Deciding What To Map

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ACH Universal > Mapping > Deciding What To Map

Overview

Mapping defines fields from your data files in terms of their meaning to ACH Universal. This allows ACH Universal to conform to your data and not the other way around.

Types of Mappings

ACH Universal offers several mapping templates that provides retention of your mappings. Since data formats are unlikely to change from one import to the next, this can turn mapping into a one-time process. Changes are only required if the data format (order of the fields in the import file) changes.

As there are two kinds of imports, Ad Hoc and Profile-Based, there are two very different ways to map the data.

Commonly Used Fields

The minimum fields required for an ACH transaction are:

•	Amount (as represented by Amount, Amount_Reverse_Sign, or Debit/Credit)

•	Account Number (represented by ACH_Account)

•	ABA/Routing Number (represented by ACH_Routing_ABA)

In addition, most banks require a name be used for the receiving party, although it is not a requirement of the ACH rules. Map the name field as ACH_Name_Internal.

Other commonly used fields are:

•	ID number (employee ID, vendor ID) as ACH_ID_Internal

•	Email address as ACH_Email_Address (required for email notifications)

•	Account type as checking or savings as ACH_CheckingorSavings

There are several other fields available for your use for any data you wish to retain in ACH Universal. View the complete list in the Mapping Fields Glossary

Ad Hoc versus Profile-Based

In an Ad Hoc import, Amount, Account Number, and ABA/Routing Number are all contained in each entry. They can simply be mapped as described above.

In a Profile-Based import, there are two different mappings: one for the profile; and one for the transaction file.

The profile will usually contain the party's name, an ID number (employee ID or vendor ID), account number, and routing number. Map these fields as explained above.

The transaction file only needs to contain two fields: one representing amount (mapped as Amount, Amount_Reverse_Sign, or Debit/Credit); and one used as a lookup field to link the transaction to a specific profile. This lookup field is either the party's name or the ID number. Map the lookup field as either ACH_Name_Internal (Profile Lookup) or ACH_ID_Internal (Profile Lookup). See Changing Profile Lookup Field for information on selecting between a name and ID lookup.

See Mapping Transaction Data and Mapping Profiles for more information on each topic.

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