February 9th, 2010 | Posted by An ACH transfer is a means of sending money electronically from one bank to another. ACH stands for Automatic Clearing House. Used effectively, ACH transfers can help businesses concentrate idle balances into interest-bearing accounts overnight – where your money earns more than in depository accounts. For large, dispersed organizations (like retailers), operating multiple locations that deposit large sums of cash into local banks each day, a well-oiled ACH process can help avoid costly fees (from proprietary bank ACH systems and overdraft charges) while earning money for the business at the same time.
Things To Look For In An ACH Solution
- Trending
- Historical deposit data should allow you to forecast future activity based upon business rules.
- Anticipatory Calculations
- Your ACH process should support configurable, anticipatory ACH calculations based upon past trends. Look for a solution which allows you to factor in bank or other holidays, historical Point-of-Sale data, and other factors. The goal should be to maximize balances in your interest-bearing accounts by transferring money before you know for certain how much has been dropped into your depository accounts.
- Risk Thresholds
- Any solution should include thresholds for risk – the higher your threshold, the more money you will transfer (and the more interest you will earn on those funds). The lower your threshold, the fewer overdrafts you’ll incur from aggressive calculations.
The ACH sweep is a targeted process which can be dramatically improved, using a combination of automation and the targeted application of business rules. Done right, a more streamlined ACH calculation and sweeping methodology can save your business time, money, and effort … maximizing profit margins and allowing you to focus on more strategic priorities in the Office of Finance.
