What is Business to Business ACH?

When it comes to making a payment on behalf of your business, there are plenty of methods to choose from. Some of those methods, though, can cost you valuable time and money. Think cut off times, manual labor hours, etc.

So, it's important to choose wisely - especially if your business is sending multiple payments a month.

An ACH transfer is one of the most common payment methods. Let's take a look at what business to business ACH is, how it works and the benefits of using ACH for business payments.
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What is ACH?

You've probably heard of the term ACH before, but it's more likely that you've thought about making a payment or getting paid - rather than the transfer method itself. ACH transfers are more commonly known as Direct Deposit, direct pay or eChecks.

So, that feeling of getting money deposited directly into your account (without a trip to the bank!) - that's ACH. And the convenience of paying a bill or vendor online vs sending a check? Also ACH! Oh, and let's not forget the recurring bills you can pay automatically - hats off to ACH for those too.

ACH electronic payments are processed through the Automated Clearing House Network - hence the name - and governed by the National Automated Clearing House Association (Nacha). Payments in the ACH network are transferred directly from one bank account to another, instead of going through a credit card network.
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How long do ACH transfers take?

ACH transfers can take anywhere from 1 to 5 business days depending on when the payment is sent and cut-off times instituted by the receiving bank. The processing time of an ACH payment (and others!) in Corpay One can be found here.
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What are the benefits of business to business ACH?

No paper.‍

For busy business owners, the process of sending a paper check is tedious and can be a huge waste of time. Here's a quick breakdown of what it takes to send off just one check:

Write the check.
Find an envelope.
Address the envelope.
Find a stamp.
Mail the check.
Wait days for the check to arrive.
Wait days (sometimes weeks!) for the vendor to deposit the check.
Stalk your bank account to see when the check clears.

And repeat. Often multiple times a month, for multiple vendors.

Why go through an eight-step process when you can do it in a few clicks with a modern business bill pay platform? You could easily set a bill to be paid automatically via ACH. And if you have the same recurring payment with a vendor, you can just set it and forget it in Corpay One.

No restrictions.

Anyone with a bank account in the United States can send and receive ACH payments. If you're not sure if your vendor accepts them, just ask! And if they do, all you need is their account number and routing number to initiate the payment - which might already be on their invoice.

If their banking information is already listed on their invoice or they have requested to be paid by ACH in the invoice payment instructions, Corpay One's OCR scanning technology will read those details and automatically choose ACH as their preferred payment method. No manual vendor management needed.
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Corpay One and Business to Business ACH

Sending an ACH payment in Corpay One is easy - and FREE:

1. Take a photo of a bill from the Corpay One App (or upload it, or email it to your Corpay One Inbox or enter it manually - it's up to you!)
2. That bill is captured and stored in Corpay One.
3. Workflows work their automation magic. Our most successful customers build approval workflows to help their teams streamline work. If the bill requires approval from another employee, they'll get notified to approve it. If the bill is for office supplies, it can automatically be categorized as Office Supplies.
4. The bill is paid according to the payment information provided on the bill, including the payment deadline listed on the bill. If no payment information or ACH instructions are provided, you can set ACH as their default payment method in their vendor profile by manually entering their account and routing numbers. Each bill and vendor profile has a built-in audit trail, so you can track all changes and employee activity - like updates to banking information or payment method preferences.
5. The vendor is paid and the payment is recorded in your accounting system (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.) via Corpay One.*
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Want to explore ACH payments for your business? Get started today, or book a demo with our team to explore your use case.

*Note: We are always focusing on making our integrations more seamless. Information about Corpay One's latest integrations can be found within our product (March 2023) or on our integrations page.