Link BILL Bank Accounts to Financial Edge NXT
To process payments correctly, Payment Assistant with BILL must match each BILL bank account to the correct bank account in Financial Edge NXT. Verify the accounts with BILL, and then link them from the Getting Started page during onboarding or, after you start processing payments, from Payment Assistant Settings.
Note: Don’t see this yet? The ability to use BILL with Payment Assistant is currently in an Early Adopter Program (EAP) for some of our customers. Look for full support and general availability in a future release.
Bank Account Types with BILL
Payment Assistant with BILL involves three kinds of bank accounts, and each one has a different job:
Funding accounts — The bank accounts BILL debits to fund your vendor payments. You add and verify them with BILL. In Payment Assistant, you see them as BILL bank accounts when you link them to Financial Edge NXT.
Financial Edge NXT bank account links — The match between each BILL bank account and a bank account in Financial Edge NXT. Payment Assistant needs these links to process payments correctly. You create them in Payment Assistant, not in BILL.
Blackbaud billing account — The bank account on file with Blackbaud billing. You confirm it from Blackbaud billing settings, not in BILL, and it isn't one of your funding accounts.
Prerequisites
Your organization processes Payment Assistant payments through BILL.
From Security, Role management, your user role includes permissions to access Payment Assistant setup.
Steps to Link Bank Accounts
Open Link BILL bank accounts to Financial Edge NXT using one of the following options:
For each listed BILL bank account, select the matching account from Financial Edge NXT bank account. Payment Assistant compares the routing number and last four digits of the account number for each BILL account to your Financial Edge NXT bank accounts and tries to find a match for you.
Review the match status for each account and take action as needed:
One matching account found — Payment Assistant selects the account for you and shows the message "Auto-matched to a Financial Edge NXT bank account. Verify before saving." Verify the match before you save.
Multiple matching accounts found — Select the correct account from the accounts listed.
Matched manually — You selected the account yourself, and its routing number and last four digits match the BILL account.
No matching account found — Select the correct account, or update the bank account record in Financial Edge NXT so the routing number and account number match.
Account can't be auto-matched — The BILL bank account is missing a routing number or the last four digits of the account number. Select the matching Financial Edge NXT account manually.
Routing number or account number mismatch — The account you selected doesn't match the BILL account's routing number or last four digits of the account number. Select a different account, or correct the bank account record in Financial Edge NXT.
Missing information in Financial Edge NXT — The Financial Edge NXT bank account doesn't include a routing number or an account number. Add the missing information to the bank account record.
Account in use — The only matching Financial Edge NXT bank account is linked to another BILL bank account. Clear it from that account first, or select a different account.
BILL account can't take payments — A Financial Edge NXT bank account is selected on a BILL bank account that is blocked, expired, or invalid. Select Clear, and then select the account on a BILL bank account that is verified. If no verified BILL bank account matches, add and verify a matching bank account in BILL, and then link it here.
Link locked — After a payment uses the linked account, the link can't be changed.
Next to each BILL bank account, a status shows whether BILL can use it for payments: Verified with BILL, Not verified with BILL, Verification pending with BILL, Blocked by BILL, Expired at BILL, Invalid at BILL, or Status unavailable from BILL. Only verified accounts can take payments, and they appear first in the list. Accounts that BILL has blocked, expired, or invalidated don't appear unless you linked them.
Select Link Accounts to save your changes. Link at least one bank account to continue.
Tip: A selected Financial Edge NXT bank account must match the BILL account's routing number and last four digits of the account number, and it must include both a routing number and an account number. To save, correct any mismatched or incomplete accounts first. If an account is linked to a BILL bank account that can't take payments and a verified BILL bank account matches, move the link before you save.
Note: Each Financial Edge NXT bank account links to only one BILL bank account.
After a linked bank account is used for a payment, the link becomes permanent and can't be changed. To use a different bank account, link a BILL bank account that hasn't been used for payments yet.
After You Link Accounts
After you save your links, the Getting Started page marks Link BILL bank accounts to Financial Edge NXT complete when a BILL bank account is ready to fund payments or none is waiting for verification. If none of your BILL bank accounts is ready and some are waiting for verification, the remaining steps stay locked until you verify one.
When the link step is complete, Verify your Blackbaud billing account unlocks. That step is separate from linking. It confirms the bank account on file with Blackbaud billing, and it doesn't verify or change your BILL bank accounts. Learn how to complete both steps during onboarding.
After you start processing payments, you can add, verify, or delete funding accounts in BILL. To use a new funding account with Payment Assistant, link it here.
Verify BILL Bank Accounts
This verification applies to BILL bank accounts. It's separate from the Verify your Blackbaud billing account step, which confirms the bank account on file with Blackbaud billing.
BILL verifies each bank account that funds your payments, and only verified accounts are ready to use with Payment Assistant. You verify an account in one of two ways when you add it with BILL:
Instant verification — Connect your bank through Plaid to verify the account right away. Plaid is used one time to verify the account, so no ongoing connection to your bank remains and you don't need to refresh credentials. If your bank uses multifactor authentication, it appears only during this one-time connection.
Manual entry with a trial deposit — Enter the routing and account numbers yourself. BILL then sends a small deposit of less than $1 to the account, and you enter the exact amount to confirm the account.
How to Verify a Bank Account with a Trial Deposit
The deposit from BILL can take up to two business days to arrive. BILL allows 10 days to complete verification and sends a reminder email if the account stays unverified. After 10 days, BILL cancels the deposit and removes the account.
Check your bank statement or online banking for the exact amount of the deposit from BILL.
From the Getting Started page, under Bank account verification, select the name of the bank to open the account to verify.
Under Deposit amount, enter the amount of the deposit. The amount must be less than $1.
Select Verify. If the amount doesn't match, the message "That amount doesn't match. Check your bank statement and try again." appears.
BILL allows three attempts to enter the correct amount. If you reach the maximum number of attempts, a message tells you the bank account can no longer be verified and to add a different bank account to continue. You must add and verify a different bank account.
Until you verify an account, the Bank account verification section on the Getting Started page lists the account with a Pending status, and the steps that follow stay locked.