Simply put batch payments allow you to select multiple invoices that you need to pay in Xero and pay them in the click of a few buttons. No typing in the amount you owe to the supplier in Internet Banking. You can also send remittance advices to your suppliers (by clicking 1 button!) telling them what invoices and when you paid them.
This saves hours of time as you don't need to transfer any information from the bill you are trying to pay into your internet banking. It also means you make less mistakes - ie you can't type in the wrong amount or select the wrong person to pay. And better still marks of these bills as being paid in Xero for you.
What do I need to be before I use batch payments
The 1st step is to ensure you have the supplier details correct in Xero. This is actually really important for a few reasons:
- You want to be able to track how much you are paying to each supplier by month/year
- You want to be able to use advanced features in Xero such as Smart Reports and email integration
- You need it by law for things like Taxable Payment Reports if you are in the building and construction industry.
To update the supplier details you can search by clicking / and typing in the supplier name. Click Edit and you can add a tonne of detail here. You need to have the Supplier full name, ABN and bank account number at a minimum but we recommend putting as much detail as possible here.
To put in the bank account details put the BSB first then the account number in the Bank Account Number field. No need to put spaces or hyphens in.
Once you have suppliers details correct (and the bills you need to pay in Xero) you can start paying your bills using batch payments.
Just head to the purchases (bills) page, select the Invoices you want to pay and click Batch Payment.
Select the date of payment (today or can be in the future), the bank account you are going to pay from and you are good to click the make payments button.
Next step is to email remittance advice. Then download the aba file.
The last step in the process is to upload the aba file into your internet banking to make the actual payment.
That seems like a lot of work
Once you have the supplier details updated this process will take 1/2 the time it would take you to find the supplier in your internet banking, manually type in the amount you need to pay and complete the process.
It's easy to select the wrong supplier or type in the wrong amount. If you have more than 1 bill to pay this is multiplied by each bill!
For those of you L Platers this is also the perfect thing you can delegate. You can have someone prepare the remittance advice and aba file in Xero and all you need to do is approve the aba file in your internet banking.
Batch Payments are another awesome way to #banadmin