paper and e-cheque report

ECHP – e-cheque Production Export file name populates with current date embedded Posting Method options include: Report only Update from report Immediate update

e-cheque report

e-cheque/paper cheque workflow

Bank Reports

Financial Exports Record Deletion FERD

Lessons Learned If you have your Users entering their own Bank Account Numbers, be prepared for some level of inaccuracy Think about ways to make it easy for people to participate –Give them easy access to foolproof instructions –Publish times when someone is available in your office to assist them? –Help Line? There are Bank fees for this service –Find out what your bank charges –The better the buy in from your Users, the more cost effective it becomes

Any Questions ?