Manual: Operations-Direct Deposit

Feature=Accounting provides a basis for the collection, computation, and storage of Assignment completion records provided by the Referees. The information that results permits the Chapter to organize individual Match Reports in a variety of ways to facilitate:

1. Invoicing to Clients
2. Recording of individual efforts spent by each Referee (amount earned, worked Hours, etc.)
3. Production of fiscal entries suitable for import to a variety of desktop Accounting programs (Feature=FinanceExport).

It is also possible to organize the Site's operations to facilitate the payment to Referees by multiple mechanisms. Certainly, a Chapter can download summarized fiscal information, import that into a suitable desktop program (e.g. Quicken) and initiate the printing of physical checks for distribution to individual Referees. However, for those Chapters interested in bypassing the handling and distribution of physical Checks, the Site can also be utilized to transfer funds directly from a Chapter Banking Account directly to the Referee's Banking Account.

What's needed to prepare for DirectDeposit?

Identify a Electronic Funds Transfer (ACH) processor

This can be your Bank or any of a variety of ACH processing organizations. Inevitably, every ACH business has slightly different requirements, but most of them will require that the Chapter create some sort of a formal relationship with them (e.g. specialized Agreements).

Collect information from the Referees

The Chapter will need to obtain suitable information from each Referee that chooses to participate in the DirectDeposit program. The Users table is extended to permit each Referee to indicate:

• they would like to participate in the DirectDeposit program
• their Bank Routing Code (ABA)
• the type of Account that will be receiving the deposits
• The Bank Account nubmer that will receive the deposits

This is normally done on the Personal tab of the Users' Profile (e.g. Services: Profile-Personal), but can also be isolated onto it's own Tab or perhaps a Tab specifically related to Fiscal matters.

Decide which Format will be used to propagate Summary Payments

The Finance-Export page permits the Administrator (or Treasurer, etc.) to specify a Period that s/he would like to pay and extract the related summary amounts for each Referee in a variety of formats. IIF and QIF formats are available for Quicken, Quickbooks, and compatible accounting programs. A CSV format is available to support home grown systems. There is also a PayPal option (for Chapters desiring PayPal support), and a NACHA (National Automated Clearing House Association) format.

The NACHA Format is suitable for most transfers where you intend to deliver DirectDeposit instructions directly to your own Banking Institution.

How do I initiate the Payment?

The Chapter (Treasurer, Administrator, the person responsible) will group Match Reports by Period and mark them Status=Paid when any issues related to the Match Reports has been handled properly. Then, use Finance-Export to download the summary for each Referee for the Pay Period and transmit the resulting file into the desired mechanism to transfer the funds.

While there are lots of alternatives for how a Chapter can go about this, once it's structured DirectDeposit can be quite beneficial for all participants (Referees, Assignors, Clients, Treasurers, etc.).