Generating a Payment File

Owned by Mark Holland (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jul 25, 2024 by Ryan Sear
6 min read

You can create the payment file directly from RSM InTime. The payment file can be in the format that your bank require, for information about the bacs files we have go to: what payment (BACs) formats are available?

We can also scope your BACs file requirements if the format doesn't exist, please contact support. 


Generating a Payment File#How do I generate a payment file?

Generating a Payment File#Why can't I pay an invoice?

Generating a Payment File#Payment generation reporting

How do I generate a payment file? 

  1. From the menu, select Pay > Generate Payments.

  2. Use the filters to search for the invoices that you want to create a payment file for, and click Search.
    Note: By default, the option to 'Only show invoices due for payment within 0 days' is selected. This can be de-selected or the number of days amended.
    • An invoice is 'due' based on the payment terms of the contractors or provider. For example, if the terms are 14 days from the invoice date, that is when it will become due for payment and appear in this list.
    • If the terms are "As Agreed" then it becomes available for payment immediately.
    • For non-self bill invoices, the due date is set when the invoice is accepted.
    • If you un-tick this box then all unpaid invoices will be available.

    If you have clicked through to this screen from the Purchase Invoices For Payment Dashboard icon, the filters will be pre-selected to show all items requiring payment. Normally you will not want to generate a batch from these results as they will include All currencies and you will only be able to create CSV format file.  Select a currency and Search again to generate the batches. 



  3. The invoices are displayed below the search criteria. Select the invoice that you want to generate a payment file for:



    Note: If there is a credit note against an invoice, then the amount due for payment will be the difference between the credit note and invoice amount. For example, if the invoice amount is £2,000, and the credit note is for £1,000, then the amount due is £1,000. If the Credit value is greater than the Payments for a supplier, the credit can not be included in the batch. You can also choose to withhold all the Payments with a configuration option - please contact support for assistance.

  4. If applicable, choose the File format you wish to use. This should be set up so that the appropriate file formats are available for the currency that you are paying and can be configured in Configuration> Payment Methods.

  5. In the Processing Date field, select the date that the BACS payment will be processed. This can not be a weekend day or in the past.

  6. The Payment Date will automatically populate with the expected payment date. This is for information only it is shown on the Payment batch and the remittances but is not used in the Payment file. Typically, the money transfer occurs the next working day after the Processing date however if your bank process differs you can configure the number of days between the processing date and the payment date in Configuration> Payment Methods > Payment Working Days. Commonly a "3 day cycle" is used for BACS processing, in this scenario you submit the file to the bank on day 1, the file is processed on day 2 (the processing date) and the payment is received on day 3. As an example to pay your staff on Friday you would select Thursday as the Processing date and submit the file to the bank on the Wednesday.

  7. From the Pay from this account list, select the account that the payment will be made from. Your agency may have several accounts set up. For example, you may have a different account set up to make payments nationally and internationally.

  8. If the BACS format that you are using requires an SUN, select it from the SUN (Service User Number) list.

  9. In the Description field, enter a description for the BACS payment.

  10. Click Create Payment File; then confirm you want to pay the invoices.  

  11. A Paying Progress screen is displayed informing you that the payment process completed successfully:



  12. The selected invoices will be marked as paid at this point. By default the paid date of the invoices will be the date you created the batch. 


  13. Click Download to download the BACS file and either send it to the bank or add it to your BACS payment system.

  14. If you want to send out remittance advice to the payees, select View where you will now be able to select the required payees and click Send Selected Remittances.
    Recipients who are set up to receive emails will receive their remittance by email.

  15. Please note that if you wish to filter by specific individual payments (for example by currency) into a CSV, the Payment File must be generated first.  You can export to CSV prior to the Payment File being generated but this will export all entries presented on the screen regardless of the selection made.

Why can't I pay an invoice? 

There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to generate a payment file against an invoice, or why the invoice does not show up in the generate payment list.

  • The invoice is not due for payment within the timeframe specified in the  'Only show invoices due for payment within 0 days' field, and this constraint is selected.
  • The filter criteria set in the Search fields are excluding the invoice. For example, if the search crtieria is set to show invoice in GBP currency and your invoice is in USD, then the invoice will not be displayed in the list.
  • The invoice is not set for BACS payment.

Payment generation reporting 

You can build and save a payment generation structure within the payment screen. This works the same way as report building within the margin report. This will allow you to set parameters that are always used to run a selection of purchase invoices and credits for payment generation. This is useful if you have multiple separate payment generations to run, due to differing bank accounts, currencies, or financial tags. While this option will be available for everyone, you can choose to make it mandatory to run a report before payment generation. If you would like to have the mandatory option applied, please speak to support to set this against your agency. 

How to set the parameters

Firstly, select the filters you wish to apply to the report, you can use other tabs such as references and financials.

Once you have selected all your filters, go to the saved reports tab, and enter a name for the report. Using the tick boxes, you can choose if this report can be viewed by other users. Click create new report. This will save the report and it will appear in the list of reports. To view the results, click search. 

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