Setting Up Prenote Functionality

Updated October 07, 2025 14:36

Prenotes (pre-notification entries) are zero-dollar ACH transactions sent to validate bank account information before processing actual payments. This article covers how to configure and use prenote functionality for direct deposit payments.

For more information on Employee Payroll Direct Deposit, please reference this article.

Prerequisites

All databases have built-in prenote capability
ACH processing must be set up

Key Configuration Options

IsPrenoteRequired

Purpose: Determines whether prenotes are mandatory for new bank accounts
Behavior:

When set to False: Current date automatically populates both Prenote Send Date and Approved Date fields
When set to True: Both date fields remain blank until prenote process is completed

PrenoteApprovalDay

Purpose: Sets the number of days forward from the current date to establish the Prenote Approval Date

Typical Setting: 7 days (one week) is the standard approval period

How Prenotes Work

When Prenotes Are Required

New employee bank accounts will have blank Prenote Send Date and Approved Date fields
During ACH generation, prenotes are automatically included in the ACH file
The system updates the dates as follows:
- Prenote Send Date: Updated with the ACH generation date
- Prenote Approved Date: Updated with current date plus the number of days specified in PrenoteApprovalDay

When Prenotes Are Not Required

Both Prenote Send Date and Approved Date are automatically populated with the current date
No prenote validation process occurs

Who Prenotes Apply To

Prenotes are used for employees who have direct deposit configured for:

Checking accounts
Savings accounts

Prenotes do NOT apply to:

Pay Card accounts
CHANGE card accounts
rapid! PayCard accounts

Note: Prenotes are configured as part of each employee's individual direct deposit setup in the Employee > Payroll > Direct Deposit section.

Where to Configure Prenotes

Prenote settings are configured in two locations:

System-Level Configuration

IsPrenoteRequired and PrenoteApprovalDay are set at the system level via Config Options
These settings apply to all employees system-wide

Employee-Level Setup

Individual prenote dates are managed during employee direct deposit setup
Navigate to: Employee > Payroll > Direct Deposit > New Bank

Prenote Send Date and Prenote Approved Date fields are configured per employee/bank combination
Dates can be entered via dropdown selection or manual entry (MM/DD/YYYY format)

Process Flow

Employee sets up direct deposit for checking/savings account
If IsPrenoteRequired = True, prenote dates remain blank
During next ACH generation, prenotes are included in the ACH file
System automatically updates prenote dates based on configuration
Bank processes prenote and validates account information
After approval period (PrenoteApprovalDay), actual payments can be processed