Processing Timeline for Payment Assistant

Payment Assistant, available in Financial Edge NXT, is powered by Blackbaud and processes approved payments through your payment provider, REPAY or BILL. The provider determines when funds leave your bank account and when vendors receive their payments.

Processing Timeline with REPAY

REPAY, a trusted payments technology platform, assists with disbursement functionality by issuing approved payments to vendors according to a defined timeline. Once a payment run is approved, REPAY follows a structured process to withdraw funds and deliver payments.

Payment Timeline Summary

  • Day 0 — Payment run approved before 5:00 PM ET.

  • Day 1 — Funds withdrawn from your bank account.

  • Day 2 — Payment run marked as Funded in Financial Edge NXT. Virtual cards emailed to vendors. ACH files processed overnight. Checks sent for printing.

  • Day 3 — ACH funds available to vendors. Checks mailed (typically arrive in 7-10 business days).

Approval Cutoff Details

Payment runs must be approved before 5:00 PM ET to begin processing the next business day.

If approved at or after 5:00 PM ET, the withdrawal occurs two business days later.

Example

  • Approved at 5:15 PM ET on Monday → Funds withdrawn on Wednesday

  • Approved before 5:00 PM ET on Monday → Funds withdrawn on Tuesday

Recommended Wait Times Before Confirming Vendor Payment Receipt

Check payments – Send at least 7-10 business days before the due date to allow for delivery and processing. Payment Assistant waits 30 days for checks to confirm receipt of the check. If a check is still open after 30 days, contact Blackbaud Customer Support.

Virtual card payments – Payment Assistant waits 7 business days to see if a balance still exists on virtual card payments before follow-up.

ACH payments – If the vendor hasn’t received a payment processed via ACH after 3 business days (or 4 business days if submitted after 5:00 PM ET), contact Blackbaud Customer Support. You can also encourage the vendor to reach out to REPAY directly to confirm EFT details.

Note: We know that prompt payments are critical to your success! Therefore, we never hold a payment to allow time for the vendor to submit their required documentation. After the one-business-day hold, we send the payments. If a vendor hasn't completed ACH enrollment, a check is sent the first time and they receive ACH for future payments.

Tip: Learn about the Stale Payments for Payment Assistant.

Processing Timeline with BILL

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.

When your organization pays vendors through BILL, BILL debits your bank account and sends each payment to the vendor on its own schedule. The following sections explain when to expect each step for Payment Assistant payments.

When BILL Withdraws Funds for a Payment Run

After you approve a payment run, Payment Assistant creates the payments in BILL. BILL debits your bank account by ACH on each payment's process date. The process date is set for each payment, so payments in the same run can have different process dates. The Payments tab shows the process date for each payment.

Cutoff Time for BILL Payments

BILL's cutoff is 6 PM PT on the day before a payment's process date. After the cutoff, the payment can't be canceled.

Standard Processing Timeline with BILL

  • Day 1 — The process date. BILL debits your bank account.

  • Day 3 — BILL confirms the funds and sends the payment. ACH payments go to the vendor's bank, BILL mails checks, and BILL emails virtual cards to vendors.

  • Day 4 — ACH payments arrive in the vendor's bank account.

BILL can pay organizations that pass its risk review faster than this standard timeline.

Processing Time by Payment Method with BILL

BILL debits your bank account the same way for every payment method. Only the steps after BILL sends the payment differ. The Payments tab and the bank draft record also show an estimated arrival date for each payment. The estimate isn't available for standard checks sent by USPS First Class mail because they have no tracking.

  • ACH — Takes four business days with the standard timeline, or two business days for organizations that qualify for faster timing.

  • Check — BILL prints and mails the check within about two business days of the process date. BILL sends it by USPS First Class mail without tracking, so plan on five to seven business days in total.

  • Virtual card — BILL emails the card to the vendor. The vendor receives the funds when they run the card. Learn more about virtual card payments with BILL.

Weekends and Holidays with BILL

If a payment's process date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, BILL moves the process date to the next business day.

Number of BILL Debits for a Payment Run

BILL makes one debit for each ACH or virtual card payment. BILL combines checks into one debit for each day that covers every check processed that day. BILL doesn't make a single debit for the whole payment run, so one run can appear as several debits on your bank statement.

BILL Payments on Your Bank Statement

BILL debits appear as "bill.com payables" on your bank statement. The exact text varies by bank, and you can't customize it. If your bank blocks the debits, add BILL's ACH company IDs to your bank's allow list. BILL publishes the IDs in its widgets and on its help site.

First ACH Payment to a New Vendor with BILL

It can be. If you create a vendor when you make the first payment and the vendor is paid by ACH, BILL verifies the vendor's bank account before it sends the payment. The verification adds one to two business days. To avoid the delay, set up vendors early so BILL completes verification before the first payment run. Check payments, vendors on the BILL Network, and later payments to the same vendor aren't delayed.

When the Funding Debit Fails with BILL

If BILL can't debit your bank account before it sends anything to the vendor, the payment fails, and the vendor receives nothing. BILL emails your organization so you can fix the bank account and resubmit the payment. The payment appears on the Payments tab as Voided. If you need help, contact Blackbaud Customer Support.

Payment Events as a BILL Payment Progresses

The bank draft record lists these events for a BILL payment, in the order a payment typically moves through them. The Payments tab shows one status for each payment, and all of the Open events appear there as Open:

  1. Approved - Awaiting funds — The payment run is approved, and BILL hasn't debited your bank account yet.

  2. On hold — BILL is holding the payment. The event includes whether BILL hasn't debited the funds yet or is reviewing the payment. Learn about on hold payments.

  3. Funded — BILL processed the payment, and it isn't on its way to the vendor yet.

  4. Open - ACH, Open - Check, or Open - Virtual card — BILL sent the payment, and the vendor hasn't completed it yet. The check and virtual card statuses include the check number or the last four digits of the card.

  5. Open - Delivered — BILL delivered the payment to the vendor.

  6. Open - Partial claim — The vendor used part of a virtual card payment. Learn about stale payments to see what happens to the remainder.

  7. Paid — BILL confirmed that the vendor completed the payment. BILL marks ACH payments as paid through a daily check, so Paid can appear later than the vendor's receipt of the funds.

A payment can also end as Canceled, Voided, Errored, or Escheated. Learn what these statuses mean on the bank draft record.