ACH Transactions and Funds Availability

We know how important having access to funds is for running your business and want to ensure you understand the timelines involved for both SENDING and RECEIVING payments.

                                                             Please Read Carefully: 

It is important to remember that FINSYNC CONNECTS to financial institutions to facilitate transactions and is NOT itself a financial institution. This means FINSYNC does not decide when to make funds available. The timelines described below are in place to best protect your business as well as FINSYNC from any fraudulent activity. 

In addition to security concerns, it is important to remember that both the DIRECTION and METHOD of payment will dictate the timeline for when funds will be available (or moved out of an account). 

 


CONTENTS

This article covers three key areas in relation to payment timing. Please click on the area of interest below or scroll down to the desired section.

1. Receiving Payments

2. Sending Payments

3. Holidays that can Impact Payment Timing

 

RECEIVING PAYMENTS

1. ACH Transaction: (bank account to bank account) If your customer elects to pay an invoice via ACH, then you can expect the funds to become available to you on the 5th banking day. If the payment action by your customer occurs after 3 PM (Eastern Time) on a banking day, the 1st banking day will not occur until the following banking day (banking days exclude any bank holiday or weekend). The reason for this timing is to ensure that the payment actually clears before making funds available in your account.

Example: When you create a recurring or one-time invoice with ACH Auto Payment enabled, the send date (start date) should be a Monday to have the funds in your account that Friday.

2. Credit Card: If a customer elects to pay with a credit card, the funds will be available in your bank account as early as the next business day (Note that this timing is based on your merchant account processor and your bank). 

3. PayPal: If a customer elects to pay via their PayPal account, you can expect the funds to be available depending on when PayPal releases the funds. Once the funds have cleared through PayPal, you will see the funds in your designated bank account. 

Information on PayPal's terms can be found here: PayPal Funds Availability

4. Physical Checks: If a customer elects to pay via physical check, whether by mailing it directly to an address specified by you or through FINSYNC's Lockbox service, the funds will become available depending on when that check is processed and cleared by the bank.

Please review the following article to explore the these payment options when sending an invoice: How to Accept Credit Cards or PayPal for Invoices

 

Timelines for an Invoice (or 'Receive Payment' request):

The chart below provides a timeline to receive funds once a customer has submitted a payment. Payments made after 3 PM (Eastern Time) on a business day (represented in the first column below) will result in the timeline starting on the next business day.

Timeline-InvoicePayments (1)

 


SENDING PAYMENTS (Bill Pay)

1. ACH Transaction: (bank account to bank account) If using regular bill pay, whether in bulk or individually, the funds will be removed from your account the next business day, but do not become available to the vendor until the 4th banking day. What this means is that you will need to account for the processing time when paying your bills. For example: If you have a bill due on a Friday, you need to send the payment by 3 PM (Eastern Time) on Tuesday to allow the funds to be transferred. While you may see the funds immediately pulled from your account, your vendor will not see those funds made available to them until the 4th banking day.

2. Physical Check: If you are electing to pay a bill via a physical check you should anticipate the time of shipping as well as having to clear the bank in order to ensure your bills do not become past-due

3. Payroll: Funds deposited into an account are supplied by the third day after a payment is processed. A user with the FINSYNC Manage permission on Payrolls must hit the Process button on a Tuesday to have funds in team members' bank accounts on a Friday.

 

Timelines for a Bill (or 'Send Payment'):

The chart below provides a timeline for sending funds. Bills (Send Payments) made after 3 PM (Eastern Time) on a business day (represented in the first column below) will result in the timeline starting on the next business day.

Timeline-BillPayments (1)


Holidays that can Impact Payment Timing

When a holiday falls on a Saturday, bank observance of that holiday is normally the preceding Friday. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, bank observance of that holiday is normally the following Monday.

Common Bank Holidays:

  • New Year's Day - January 1
  • Inauguration Day - January 20 (only on the year following a US presidential election)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Third Monday in January
  • George Washington’s Birthday - Third Monday in February
  • Memorial Day - Last Monday in May
  • Independence Day - July 4
  • Labor Day - First Monday in September
  • Columbus Day - Second Monday in October
  • Veterans Day - November 11
  • Thanksgiving Day - 4th Thursday in November
  • Christmas Day - December 25