ACH file - structure and contents

An ACH file:

Is an accessible ASCII-format file.

Displays multiple electronic transactions.

Each transaction in an ACH file has either a credit or a debit value. Typically, a payroll ACH file has credit transactions to employees' checking or savings accounts and balancing debit transactions to your client's payroll accounts.

attention

The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) standardizes the structure and contents of ACH files. Thomson Reuters doesn’t have any control over it.

If you need detailed information on the structure or contents of ACH files, go to the ACH File Overview on the NACHA's website.

ACH file - Company/Batch header record

There is 1 Company/Batch Header Record for each batch file in an ACH file. A Company/Batch Header Record includes the following information (position numbers are listed in parentheses).

Company/Batch header record
Field Name	Contents (and position numbers)
Record Type Code	The numeral 5 . (01-01) 1 numeric.
Service Class Code	Either the numerals 200 , 220 , or 225 . (02-04) 3 numeric. Use 200 if it is marked as a balanced file as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen, because both debits and credits are in the file. Use 220 if there are only credits in the file. Use 225 if there are only debits in the file.
Company Name	The choice selected for Company Name , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (05-20) 16 numeric.
Company Discretionary Data	Blank or the information entered in Company discretionary data , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (21-40) 20 alphanumeric.
Company Identification	The choice selected for Company identification , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (41-50) 10 alphanumeric.
Standard Entry Class Code	PPD for payroll or non-commercial vendor transactions. CCD for all other transactions. Non-commercial vendors have social security numbers (xxx-xx-xxxx) and commercial vendors have EINs (xx-xxxxxxx). Therefore, if you enter an SSN for the vendor (or if the SSN/EIN field is left blank), the file displays PPD . If you enter an EIN for the vendor, the file will display CCD . (51-53) 3 alphanumeric.
Company Entry Description	PAYROLL , for a payroll deposit PRENOTE , for a prenote file TAX PAYMNT , for a tax deposit VENDOR PMT , for a commercial vendor deposit 1099 PMT , for a non-commercial vendor deposit CHILDSUPPT , for a child support payment deposit. (54-63) 10 alphanumeric.
Company Descriptive Date	Blank or the information you entered in Company Descriptive Date , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen). (64-69) 6 alphanumeric.
Effective Entry Date	The information you entered in Effective Date , as entered in the Process Direct Deposit grid. (70-75) 6 numeric YYMMDD.
Settlement Date	Blank. Completed by the bank that receives the ACH file. (76-78) 3 numeric.
Originator Status Code	The numeral 1 . (79-79) 1 numeric.
Originating DFI Identification	The 1st 8 digits of the 9-digit bank routing number associated with the bank selected in Originator Bank , as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (80-87) 8 numeric.
Batch Number	The unique number assigned to each Company/Batch Header Record in the ACH file. Batch numbers are assigned in sequential order, beginning with the numeral 1 . (88-94) 7 numeric.

ACH file - Company/Batch control record

Each Company/Batch Header Record included in an ACH file is paired with a Company/Batch Control Record (8 Record) with the following information (position numbers are listed in parentheses).

Company/Batch control record
Field name	Contents (and position numbers)
Record Type Code	The numeral 8 . (01-01) 1 numeric.
Service Class Code	Either the numerals 200 , 220 , or 225 . Should be the same as the one used in the Company/Batch Control Header Record that is paired with this Company/Batch Control Record. (02-04) 3 numeric.
Entry/Addenda Count	The number of entry detail and addenda records included in the Company/Batch Record. (05-10) 6 numeric.
Entry Hash	The sum of Receiving DFI Idenfitication in the entry detail and addenda records in the Company/Batch Record. If the number of digits in the total is larger than the field size enables, the number is automatically truncated. (11-20) 10 numeric.
Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount	The sum of all Amount fields in the debit records included in the Company/Batch Record. (21-32) 12 numeric.
Total Credit Entry Dollar Amount	The sum of all Amount fields in the credit records included in the Company/Batch Record. (33-44) 12 numeric.
Company Identification	The choice selected for Company identification , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (45-54) 10 alphanumeric.
Message Authentication Code	Blank. No longer used. (55-73) 19 numeric.
Reserved	This field is always left blank. (74-79) 6 numeric.
Originating DFI Identification	The 1st 8 digits of the 9-digit bank routing number associated with the bank selected for the Originator bank , as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (80-87) 8 numeric.
Batch Number	The unique number assigned to each Company/Batch Control Record in the ACH file. Batch numbers are assigned in sequential order, beginning with the numeral 1 . (88-94) 7 numeric.

ACH file - entry detail record

Each deposit included in the Company / Batch Header Record of an ACH file includes 1 Entry Detail Record with the following information (position numbers are listed in parentheses).

Entry detail record
Field name	Contents (and position numbers)
Record Type Code	The numeral 6 . (01-01) 1 numeric.
Transaction Code	Determined by the nature of the transaction and the contents of the Checking and Savings fields. (02-03) 2 numeric. The possible entries are: 22 , Checking Credit Live 23 , Checking Credit Prenote 24 , Checking Credit Child Support prenote 27 , Checking Debit Live 28 , Checking Debit Prenote 29 , Checking Debit Child Support prenote 32 , Savings Credit Live 33 , Savings Credit Prenote 34 , Savings Credit Child Support prenote 37 , Savings Debit Live 38 , Savings Debit Prenote 39 , Savings Debit Child Support prenote 52 , Loan Credit Live 53 , Loan Credit Prenote
Receiving DFI Identification	The 1st 8 digits of the 9-digit bank routing number associated with the bank selected in the Direct Deposit tab of the Employees or Vendors screens. (04-11) 8 numeric.
Check Digit	The last digit of the 9-digit bank routing number associated with the bank selected in the Direct Deposit tab of the Employees or Vendors screen. (12-12) 1 numeric.
DFI Account Number	The number entered in the Check # field as entered in the Direct Deposit tab of the Employees or Vendors screen. (13-29) 17 alphanumeric.
Amount	The amount calculated for this transaction for this account distribution. (30-39) 10 numeric.
Individual Identification Number	The choice selected for Individual identification , as entered in the Advanced setup, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. (40-54) 15 alphanumeric.
Individual Name (PPD) / Receiving or Company Name (CCD)	The employee or vendor/agent name associated with the transaction. (55-76) 22 alphanumeric.
Discretionary Data	Completed by the bank that receives the ACH file. (77-78) 2 alphanumeric.
Addenda Record Indicator	The numeral 0 if there is no addenda record or the numeral 1 if this is a child support payment or tax payment that requires an addenda record. (79-79) 1 numeric.
Trace Number	Based on the bank routing number associated with the bank selected for Originator bank , as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen. This is a 15-digit number in which: Positions 1-8 are the 1st 8 digits of the originator's routing number Positions 9-15 are numbers assigned in ascending order to each transaction within the Company / Batch Header Record (80-94) 15 numeric.

ACH file - File header Record

The File Header Record is included once at the beginning of each ACH file and includes the following information (position numbers listed in parentheses).

Company/Batch control record
Field name	Contents (and position numbers)
Record Type Code	The numeral 1 . (01-01) 1 numeric.
Priority Code	The numerals 01 . (02-03) 2 numeric.
Immediate Destination	A blank space, followed by the 9-digit routing number associated with the Immediate Destination field as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab) of the Setup , Bank Accounts screen. (04-13) 10 alphanumeric.
Immediate Origin	A blank space, followed by the option selected as the Immediate origin in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab) of the Setup , Bank Accounts screen. (14-23) 10 alphanumeric.
File Creation Date	The system date when the ACH file was created. (24-29) 6 numeric YYMMDD.
File Creation Time	The system time when the ACH file was created. (30-33) 4 numeric HHMM.
File ID Modifier	This field should start at 0 and increment by 1 (up to 9) and then go to letters starting at A through Z for each subsequent file created for a single system date. (34-34) 1 numeric 0-9 or uppercase alpha A-Z.
Record Size	The numerals 094 . (35-37) 3 numeric.
Blocking Factor	The numerals 10 . (38-39) 2 numeric.
Format Code	The numeral 1 . (40-40) 1 numeric.
Immediate Destination Name	The bank name associated with the bank selected in the Immediate destination bank field as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab) of the Bank Accounts screen. (41-63) 23 alphanumeric.
Immediate Origin Name	The choice selected for the Immediate Origin Name as entered in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab) of the Bank Accounts screen. (64-86) 23 alphanumeric.
Reference Code	Blank or the information entered in the Reference code field as entered in the Advanced Setup window, accessed from the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab) of the Bank Accounts screen. (87-94) 8 alphanumeric.

ACH file - file control record

The final record in an ACH file includes the following information (position numbers are listed in parentheses).

File control record
Field Name	Contents (and position numbers)
Record Type Code	The numeral 9 . (01-01) 1 numeric.
Batch Count	The total number of Company / Batch Header Records in the ACH file. (02-07) 6 numeric.
Block Count	The total number of records in the ACH file, rounded up to the nearest 10 then divided by 10. (08-13) 6 numeric.
Entry / Addenda Count	The total number of entry detail and tax addenda records in the ACH file. (14-21) 8 numeric.
Entry Hash	The sum of all Entry Hash fields in the ACH file. If the total contains more digits than the field size enables, the number is automatically truncated. (22-31) 10 numeric.
Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount in file	The sum of all Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount fields in the ACH file. This will be zero if the Balanced file checkboxes in the Direct Deposit tab (or the Client Direct Deposit tab, if applicable) of the Bank Accounts screen are not marked. (32-43) 12 numeric.
Total Credit Entry Dollar Amount in file	The sum of all Total Credit Entry Dollar fields in the ACH file. (44-55) 12 numeric.
Reserved	This field is always left blank. (56-94) 39 numeric.