Adding Direct Deposit to your Sage MAS 90/200 System

Direct deposit is the safe, easy, and cost-effective way for your employees to have their paychecks deposited directly into their checking or savings accounts. Add Direct Deposit to your Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 system and you can improve employee satisfaction while you save time, money, and trees by going paperless. You also save the cost of printing, storing, and securing your preprinted check forms. In this article, we will give you a feel for what is involved in setting up direct deposit and describe some of the features of the Direct Deposit module.

Getting Started With Direct Deposit
As with any other Sage ERP MAS 90 module, you start by activating a series of setup options. You will need to collect employeeís bank routing and transit information. The ACH (Automated Clearing House) file format also will need to be configured. You will work with your financial institution to ensure you meet their specific requirements for the layout of the electronic file.

Next you will send a sample file to your bank with zero dollars filled in for each employee. This is called a pre-note. The pre-note file allows your bank to test the information in the file to ensure that it is in the correct format and that the employeesí bank information is correct before the first actual direct deposit payroll. Your bank will notify you of the status of your pre-note. Once you receive pre-note approval from the bank, you will be ready to run your first direct deposit payroll.

Flexible Setup Options
Payroll Setup Options includes a check box Require Direct Deposit to activate the module. In Payroll Setup Options you also will choose how direct deposit information will be transmitted to the bank. Sage has an interface, or you can use a third-party interface application.

Other setup options include allowing partial allocations of check amounts, printing of direct deposit stubs, starting stub number, and setting the path where you want to save your direct deposit (ACH) files.

In Employee Maintenance there is a check box to indicate a direct deposit employee. A direct deposit button provides access to a new screen where you enter the bank account and distribution information for the employee. The module supports distribution of an employeeís pay, in a fixed amount or percentage, to various accounts. For example, the employee could choose to allocate a fixed amount of $50 to savings and 100 percent of the remainder of the paycheck to checking.

Track Pre-Note Process
The Direct Deposit module allows you to track the pre-note process of sending the direct deposit file to and receiving the approval from your financial institution. This is accomplished through the ability to send and update a Pre-Note Selection register and a Pre-Note Approval register. The pre-note process will take about 10 days, and needs to be run as new employees are added.

Direct Deposit In Operation
To run the direct deposit payroll, you process your payroll and update the check register, then generate the direct deposit (ACH) file as scheduled in advance of payday. A Direct Deposit Register records the batches sent to the bank and posts them to the Bank Reconciliation module as a lump sum Adjustment.

Give us a call with your questions, or to purchase the Direct Deposit module.