Overview

Batchly generates banking files from selected authorised Xero bills for supported payment services in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. You download the file, upload it to your bank and authorise the payments there.

Batchly prepares the payment file and records payments in Xero when you complete Mark as Paid. Your bank transfers the money.

Supported banking files

Support is specific to these formats and banking services. An account appearing in Xero does not mean its bank accepts a Batchly payment file.

Before you begin

• Connect your organisation to Xero and sync the latest bills and supplier details.
• Have an appropriate pay-from bank account and correct supplier banking details recorded in Xero.
• Select authorised bills with an outstanding balance and resolve any blocking warnings.
• Confirm that your bank supports the relevant import format and that you can authorise payments.

Step 1: Select your bills

1. Open Bills and use the available filters to find the bills you want to pay.
2. Select the bills and review the selected amounts, bill count and supplier readiness warnings.
3. Click Process Batch.

Step 2: Choose the account, date and amounts

1. In Pay From, choose the bank account you intend to pay from and the Payment Date.
2. Check that the account is appropriate for the supported format and payment currency, then click Continue.
3. If partial bill payments are available, review the selected settlement amounts at the payment-amount review step.

A selected settlement amount includes credits and cash combined. The banking file contains only the cash portion. An entirely credit-only run does not need a banking file.

The payment date is included in the file. Actual bank processing depends on your bank’s cut-off times, approval requirements and processing schedule.

Step 3: Review the export for your region

Check the pay-from account, payment date, included bills, cash total and any validation messages. Payment grouping and reference rules vary by format; the bank payment count may differ from the bill count.

Australia: ABA

• File Name: optionally change the download name, keeping the .aba extension.
• Payment batch description (optional): up to 12 characters to help identify the batch in your bank import.
• DE User ID (optional): enter the correct six-digit DE User ID/APCA ID if your account uses one.
• Include self-balancing transaction: available for Commonwealth Bank accounts. Enable it only when required by your account’s CommBiz configuration.
• Fallback reference shown to suppliers (optional): up to 18 characters, used when both the supplier’s Xero payment reference and contact account/customer reference are blank.
• Click Download ABA & Continue.

Batchly cannot retrieve the DE User ID or self-balancing setting from Xero. Keep them aligned with your bank setup. ABA payments are grouped by destination BSB and account number.

New Zealand: ASB MT9 or BNZ AFI

Batchly selects the format from the pay-from account’s bank code: ASB accounts use MT9 and BNZ accounts use AFI.

• Check that the selected pay-from account is the ASB or BNZ account you intend to use.
• Review the payment summary and File Name. Keep the .mt9 or .afi extension.
• For ASB, click Download MT9 & Continue.
• For BNZ, click Download AFI & Continue.

Other NZ pay-from banks are not currently supported by this export. The Australian DE User ID, self-balancing and ABA reference settings do not apply to NZ files.

United Kingdom: NatWest/RBS Bankline

The export screen is labelled Export NatWest Bankline file. Use this format with the supported NatWest/RBS Bankline service.

• Review the selected GBP pay-from account, sort code, account number and total debit.
• Check the supplier summary and resolve any blocking validation errors.
• Click Download Bankline file.

Use the downloaded file with Bankline’s payment import. Do not assume that it is compatible with another UK bank or a different payment import format.

Step 4: Complete any credit allocation

If your run includes new credit allocations, complete Apply Credits in Xero when prompted and check that it succeeds before paying the reduced cash amount through your bank.

Step 5: Upload and authorise with your bank

1. Sign in to the banking service for your selected pay-from account.
2. Choose its payment-file import or bulk-payment option and upload the downloaded file.
3. Review the imported destination accounts, payment date, references and total against Batchly.
4. Complete the bank’s approval and authorisation steps, then check the payment outcome.

An uploaded or accepted file is not necessarily a completed payment. If the outcome is unclear, check for pending or processed payments before uploading again. Renaming a file does not prevent duplicate payments.

What happens next

After your bank successfully processes the cash payments, return to Batchly to:

• Complete Mark as Paid to record the payments in Xero.
• Send remittance advice emails, or skip that step.
• Export the batch report for your records.

Batchly relies on your confirmation of bank processing. If some payments are rejected, resolve the difference before recording the run as paid.

Need help?

Review any error shown in Batchly or your bank. Correct supplier or pay-from banking details in Xero and sync Batchly where needed. For format or import problems, contact Batchly support with the bank name, file format, batch date and exact error message.