This post includes a variety of example NACHA files. Many of which were created using ACH Pro.
For each use case, we provide a brief introduction, then a technical overview of the file details and we finish with an example NACHA file.
Contents:
Payroll (aka Direct Deposit)
Payroll, often called direct deposit, is the most familiar ACH payment use case for most people. Direct deposits are also used extensively by US government agencies to send benefit payments (for example, tax refunds and Social Security payments).
Technical: Payroll files typically contain a single batch. Within that batch there is typically one debit entry (the company's account) and many credit entries (the employee accounts). Because payroll batches are sent to consumer accounts, they should use the 'PPD' standard entry class code (SEC code) and, as with all ACH batches, an informative company entry description should be included, typically 'PAYROLL'.
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 PPDPAYROLL 230120 1026009590000001
6270260095931234 0000533507 Bob's Manufacturing 0026009590000001
62202600959311 0000125413emp2 Sally Reynolds 0026009590000002
62202600959321 0000168724emp1 Bob Smith 0026009590000003
62202600959331 0000119684emp3 Joe Edwards 0026009590000004
62202600959341 0000119684emp4 Jim Reynolds 0026009590000005
82000000050013004795000000533507000000533505881234567 026009590000001
9000001000001000000050013004795000000533507000000533505
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999Consumer Billing
Most people are also familiar with consumer billing although they may not know that ACH is the payment rail used to facilitate it. Common examples are utility and other subscription payments. In general, if you're asked for a bank account number to pay a bill, this is how they are processed.
Technical: Consumer billing files may contain multiple batches and some originators use different batches for different products or customer segments. These batches are typically the inverse of a payroll batch, having one credit entry (the billing company's account) and many debit entries (the customer accounts). Because consumer billing batches are sent to consumer accounts, they should use the 'PPD' standard entry class code (SEC code) and, as with all ACH batches, an informative company entry description should be included that describes the payment as much as possible (only 10 characters allowed). If you want to provide additional details to recipients, you can use an addenda line for each entry (80 characters).
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 PPDBILL 230131 1026009590000001
62702600959311 0000005999rb1 Rob Burton 0026009590000001
62702600959321 0000004999dh1 Doug Henley 0026009590000002
62702600959331 0000005999sm1 Susie McKay 0026009590000003
62702600959341 0000001998bd1 Bill Dobs 0026009590000004
6220260095931234 0000018996 Bob's Manufacturing 0026009590000005
82000000050013004795000000018995000000018996881234567 026009590000001
9000001000001000000050013004795000000018995000000018996
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable
Corporate payables and receivables are a growing use case for ACH. Instead of using checks or expensive wire payments, businesses can settle corporate accounts using ACH.
Technical: AP/AR files may contain multiple batches although this isn't usually the case. A typical AP batch contains one debit entry (corporate account) and one or more credit entries (vendor accounts). A typical AR batch contains one credit entry (corporate account) and one or more debit entries (customer accounts). Because these batches only contain business accounts, they should use the 'CCD' SEC code and, as with all ACH batches, an informative company entry description should be included that describes the payment as much as possible (only 10 characters allowed). If you want to provide additional details to recipients, you can use an addenda line for each entry (80 characters).
Accounts Payable example:
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 CCDPAYMENT 230120 1026009590000001
6270260095931234 0000881644 Bob's Manufacturing 0026009590000001
62202600959311 0000560075 Metal Makers LLC 0026009590000002
62202600959321 0000321569 CNC Today Corp 0026009590000003
82000000030007802877000000881644000000881644881234567 026009590000001
9000001000001000000030007802877000000881644000000881644
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999Accounts Receivable example:
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 CCDBILL 230131 1026009590000001
6220260095931234 0000685100 Bob's Manufacturing 0026009590000001
62702600959311 0000685100 Best Builders 0026009590000002
82000000020005201918000000685100000000685100881234567 026009590000001
9000001000001000000020005201918000000685100000000685100
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999CCD+ / PPD+
While some people believe that CCD+ and PPD+ are special SEC codes, they are really just nicknames for regular CCD or PPD entries which contain addenda records (hence the '+'). A common use case for a CCD+ entry is a quarterly payroll tax payment that includes remittance information. A common use case for a PPD+ entry is a healthcare bill payment that debits a consumer account and includes remittance information.
Technical: At least one entry has an associated addenda record.
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 CCDPAYMENT 230120 1026009590000001
6270260095931234 0000154999 Bob's Manufacturing 1026009590000001
705Payment for Invoice 20230113001 00010000001
62202600959311 0000154999 Metal Makers LLC 1026009590000002
705Payment for Invoice 20230113001 00010000002
82000000040005201918000000154999000000154999881234567 026009590000001
9000001000001000000040005201918000000154999000000154999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999Micro Transactions
Micro transactions are commonly used by services to confirm ownership (or at least access) to a bank account before it can be used for payments/payouts. They are typically payments of less than $1 to a user's account which the user must find on their statement/online banking in order to enter the correct amounts in the service providers system. Often times an offsetting debit is also sent to pull the money back out of the account (the example below demonstrates this).
Technical: Micro transaction files may contain multiple batches, often times two batches are used: one for credits and one for debits. The credits batch typically has one debit entry (service provider's account) and one or two credit entries per user account. The debits batch mirrors the credits batch and has one credit entry (service provider's account) and one or two debit entries that reverse the credits to each user account. Because these batches are sent to consumer accounts, they should use the 'PPD' standard entry class code (SEC code) and, as with all ACH batches, an informative company entry description should be included that describes the payment as much as possible (only 10 characters allowed).
101 026009593 02600959323011300000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Central Utility 884563214 PPDREFUND 230116 1026009590000001
62702600959311 0000000013 Rob Burton 0026009590000001
62702600959321 0000000024 Doug Henley 0026009590000002
62702600959331 0000000009 Susie McKay 0026009590000003
62702600959341 0000000011 Bill Dobs 0026009590000004
6220260095939876 0000000056 Central Utility 0026009590000005
82000000050013004795000000000057000000000056884563214 026009590000001
5200Central Utility 884563214 PPDVERIFY 230116 1026009590000002
6270260095939876 0000000056 Central Utility 0026009590000001
62202600959311 0000000013 Rob Burton 0026009590000002
62202600959321 0000000024 Doug Henley 0026009590000003
62202600959331 0000000009 Susie McKay 0026009590000004
62202600959341 0000000011 Bill Dobs 0026009590000005
82000000050013004795000000000056000000000057884563214 026009590000002
9000002000002000000100026009590000000000113000000000113
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999CTX (Lots of remittance data)
Our final example is CTX (Corporate Trade Exchange). While less commonly used than CCD, CTX offers the originator the ability to send significant amounts of remittance data to the recipient. The example below is the only file contained in this post that wasn't created with ACH Pro (but will be supported in the future).
Technical: Unlike CCD which only supports one addenda record per entry, CTX supports up to 9,999 addenda records per entry, each containing up to 80 characters. The remittance data should be either an ANSI ASC X12 transaction set or UN/EDIFACT transaction. Although, in our experience, you can send whatever you want as long as the recipient is aware of the format.
101 026009593 02600959323011400000094101Bank Of America Bank Of America
5200Bob's Manufactur 881234567 CCDPAYMENT 230131 1026009590000001
6270260095931234 0001206389 0000Bob's Manufactur 0026009590000001
62202600959311 0001206389 0017Business Partner 1026009590000002
705UNB+UNOA:1+US::US+50138::THEM+140531:0305+001934++ORDERS' 00010000002
705UNH+1+ORDERS:91:2:UN' 00020000002
705BGM+220+A761902+4:20140530:102+9' 00030000002
705RFF+CT:EUA01349' 00040000002
705RFF+AAV::C' 00050000002
705TXT+THIS IS WHAT AN EDI MESSAGE WOULD LOOK LIKE... ' 00060000002
705NAD+BY++OUR NAME PLC::::+++++EW4 34J' 00070000002
705CTA+PD' 00080000002
705COM+01752 253939:TE+01752 253939:FX+0:TL' 00090000002
705CTA+OC+:A.SURNAME' 00100000002
705COM+2407:EX' 00110000002
705CTA+TI+:B.BROWN' 00120000002
705COM+0:EX' 00130000002
705CTA+SU' 00140000002
705COM+0161 4297476:TE+01752 670633:FX' 00150000002
705UNT+15+1' 00160000002
705UNZ+1+001934' 00170000002
82000000190005201918000001206389000001206389881234567 026009590000001
9000001000003000000190005201918000001206389000001206389
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999Wrapping Up Common NACHA File Examples
Hopefully you found the examples above helpful. If you want to create ACH files without having to worry about the minutia we covered above, you should use an ACH creation tool like ACH Pro.
ACH Pro offers a full suite of tools to help you manage recipients, companies and banks. It also gives you the ability to create templates and import CSV files so you can easily reuse payment information. And if you need a custom solution or want to integrate it into your existing processes, you can use its full suite of APIs.