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Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

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Summary

SEPA is an initiative introduced by the EU to standardise domestic and international electronic payments. It replaces a wide variety of clearing instructions with a standard set and removes legal, competitive and cross border barriers. This makes it easier and faster for you make and receive payments by direct debit or credit transfer.

Description

SEPA is an initiative introduced by the EU to standardise domestic and international electronic payments. It replaces a wide variety of clearing instructions with a standard set and removes legal, competitive and cross border barriers. This makes it easier and faster for you make and receive payments by direct debit or credit transfer.

From 1 February, you must start using SEPA compliant banking details.

Resolution

How does SEPA affect me?

Ireland's national payment system for credit transfers and direct debits ended on the 31st of January 2014 and was replaced by SEPA credit transfer scheme on the 1st of February 2014. This means that from 1 February, you must start using SEPA compliant bank details for all domestic direct debits and credit transfers. This also affects any electronic payments you make or receive to international companies based in the SEPA region, where the euro is the primary currency. TASBooks v5 is fully compliant with SEPA legislation.

Branch Identifier Code and International Bank Account Number

Under SEPA legislation, you must include Branch Identifier Code (BIC) and International Bank Account Number (IBAN) on all electronic payments. These replace the traditional bank sort codes and account numbers. If you’re not sure what your BIC and IBAN are, please contact your bank.

 

BIC

The BIC is used in place of the traditional sort code and is used to identify the bank or financial institution. It’s between 8 and 11 characters and includes:

  • The institution code – This is four letters and is unique to the financial institution.
  • The two letter country code for the location of the bank, for example IE.
  • Location code – This is two characters and identifies a location within the relevant country, for example a city, province or time zone.
  • Branch code – This is an optional three character code that identifies a subdivision of the bank or financial institution in the relevant country.
IBAN

The IBAN is used instead of the traditional bank account number to identify the bank account. It can be up to 34 characters and includes:

  • The two letter country code
  • Check digits – Two numbers that help to confirm the integrity of the basic bank account number.
  • The basic bank account number – This can be up to 30 characters. The number of characters is specific to each country and includes the bank or branch identification code.
Converting to BIC and IBAN

Once you've enabled SEPA, to save you time, you can easily convert your existing Irish bank accounts sort codes and account numbers to IBAN and BIC. This converts all Irish accounts whether the accounts belong to yourself or your customers and suppliers. When you create new customers and suppliers, if you don't have a IBAN and BIC, you can generate one from within their record. If the record already has a BIC and IBAN, no changes are made.

 

Check your software version

You can check the version of TASBooks in the Company Manager.

  1. Click Help, then click About.
  2. Check the version in the bottom left-hand corner is v6.02.
  3. If you're not using v6.00,click Check for Updates then follow the on-screen instructions.
To enable SEPA and convert all accounts to BIC and IBAN
  1. Click Central, then click General Company Information, then click Company Configuration.
  2. Click OK.
  3. In the SEPA Module, select the Enable support for SEPA check box.
  4. Click Convert Now.

    Tip: You can convert to BIC and IBAN references at any time, even if you've already ran the conversion before. This converts any Irish bank accounts that don't already have a BIC and IBAN. Any that do, remain unchanged.
  5. Click OK, then click OK.
To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual customer record
  1. Click Sales, then click Customers, then click Maintain Customers.
  2. Enter the customer's code, then click Miscellaneous.
  3. Click Customer Bank Account Details, then click Generate, then click Yes.
  4. Click Save, then click Yes,
  5. Click Cancel.
To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual supplier record
  1. Click Purchases, then click Suppliers then click Maintain Suppliers.
  2. Enter the supplier's code, then click the Settlement Disc. / ePayments / Notes tab.
  3. Supplier Bank Details, select Generate, then click Yes.
  4. Click Save, then click Yes.
  5. Click Cancel.
To generate a BIC and IBAN for an individual bank record
  1. Click Cash Book, then click Bank Accounts, then click Maintain Bank Accounts.
  2. Select the required account, then click Edit.
  3. In the Account Details section, click Generate, then click Yes.
  4. If required, in the ePayment Service, choose the relevant SEPA bank option.
  5. Click Configure, then enter the path where you want to save your ePayment files.
  6. If required, enter a file identifier and File extension.
  7. Click Save, then click Save.
To pay your suppliers using epayments
To record the payment
  1. Click Purchases, then click Payment on Account, then click Enter / Allocate Purchase Ledger Payments.
  2. Choose the required bank account.
  3. Click Code and select the supplier's code.
  4. From the method drop-down, choose ePayment and enter a reference, date and description as required.
  5. Enter the amount of the payment, then click Save, then click Yes.
  6. Choose the requires allocation method.
  7. Click OK, then click Yes.
To create the file to upload to your bank
  1. Click Cash Book, then click ePayments, then click View / Manage ePayments.
  2. Select the payment you want to send and click Send.

    Alternatively, to send all of the payments at once click Send All.
  3. To print a list of the payments you're sending, click Show Details, then click Print.
  4. Click OK, then enter the execution date.
  5. If prompted, enter a reference or Originator's Identification Number (OIN).
    If you're not sure what the OIN is, check with your bank.
  6. If you want to change the location of where the file is saved, click Browse, browse to the required location, then click Save.
  7. Click OK.

You've successfully created your ePayment file, which you can now upload to your banking software. If you need more information about how to do this, please contact your bank.

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