A NACHA file allows you to send electronic payments to vendors without having to write checks or use debit cards. QuickBooks allows the use of direct deposits through its payroll subscription service for your employees. To use QuickBooks for the ACH (Automated Clearing House) debits from your bank to a vendor's bank, it is necessary to use a third-party program called InLattice. InLattice software, integrated with QuickBooks, will let you use a NACHA file to make the ACH debits from your bank account.

Things You Will Need

  • QuickBooks software

  • Payroll subscription

  • InLattice subscription

Creating a NACHA file using QuickBooks

Install QuickBooks onto your computer. Follow the automated prompts to create the data necessary for your company file. Make sure to include all banking information for the account you wish to transfer funds to and from. The payroll subscription will allow you to use direct deposit directly through Intuit for employees and payroll payments.

Purchase a subscription to the InLattice system. (See Resources.) InLattice is third-party software that integrates with QuickBooks that will allow you to create the invoices through QuickBooks and upload them to the InLattice system to be sent to customers via email. The system will also allow you to process the payments from customers from any one of a number of payment gateways.

Vendors may upload their invoices to you using the same system, which will then post into your QuickBooks file.

Use the InLattice system to create the bank ACH or NACHA file. This will allow customers to pay direct online and vendors to receive payments the same way. All payments made and received can be integrated into QuickBooks easily.

Log in to your new InLattice account and open the login screen. You do so from the InLattice home page and logging in using the username and password you chose when you opened the account. You will need to enter some of the same information you put into QuickBooks, but it doesn't take long. Open your QuickBooks file in a separate window, and you are ready to start importing and exporting information between the two programs.

Import invoices and bills from QuickBooks to InLattice. On the left side of the InLattice menu are two buttons labeled "Export" and "Import." To import from QuickBooks into InLattice, click on the "Import" button and the InLattice software imports the invoices into the InLattice system. To export payments received or made through the InLattice system, simply use the "Export" button and choose the QuickBooks file to export to.

Tip

Your customers and vendors will received detailed instructions on how to log in to InLattice to either pay or receive payment directly. The cost of this service usually runs about $10 monthly for up to 50 payments. Use of the direct deposit payroll service through Intuit will allow you to use InLattice for strictly vendor and customer payments.