Purpose of this document

Bank Accounts are setup in Ceres to record incoming (Agency Payments, Financial Donations) and outgoing (AP Checks, Wires, ACH Payments) cash entries.  A Bank Account must be setup for each account the AP checks are issued from and if you want to use the Bank Reconciliation functionality in Ceres.

This document explains how to setup a Bank Account in Ceres.

Ceres Object release 5.00.00 is required for the functionality described in this document

• Setting-up a Bank Account
  • Creating a G/L Account
  • Creating a Bank Account Posting Group
  • Creating a Bank Account
• Related Topics

Setting-up a Bank Account

The setup pre-requisites you may need to do before you create a Bank Account are:

• Create a new Cash G/L Account
• Create a new Bank Account Posting Group

Creating a G/L Account

Your new Bank Account must be associated with a G/L Account to show the current balance, etc. 

2. To create a new G/L Account, click on New from the Chart of Accounts List.  Refer to the Chart of Account

    Overview document for more information on how to setup a G/L Account.

3. Enter the unique G/L number in the No. field and the account Description in the Name field.

4. Update the Income/Balance, Account Category, Account Subcategory, Debit/Credit, Account Type,

    Reconciliation, and Direct Posting fields accordingly.  Examples provided in the screen shot below. 

Note:  Once you establish that the GL account and the Bank Account have the same beginning balance, you will want to make sure Direct Posting field is unchecked.

Creating a Bank Account Posting Group

This step aligns the Bank Account transactions, when posted, to the new G/L Account.

Code:  The unique number to define the Bank Account Posting Group.

G/L Bank Account No.:  The appropriate G/L Account that you want all posting from this Bank Account to go.  Typically, this is the GL Account you established above. 

Creating a Bank Account

Once the pre-requisites are complete, you can create your new Bank Account. 

2. To create a new Bank Account, click on New from the Bank Account List.

3. Update the fields on the General FastTab:

No.:  Enter a value to identify the Bank Account.  If a Bank Account number series has been setup hit enter and a value will automatically be assigned. Typically, this No. Series setup has been established during the initial implementation of Ceres, either as Auto Assigned or Manually entered. 

Name:  Enter a name that describes this account.

Address, City, State, Zip, and Country:  Enter address and country for this account.

Bank Branch No.:  Enter the branch number of this account

Bank Account No.:  Enter the account number of this account. This field is used for ACH – electronic payments and the Positive Pay export.  

Balance ($):  System maintained field which displays the balance of this account.  Click on this field to drill down to view the entries that make up this balance.

Our Contact Code:  Enter the user that is responsible for this account.  

Blocked:  Place a checkmark in this field to block this account.   If checked, you will not be able to choose this account on a journal line in the Account No. field or the Bal. Account No. field.

Bank Name Data Conversion:  Select a value from the list to specify your bank’s data format to enable conversion of bank data by a server provider when you import and export files.   Leave this field blank if you will not be using a service to import or export your bank files.

Bank Clearing Standard:  Specifies the format standard to be used in bank transfers if you use the Bank Clearing Code to identify you as the sender.  Leave this field blank if you will not be using a service to import or export your bank files.

Bank Clearing Code:  Specify the Code for bank clearing that is required according to the format standard you selected in the Bank Clearing Standard field.   Leave this field blank if you will not be using a service to import or export your bank files.

Check Date Format:  This field determines how the date will appear on the printed check Select from the list.

Blank - This is the default. The Date format will come from the current Windows regional settings.

MM DD YYYY - Month, Day, 4 digit Year.

DD MM YYYY - Day, Month, 4 digit Year.

YYYY MM DD - 4 digit Year, Month, Day.

Check Date Separator:  This field determines the character that separates the Month, Day, and Year of the date that prints on the check.  Select from the list.

(blank) – To designate that a blank space will be inserted between the Month, Day, and Year fields as MM DD YYYY on the check. This is the default.

- (dash) - To designate that a dash will be inserted between the Month, Day, and Year fields as MM-DD-YYYY on the check.

.  (period) – To designate that a period will be inserted between the Month, Day, and Year fields as MM.DD.YYYY on the check.

/ (forward slash) - To designate that a forward slash will be inserted between the Month, Day, and Year fields as MM/DD/YYYY on the check.

Last Date Modified:  System maintained field that designates that last date this Bank Account was modified.

Matching Tolerance Type:  Specify which tolerance the bank reconciliation automatic payment application function will apply the Amount Incl. Tolerance matched rule for this Bank Account.  Options are Percentage or Amount.

Match Tolerance Value:  Specify the tolerance value (percentage or amount) the bank reconciliation automatic payment application function will consider when matching transaction based on the Amount Incl. Tolerance matched rule. 

4. Update the fields on the Address & Contact FastTab: 

Address, City, State, Zip, and Country:  Transferred from what was entered on the General FastTab.  These fields can be updated on either FastTab.

Contact:  Enter the name of the person at the bank to contact regarding this account.

Phone No.:  Enter the phone number of the bank to call regarding this account.

Fax No.:  Enter the fax number of the bank to use when faxing documents.

E-Mail:  Enter the email address of the contact at the bank regarding this account.

Home Page:  Enter the website address of the bank.

Bank Code:  Enter the bank code of this account. 

Bank Communication:  Select the language that will be used on the printed check.  Options are English, French, or Spanish.

Last Check No.:  Enter the last check written or used on this account.   Ceres will update this number each time a new check is printed.

Last Remittance Advice No.:  Enter the last remittance advice No used on this account.   Ceres will automatically update this filed each time a new remittance advice is generated as part of the ACH – electronic payments function.

Last Statement No.:  Displays the number of the last bank statement that was reconciled for this account.   Ceres will update this filed each time a new bank reconciliation is created.

Last Payment Statement No.:  Displays the number of the last bank statement that was imported for this account.   Ceres will update this field each time a new bank reconciliation is imported.

Balance Last Statement:  Enter the ending balance of the last Bank Account Statement that was reconciled for this account.  Ceres will update this number every time a new bank reconciliation is posted.

Bank Acc. Posting Group:  Enter the Bank Account Posting Group for this account.  This defines the related G/L account for entries to post. Likely this will be the Bank Account Posting group that was established earlier in this procedure. 

Fund No.:  If applicable, enter the Fund No. or select it from the lookup list, for the default Fund that will be associated with transactions for this account.

Utilize for Self-Balancing:  Select the checkbox to utilize the Fund and/or Dimensions setup for this account to control if Due-from and Due-to entries are created.

Country Export Format:  Select the country specific file format that will be used for ACH – electronic payments.   The options are US, CA, MX, or Other.    

E-Pay Export File Name:  Specify a file name (no path) for ACH – electronic payment files.  It is important to include a number as part of the file name for Ceres to increment.

Last E-Pay File Creation No:  Specify the last e-pay file creation number. This number represents the direct deposit file that was created and submitted to the bank

Pos. Pay File Format Name:  This field is used for Positive Pay export.  This field can be selected from a drop-down list of available formats. The format specification is parameter driven that allows Ceres to create files in various formats.  See Related Documents section for more information. 

Pos. Pay Export File Path:  This field is used for Positive Pay export.  This field designates the file path on the local computer where the export files will be placed when created. It is suggested that you use a different export file path for each Bank Account you intend to create positive pay export files for.  See Related Documents section for more information. 

Last Pos. Pay Export File Name:  This field is used for Positive Pay export.  This field should be started with a valid file name to begin the process. After the initial setup value entered, Ceres will automatically increment the file name as each subsequent file is created. It is important to include a number as part of the file name for Ceres to increment.  See Related Documents section for more information. 

Transit No.:  This field is used for ACH – electronic payments and the Positive Pay export.  This is typically the banks ABA routing transit number.  See Related Documents section for more information.

Bank Statement Import Format:  This field is used to import a bank statement file for bank reconciliation purposes.   This field can be selected from a drop-down list of available formats. The format specification is parameter driven that allows Ceres to import files.

Payment Export Format:  This is used for ACH - electronic payments.  This field can be selected from a drop-down list of available formats.   The format specification is parameter driven that allows Ceres to create files in various formats.

Related Topics

1. AP Positive Pay
2. AP Check Processing
3. Bank Reconciliation
4. Bank Deposits
5. Chart of Accounts Overview