File Sections and Required Fields

Greentree only requires a subset of the information in a bank interface file to automatically update bank statements. The Greentree interface definition assigns only the required fields. The rest of the information contained in the bank files will be ignored during the import process.

Bank files are separated into three sections:

Header

This section contains summary information, for example, statement date, account number, and sometimes the opening balance of the statement closing balance of last statement. If bank files do contain an opening balance, then Greentree Desktop displays an option to check opening and closing balances during the automatic bank reconciliation process, however you don't need to do this.

If you select this option, the reconciliation will compare the balance in the file with the last statement balance in Greentree, which offers an extra audit check on running the import process. There is only one header line per bank account.

There is an exception to this rule, where some banks separate the header section into two lines, and so a Group Header is required in addition to a Header section.

Transactions

This section contains lines representing a debit or credit. Information contained in this section includes a transaction type (to identify whether it is a receipt or a payment), an amount, a reference, and a narration. The transaction lines will all be of the Header that defines them. They will all be linked to one bank account, defined by the header that precedes it.

Footer

This section also contains summary information. The contents are usually not mandatory, unless there is a closing balance contained in the footer line, and the check opening and closing balances option is enabled in Greentree Desktop. If there is a closing balance in the footer record, it is the opening balance from the header, plus or minus all debit and credit transactions detailed in the Transactions section of the file.

Bank file format specifications always identify header, transaction, and footer sections, and each one will have an identifier, called a Block Code in Greentree Desktop.

Outlined below is a list of the mandatory components required to support the Greentree automatic bank reconciliation process:

Block Code

This is the unique identifier which prefixes the lines in the bank file. It enables Greentree to determine whether lines are header, transaction, or footer lines.

Statement Date

Each file will contain a date which will convert into Greentree as the new statement date. Usually this file will be found in the header section of the file, although it may sometimes be repeated at a line level. This date only must be referenced once, normally in the header.

Bank Account Number

This is usually in the header section of the file, although it is sometimes repeated at a line level. It only must be referenced once, normally in the header. Files can contain multiple bank accounts. If they do, each one will have a unique header line, so Greentree can easily determine which transactions relate to which account.

Bank Transaction Code

This is a pre-defined code which is used to identify whether the transaction is a debit or a credit. These codes are set up in Greentree during interface creation, and will be specified by the bank.

Amount

Each transaction line will have a field which represents the amount of the transaction. This field can be formatted in different ways, depending on the bank file format specification. For example, some may include decimals, others will not, some may denote negatives with a - preceding the value, others may use brackets.

Transaction Date

Each transaction will have a date for it. Sometimes this will be at a transaction line level each line will have a different date, other times it will just be the date specified in the header file, and the assumption is that it applies to all transactions.

Reference

Each transaction line will have a reference field which is a unique identifier for the particular transaction, for example, a cheque number, or a receipt reference.

Some bank files may contain additional information to what is outlined here. However, the fields outlined above are the only ones Greentree considers mandatory for the process to function. There is one exception to this if the option to check opening and closing balances is selected, then opening and closing balances are also mandatory (opening balance is in the header, and closing balance is in the footer).

Files can contain a Particulars field, which may be assigned to the interface format to update a narration to the statement when the reconciliation process runs.