General import requirements for NACHA files

When importing files in the NACHA format, all rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) apply. Compliance with the NACHA standard format ensures that ACH files can be properly processed by the financial institution, the ACH payment system, or the banking application.

When importing a NACHA formatted file:

General payment details are contained in the Batch Header Record (type 5).
General recipient details are contained in the Detail Record (type 6).
Details specific to a payment type are mostly contained in the Addenda Record (type 7).

The topics in this section describe validations and requirements that are unique to the NACHA format.

Note: This section provides just a brief overview of the NACHA file requirements, in particular the validations performed (or not performed) on individual fields during the import process. For complete information on formatting a NACHA-compliant file, refer to A Complete Guide to Rules & Regulations Governing the ACH Network, available at http://www.nacha.org.

NACHA file layout: file header record (type 1)

The first line in a NACHA file is always the File Header Record (type 1). The import process validates the File Header Record to ensure that the file is a valid NACHA file; however, the data is not saved to the banking application database.

The following field validations are performed on file header records.

Field	POS	Validations
Record Type Code	01-01	Required value: 1
Priority Code	02-03	Required value: 01
Immediate Destination	04-13	Right-justified, preceded by blanks Alphanumeric, including special characters
Immediate Origin	14-23	Right-justified, preceded by blanks Alphanumeric, including special characters
File Creation Date	24-29	Date format: YYMMDD
File Creation Time	30-33	No validation by import process
Field ID Modifier	34-34	One character, upper case A-Z or numeric 0-9
Record Size	35-37	Required value: 094
Blocking Factor	38-39	Required value: 10
Format Code	40-40	Required value: 1
Immediate Destination Name	41-63	No validation by import process
Immediate Origin Name	64-86	No validation by import process
Reference Code	87-94	No validation by import process

NACHA file layout: batch header record (type 5)

The NACHA type 5 record is known as the Company Batch Header Record, and it indicates the beginning of a payment batch. Type 5 records are subject to the general rules for validating payment data. When importing a NACHA file, the import process performs some additional validations to ensure the file is a valid NACHA file.

These additional validations apply to a NACHA batch header record.

Field	POS	Validations
Record Type Code	01-01	Required value: 5
Service Class Code	02-04	One of the following: 200 – Mixed debit and credit 220 – Credit only 225 – Debit only
Foreign Exchange Reference Indicator Cross-Border Only	23-23	Numeric
Foreign Exchange Reference Cross-Border Only	24-38	Must be blank
Originator Status Code	79-79	Required value: 1
Batch Number	88-94	Not blank

NACHA file layout: detail record (type 6)

Type 6 records are subject to the general rules for validating recipient data. When importing a NACHA file, the import process performs a few additional validations to ensure the file is a valid NACHA file and conforms to the type 6 record layout.

The following additional validations apply to a NACHA detail record.

Field Name	POS	Validations
Record Type Code	01-01	Required value: 6
Transaction Code	02-03	Numeric (refer to the NACHA rules for a list of codes)
Trace Number	80-94	Numeric

NACHA file layout: addenda record (type 7)

Type 7 records are subject to the general rules for validating addenda data. When importing a NACHA file, the import process performs some additional validations to ensure the file is a valid NACHA file and conforms to the type 7 record layout.

The following validations are performed on domestic type 7 records.

: POS
Record Type Code: 01-01; Required value: 7
Addenda Type Code: 02-03; Required value: 05
Payment Related Information: 04-83; No validation by import process
Addenda Sequence Number: 84-87; No validation by import process
Entry Detail Sequence Number: 88-94; No validation by import process

These validations are performed on cross-border type 7 records.

POS

Record Type Code

01-01

Required value: 7

Addenda Type Code

02-03

Required value: 01

Transaction Type Code

04-06

A valid three-character SEC codes

Foreign Receiving DFI Identification

07-17

Not blank

Foreign Payment Amount

18-32

No validation by import process

Foreign Trace Number

33-54

Must be blank

Foreign Receiver's Account Number

55-79

Matches the account number of the recipient
Alphanumeric

Trace Number

80-94

No validation by import process

NACHA file layout: batch control record (type 8)

In a NACHA file, the Batch Control Record (type 8) identifies the end of a batch of payments. The import process validates this record to ensure that the file is a valid NACHA file; however, the data is not saved to the banking application database.

The following validations are performed on a batch control record.

Field	POS	Validations
Record Type Code	01-01	Required value: 8
Service Class Code	02-04	One of the following: 200 – Mixed debit and credit 220 – Credit only 225 – Debit only
Entry/Addenda Count	05-10	The total of all type 6 and type 7 records Required value: unsigned numeric
Entry Hash	11-20	Total of all of routing/transit numbers from entry detail records Truncate high order digits beyond 10 characters.
Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount	21-32	The total amount of debit entries
Total Credit Entry Dollar Amount	33-44	The total amount of credit entries
Company Identification	45-54	Originating ACH Company ID
Message Authentication Code	55-73	The authenticity validator Required value: blank
Reserved	N/A	This field must be blank
Originating DFI Identification	80-87	The DFI routing number
Batch Number	88-94	The ascending sequence number For example, 1 for the first batch in the file, 2 for the second batch, and so on

NACHA file layout: file control record (type 9)

The last line in a NACHA file is always the File Control Record (type 9). The import process validates the file control record to ensure that the file is a valid NACHA file; however, the data is not saved to the banking application database.

These field validations are performed on file control records.

Field	POS	Validations
Record Type Code	01-01	Required value: 9
Batch Count	02-07	The number of batch header records in the file
Block Count	08-13	The number of blocks in the file (1 block = 10 lines)
Entry / Addenda Count	14-21	The sum of entry detail records plus addenda records in the file
Entry Hash	22-31	The accumulation of routing/ transit numbers from entry detail records (field 3)
Total Debit Amount	32-43	Total amount of debit entries for all payments
Total Credit Amount	44-55	Total amount of credit entries for all payments
Reserved	56-94	Must be blank