Intrepid BankData FAQs

BankData Support - FAQs

Q.	Do we need to install a PC based E-banking System for each bank to Operate Intrepid BankData?
A.	Absolutely not! Because the four `Original Trading Banks' of ANZ, BNZ, National and Westpac have a longstanding interbank arrangement called CrossBank Reporting you need only install one of these PC Based E-banking Systems to gain access to bank transaction data for your clients with any of these four Major Trading Banks.

Q.	How does the bank know I have authority to have access to the client's bank transaction history?
A.	Your clients simply sign an `Authority to Disclose Form'. This permits the client's bank to release the transaction data to you via their PC Based E-banking System.

Q.	What about clients who bank with ASB Bank?
A.	If you have a number of clients with ASB Bank then you can obtain ASB FastNet Office with which Intrepid BankData will link. This will enable you to access the bank transaction data for clients who bank with ASB.

Q.	If we commence using the Intrepid BankData System is there an alternative Data Supply Service we can use for ASB Bank or TSB (Taranaki Savings Bank) if we only have a few clients with these banks?
A.	Intrepid can supply a Bulk Data Supply Service for Accountants. Intrepid BankData Services costs as little as $4.50 +GST per bank account per month. There is a one-time establishment cost of $12.50 +GST per bank account.

Q.	How does Intrepid BankData Services work and is it secure?
A.	Your client will need to signs an authority for their transaction data to be collected by Intrepid via a PC Based E-banking. The data is supplied to you at the end of each month an encrypted e-mail attachment.

What documentation does my client need to sign to give me authority to download their transactions via a PC Based E-banking System?

Each of the four major trading banks has their own forms that are generally referred to as `An Authority to Disclose Information'. Copies of these forms are readily available from your Trading Bank. After your client has signed the form you lodge this with your bank which will arrange for this to be noted and passed to the bank of your client. Your bank will then load your client's bank account details to the daily transaction reporting on your PC Based E-banking System.

Q.	If I use a PC Based E-banking System to download my clients’ bank account transactions, how often do I need to complete the download to ensure that I obtain continuity for all client transactions for the year?
A.	While the Trading Banks usually store the transaction data for at least a month it is recommended that you download your clients transactions at least once a week.

Once I have completed the transaction download via PC Based E-banking how often do I need to import the transactions into the Intrepid BankData Software?

While the PC Based E-banking software will store the down loaded transaction data indefinitely it is recommended that you complete the importing and automatic sorting of the bulk transaction files into Intrepid BankData at the end of each month. This will mean you will always have transaction files available for each client to complete up-to-date processing. A regular monthly procedure is therefore recommended.

Q.	If my clients want to enter a code on their cheques and deposits when they write them out, do the banks charge extra for supplying cheque and deposit forms with analysis code boxes?
A.	All major trading banks provide cheque and deposit forms with analysis code boxes at no extra cost. As far as we are aware there is no extra charge for capturing the analysis codes when your clients' transactions are processed by the banking system. The codes used by your clients must however be numeric codes.

Should I get my clients to code their cheques and deposits with our accounting system ledger codes or should they code them with a payee code?

We recommend that the analysis codes boxes on cheque and deposit forms be used to identify the Payee on cheques and type of banking on Deposit Forms. Within Intrepid BankData you can establish a Payee code list of regular suppliers that your client writes cheques to. You simply supply a printout of this Payee Code List to your client who enters the code on their cheques as they write them out. You should have a Payee code for `Unknown Payee' for one-off payments for which you can printout and obtain details from your client via fax at the end of each month.

How difficult will it be to persuade our clients to write a Payee Code on their cheques and a Deposit Code on their deposits?

Many of your clients are perfectly capable of entering a short 2 – 3 digit Payee or Payer code on their cheques and deposits. This code is captured by the banking system. As this file is imported into Intrepid BankData the system will identify the code and locate the name of the payee or the type of deposit that they have made. If your clients are advised that coding their cheques and deposits will reduce the amount of time your staff spend processing their transactions and they will save on accountancy fees they are usually willing to code their cheques & deposits as they write these out. From the Intrepid BankData System you can print a Payee Code list in either code or name order that is small enough to be stapled inside the cover of a standard business size cheque book.

Q.	Once we have a Payee / er Code list for the regular Payees and Deposit types that my client has each month how can we ensure that my client has an updated list to work from as they write out their cheques & deposits.
A.	Intrepid BankData will produce for each client an updated Payee \ er Code list that can be faxed, e-mailed or posted to your client.

How does the pre-coding of cheques and deposits by our clients assist with automatic processing?

In Intrepid BankData the system was originally designed to use Payee Codes as a way of speeding up the key-punching of repetitive data. The Transaction Importing Function utilises this feature so the recurring payees on cheques can be linked to one or more ledger code with % splits where this is relevant. Deposits should be coded with a Payer code that also links to a recurring ledger code(s). In this manner up to 90% of your clients transactions can be identified with the Payee and Deposit coding system and will process automatically.

Q.	Currently we use an alternative bank transaction importing system that was designed for clients to enter our ledger code on their cheques. If a client is reluctant to change to coding their transactions with payee and deposit codes, can Intrepid BankData process their transactions pre-coded with ledger codes?
A.	Yes, Intrepid BankData can still process these transactions. You simply need to switch the processing option to Ledger Code mode and the codes inserted by your clients will be matched against the chart of ledger codes within the system.

Q.	Currently we use an alternative bank transaction importing system that was designed for clients to enter our ledger code on their cheques. If a client is reluctant to change to coding their transactions with payee and deposit codes, can Intrepid BankData process their transactions pre-coded with ledger codes?
A.	Yes, Intrepid BankData can still process these transactions. You simply need to switch the processing option to Ledger Code mode and the codes inserted by your clients will be matched against the chart of ledger codes within the system.

Q.	If a client does not wish to write an analysis codes on their cheques or deposit code on deposits is there still an advantage in using Intrepid BankData Software for processing these clients?
A.	Most definitely yes, because the banking system will still capture the cheque number, the date and the amount. Therefore, although you need to enter either the Payee or G\L code during processing you have still reduced your key-punching by as much as about 80 - 90%.

Q.	If some of our clients do not wish to code the cheques and deposits can we fax or e-mail them a printout of their transactions each month so they can write the details against each transaction?
A.	Yes, Intrepid BankData has provision for you to print an `Unmatched Transaction List' from the imported bank transactions. This can be simply faxed to your client who can write in the details and fax this back to you to complete the processing.

Q.	When we have processed our clients' bank account transactions via Intrepid BankData can these ledger reports or trial balance be exported to our general ledger system?
A.	Yes, Intrepid BankData is able to export to all major general ledger systems used by Accountants. There are options to export either the full Cashbook Ledger or just the Trial Balance. There are also options to export either each bank account separately or consolidated if there is more than one bank account being used by the client concerned.