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Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

SEPA is an initiative introduced by the EU to standardise domestic and international electronic payments. It replaces a wide variety of clearing instructions with a standard set and removes legal, competitive and cross border barriers. This makes it easier and faster for you make and receive payments by direct debit or credit transfer.

From 1 February, you must start using SEPA compliant banking details.


How does SEPA affect me?

Ireland's national payment system for credit transfers and direct debits ended on the 31st of January 2014 and was replaced by SEPA credit transfer scheme on the 1st of February 2014. This means that from 1 February, you must start using SEPA compliant bank details for all domestic direct debits and credit transfers. This also affects any electronic payments you make or receive to international companies based in the SEPA region, where the euro is the primary currency. TASBooks v5 is fully compliant with SEPA legislation.

Branch Identifier Code and International Bank Account Number

Under SEPA legislation, you must include Branch Identifier Code (BIC) and International Bank Account Number (IBAN) on all electronic payments. These replace the traditional bank sort codes and account numbers. If you’re not sure what your BIC and IBAN are, please contact your bank.

BIC

The BIC is used in place of the traditional sort code and is used to identify the bank or financial institution. It’s between 8 and 11 characters and includes:

  • The institution code – This is four letters and is unique to the financial institution.
  • The two letter country code for the location of the bank, for example IE.
  • Location code – This is two characters and identifies a location within the relevant country, for example a city, province or time zone.
  • Branch code – This is an optional three character code that identifies a subdivision of the bank or financial institution in the relevant country.

IBAN

The IBAN is used instead of the traditional bank account number to identify the bank account. It can be up to 34 characters and includes:

  • The two letter country code
  • Check digits – Two numbers that help to confirm the integrity of the basic bank account number.
  • The basic bank account number – This can be up to 30 characters. The number of characters is specific to each country and includes the bank or branch identification code.

Converting to BIC and IBAN

Once you've enabled SEPA, to save you time, you can easily convert your existing Irish bank accounts sort codes and account numbers to IBAN and BIC. This converts all Irish accounts whether the accounts belong to yourself or your customers and suppliers. When you create new customers and suppliers, if you don't have a IBAN and BIC, you can generate one from within their record. If the record already has a BIC and IBAN, no changes are made.

 

The following steps contain everything you need to help you set up SEPA in TASBooks and convert your BIC and IBAN references.

Check your software version

  1. Company Manager > Help > About.
  2. Check the version in the bottom left-hand corner is v5.00 > OK.
  3. If you're not using v5.00 > close your TASBooks company.
  4. Company Manager > Help > Check for Updates > follow the on-screen instructions.

To enable SEPA and convert all accounts to BIC and IBAN

  1. Central > General Company Information > Company Configuration (option 011).
  2. OK > SEPA Module > select the Enable support for SEPA check box.
  3. IBAN & BIC Conversion > Convert Now.

    Tip: You can convert to BIC and IBAN references at any time, even if you've already ran the conversion before. This converts any Irish bank accounts that don't already have a BIC and IBAN. Any that do, remain unchanged.
  4. OK > OK.

To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual customer record

  1. Sales > Customers > Maintain Customers (option 211).
  2. Enter the customer's code > Miscellaneous.
  3. Customer Bank Account Details > Generate > Yes.
  4. Save > Yes > Cancel.

To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual supplier record

  1. Purchases > Suppliers > Maintain Suppliers (option 311).
  2. Enter the supplier's code > Settlement Disc. / ePayments / Notes.
  3. Supplier Bank Details > Generate > Yes.
  4. Save > Yes > Cancel.

To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual bank record

  1. Cash Book > Bank Accounts > Maintain Bank Accounts (option 411).
  2. OK > select the required account > Edit.
  3. Account Details > Generate > Yes.
  4. If you use ePayments > ePayment Service > choose the relevant SEPA bank option.
  5. Configure > enter the path where you want to save your ePayment files.
  6. If required, enter a file identifier > File extension > enter the file type, for example CSV or for a text file, enter TXT.
  7. Save > Save.

To pay your suppliers using epayments

To record the payment

  1. Purchases > Payment on Account > Enter / Allocate Purchase Ledger Payments (option 351).
  2. Bank > choose the required bank account > Code > enter the supplier's code.
  3. Method > choose ePayment > enter a reference, date and description as required.
  4. Amount > enter the amount of the payment > Save > Yes.
  5. Choose the requires allocation method > OK > Yes.

To create the file to upload to your bank

  1. Cash Book > ePayments > View / Manage ePayments (option 451).
  2. Select the payment you want to send > Send. Alternatively, to send all of the payments at once > Send All.

    Tip: If you want to send some payments but not others. Select the payments you don't want to include in turn > Hold > then to send the remaining payments > Send All. To include any that have previously been on hold, select them in turn > Release.
  3. To print a list of the payments you're sending > Show Details > Print > File > Print.
  4. OK > enter the execution date.
  5. Depending on your bank software, if prompted, enter a reference or Originator's Identification Number (OIN).

    Tip: If you're not sure what the OIN is, check with your bank.
  6. If you want to change the location of where the file is saved > Browse > browse to the required location > Save.
  7. Click OK.

You've successfully created your ePayment file, which you can now upload to your banking software. If you need more information about how to do this, please contact your bank.