Merge payments

The ‘Merge payments’ button is found under Vendor/Reports/Payment proposal.   This function gives users the option of merging two or more payments together, saving administrative time and costs. This is particularly useful if the company has several payments due to the same Vendor.

Set up

Before using the ‘Merge payments’ button, users must set up their ‘File formats for methods of payment’ under Vendor/Maintenance/File formats for methods of payment.  This allows the user to define the ‘grouping’ for each payment method, as shown in the screenshot below. NB: The grouping can always be overridden in the payment journal later, if needed.

Grouping options
The grouping options are as follows, as shown in the screenshot above:

Invoice: This is the default setting and means that there will be just one payment per invoice. This grouping option does not merge payments.
Date: Merges all vendor invoices that have the same payment date.
Week: Merges all vendor invoices with a payment date that falls within the same week.
All: Merges all vendor invoices, no matter when their payment date falls.

Requirements
The system requires that the following information is identical for each payment to be merged:

– Bank account number (Domestic payments)
– IBAN and SWIFT (Foreign payments)
– PaymentId + credit card account for the card types (+71, +73, +75 and +04)
– Vendor number
– Currency

Merging the payments

The screenshot below shows an example of a payment journal containing several payments due to various different vendors.

(Click on the screenshot to enlarge)

Merge payments button

Merge payments is activated when the ‘Merge payments’ button is clicked. Uniconta will then try to merge payments according to the set up and requirements described above. We recommend sorting the list to exclude the payments that the user does not wish to pay yet. This can be done by entering a due date range that excludes them or by using the other available filters. Uniconta will then check all the payments listed before they are merged. Payments that Uniconta identifies with possible errors will be placed in an ‘Excluded’ group – read more about the ‘Excluded’ group in the sections below.

A dialogue box will then appear as shown below.

The ‘Grouping’ option will automatically show the selection made in the ‘File formats for methods of payment’ as described above.  This can be edited here if required.
The payments can now be merged, one payment method at a time.

Credit notes etc.
Credit notes or other transactions with negative amounts can also be selected and included in the merging of payments. They will thereby subtracted from the total amount paid.

Columns locked for editing
Some columns may be locked for editing when merging payments. This includes: the Payment Date, Payment Format, Payment Methods, Payment Guide Code, and SWIFT columns.

Message to recipients
All invoices included in the payment will receive the message included in the payment file.  Note that some bank formats have limited space, so not all invoice numbers may fit.

Toolbar buttons after merging payments: 

‘Expand All’ and ‘Collapse All’ buttons

(Click on screenshot to enlarge)

The ‘Expand All’ and ‘Collapse All’ buttons are activated once the merge payments button has been implemented.  These buttons allow users to expand and collapse all of the groups created.

‘Unmerge payments’ button

Users can unmerge payments by clicking on the ‘Unmerge payments’ button.

‘Validate’ button 

This button checks each payment in the group. If errors are found they will be excluded from the merged payment.  Error messages can be viewed in the ‘System Info’ column.

‘Create the payment file’ button

This button creates one payment for each group.

Resulting merged payments 

(Click on the screenshot to enlarge).

Each group has a merged payment ID after the ‘Merge payments:‘ heading. This ID is a combination of the unique keys representing the individual payments in the group.

If there is only one payment in the group it will be treated as a single payment. For example, +71 payment types in Denmark are usually not mergeable, since the invoice number is often part of the payment id and therefore not unique.

The total of the merged payments is listed under each merged payment group’s payment column. The date that the payment will be made is the earliest date in the ‘Payment date’ column for that group.

Excluded

Any payments that are in error will be placed into an ‘Excluded’ group. These payments will not be included in the payment file. This group will, for example include any payments that are on ‘Wait’ or ‘Paid’. ‘Excluded payments’ will also include payments that do not correspond to the payment method selected.

Danish example: Resulting merged payments for ‘All’ grouping 

(English screenshots coming soon)

(Click on the screenshot to enlarge)

The ’All’ grouping collects all payments independent of their payment dates. Once merged, if several different payment dates exist within the same group, the earliest payment date will be used for the merged payment.

The payments in the example above are split into five different groups.

The first four groups will result in four payments in the payment file. The last group ‘Excluded’ contains all the payments that will be excluded from the payment file.

A description of the groups is given below. Each group has a merged payment id, which is a combination of the unique keys for each of the individual payments in the group.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000012-71/000610197827690-82246223-DKK
Here there is only one payment with the Danish payment method ‘+71’. This payment will therefore be a sole payment. The Danish payment method ‘+71’ cannot usually be merged because the invoice number is often part of the payment id and is therefore not unique.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 100018-75/0000001167582525-80268556-DKK
Here, there are 5 payments due to vendor number 100018 that fulfil the criteria to be merged into one payment. This will result in 6,050.00 Danish Crowns being paid as one payment. The payment will be sent on 21.02.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000014-DE11600700700138396700-DEUTDESSXXX-EUR
Here there are 3 payments due to vendor number 100034, that fulfil the criteria to be merged into one payment. This is a foreign payment of 4,186.00 Euros, that will be paid on 21.02.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000052-56780089463654-DKK
Here there are 11 payments due to vendor number 100052, that fulfil the criteria to be merged into one payment.  One payment will therefore be made of 17,367.50 Danish Crowns on 21.02.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: Excluded/Fravalgt
All payments that are deemed inappropriate for merging will be listed in the ‘Excluded’ group. These payments will not be included in the payment file. Payments that are set to ‘Wait’ or ‘Paid’ will also be included in this group. Payments that do not meet the payment criteria will also be included here.

Danish example: Resulting merged payments for ‘Date’ grouping 

(English screenshots coming soon)

(Click on the screenshot to enlarge)

The ‘Date’ grouping collects the payments with the same payment date. There are additional payment criteria that must also be met for these payments to be included in the groups.
The payments in the screenshot above have been split into 7 different groups. The first six groups will result in six different payments in the payment file.  The last group ‘Excluded’/’Fravalgt’ contains all of the payments that will not be included in the payement file.

A description of each group is given below. Each grop has a ‘Merge payments id /SamlebetalingsId’ which is a combination of the unique keys for each of the individual payments in the group. Note that the payment date has been included in the merge payment id.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000012-71/000610197827690-82246223-DKK-20180321
Here there is only one payment with the Danish payment method ‘+71’. This payment will therefore be a sole payment. The Danish payment method ‘+71’ cannot usually be merged because the invoice number is often part of the payment id and is therefore not unique. The payment will be made on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000018-75/0000001167582525-80268556-DKK-20180321
There are 5 payments due to vendor number 100018 due on 21.03.2018, that fulfill the payment criteria for merging the payments. This will result in one payment being made of 6,050.00 Danish Crowns on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000034-DE11600700700138396700-DEUTDESSXXX-EUR-20180321
There are 2 payments due to vendor number 100034 due on 21.02.2018 that fulfill the payment criteria for merging the payments. This will result in a foreign payment of 3,686.00 Euros being made on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000034-DE11600700700138396700-DEUTDESSXXX-EUR-20180322
There is one payment to vendor number 100034 due on 22.03.2018, that fulfills the payment criteria for merging the payment. This will result in a foreign payment of 500.00 Euros being made on 22.03.2018.  Note: the user may consider changing the due date to 21.03.2018. It would then be possible to indluce this payment with the other payments due to this vendor.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000052-56780089463654-DKK-20180321
There is one payment to vendor number 100052 due on 21.03.2018. This will payment will be made on its own in the amount of 3,375.00 Danish Crowns on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000052-56780089463654-DKK-20180322
There is one payment due to vendor number 100052 due on 22.03.1018. This will be rejected upon creation of the payment file, as it is a negative payment. The user may choose to avoid the rejection of this negative payment by changing the payment date to 21.03.2018, so that the payment can be merged with the other payment to this vendor described above.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000052-56780089463654-DKK-20180323
There are 9 payments due to vendor number 100052 due on 23.03.1018 that fulfill the criteria to be merged into one payment. A payment will be made of 14,000.00 Danish Crowns on 23.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: Excluded/Fravalgt
All payments that are excluded will be placed here. These payments will not be included in the payment file. This includes payments placed on ‘Wait’ and ‘Paid’ as well as payments that do not relate to the payment method selected.

Danish example: Resulting merged payments for ‘Week’ grouping 

The ‘Week’ group merges payments with the same payment date within the same week number. Additional payment criteria must also be met. The payments in the example above have been spit into 5 payment groups.

The first four groups will result in four payments in the payment file. The last group ‘Excluded’/’Fravalgt’ contains all the payments in the list that will not be included in the payment file.

These groups are described below. The groups are given a ‘Merge payment ID /SamlebetalingsId’ that are a combination of all the unique keys that identify the individual payments in the group. Note that the week number is included as part of this ID.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000012-71/000610197827690-82246223-DKK-12
There is only one Danish ‘+71’ payment method included, so it will be paid alone on 21.03.2018. The Danish payment method ‘+71’ cannot usually be merged because the invoice number is often part of the payment id and is therefore not unique.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000018-75/0000001167582525-80268556-DKK-12
Here there are 5 payments due to vendor number 100018 due in week 12 that fulfill the criteria for merging the payments. A payment of 6,050.00 Danish Crowns will be made on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000034-DE11600700700138396700-DEUTDESSXXX-EUR-12
Here there are 3 payments to vendor number 100034 due in week 12, that fulfill the criteria for merging the payments. A payment of 4,186.00 Danish Crowns will be made on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: 1000052-56780089463654-DKK-12
There are 11 payments to vendor number 100052 due in week 8, that fulfill the criteria for merging the payments. A payment of 17,367.50 Danish Crowns will be made on 21.03.2018.

Merge Payments/Samlebetaling: Excluded/Fravalgt
All payments that are excluded will be placed here. These payments will not be included in the payment file. This includes payments placed on ‘Wait’ and ‘Paid’ as well as payments that do not relate to the payment method selected.

Create the payment file 

(Click on screenshot to enlarge)