Today we bring you two issues we are seeing crop up frequently in trust accounting forums and discussions relating to bulk Bpay and overseas transactions. We see clients discussing the limitations of their trust accounting software when it comes to processing Bpay in bulk and paying into overseas bank accounts.

We set the record straight.

Bulk Bpay

We’ll only say this once.

Choosing a banking institution that supports bulk Bpay will change your life.

True story.

Bulk Bpay is one of the best things to happen to online banking.

And there are five reasons why.

Top 5 benefits of bulk Bpay

  1. It eliminates the need to write cheques (hello 2020)
  2. It syncs automatically with your trust accounting software
  3. By a simple click of a button, you can pay more than 500 bills at once
  4. Less room for human error
  5. Same-day processing

So how does it work?

Bulk Bpay works by simply importing a file from your software to your banking platform. The catch? Your bank needs to support bulk Bpay otherwise your bank will not sync with your software.

We have seen several customers query the use of their online software systems and their inability to process Bpay in bulk. Unfortunately, it is not caused due to a glitch in their software. It is simply that their bank does not support this function.

The answer?

If bulk Bpay is on your agenda, you’ll need to change banks to one that supports it.

The following six banks support Bulk BPay:

  1. Macquarie Active Banking
  2. Westpac Payments Plus
  3. Commbiz
  4. ANZ Corporate
  5. NAB Connect
  6. BankWest

So in summary, the issues with bulk Bpay are likely not caused by your trust accounting software, but due to your bank.

Overseas Transactions

We see complaints from clients about the inability to pay to overseas bank accounts. For example, if an owner wants their funds deposited to an overseas account.

Trust accounting software is written for Australian Banking formats. This includes the 6 digit BSB and up to 9 digits for the account number.

There are two issues here:

  1. Trust accounts are not set up to pay by telegraphic transfer (which is what is used to pay overseas funds).
  2. Best practice is for clients to have an Australian bank account to deposit funds for their property.

Without an Australian bank account, you will need to manually process the account and this can lead to discrepancies = nightmare.

We hope this helps to clear up these two banking and integration issues.

Jane Morgan is the Director of End of Month Angels, a consultancy firm specialising in Trust Accounting. Jane knows the legislative requirements of running a successful Real Estate office through her 23 years’ industry experience. Don’t trust just anyone with your trust accounting. Book an appointment with an End of Month Angel today.