Importing and Managing Payees (Vendors)

Abstract

To process automated payments through SquareWorks Automate, businesses must first import their vendor/payee records from NetSuite into Automate. This step ensures that payment instructions, such as ACH or Check preferences, are properly associated with each payee and can be used to streamline outbound payments.

For example, a company that pays dozens or even hundreds of vendors every month will save time and reduce errors by importing existing ACH or Check information from NetSuite and automating vendor outreach through controlled email invitations.

This article provides administrators with step-by-step instructions for importing payees/vendors into SquareWorks Automate after permissions have been configured.

Importing Payees into Automate

Before payment automation can function, vendors — referred to as payees — must be imported into the Automate system. In NetSuite, vendors are maintained as records, but Automate requires those records be duplicated internally so that it can manage their payment preferences and initiate outreach when necessary.

This process is foundational to enabling both ACH and Check payments, and needs to be completed once for each payee.

Begin the import process with the following steps:

1. Start by accessing the payee import options. Go to the Settings page, and click on the Payees tab:

   
2. Next, initiate a new import by clicking on the Import New Payees button, which opens a page labeled Select Vendors and Employees:

   

   

   Note: Since there is a source for potential confusion with the nomenclature, we reiterate that a payee in Automate is the same as a vendor in NetSuite. Automate duplicates vendor records from NetSuite to function within its own environment.

3. Next, begin selecting records by choosing vendors from the list shown. If your list is long, adjust visibility by selecting a preferred number of rows to display using the Rows per page dropdown menu (options include 10, 20, 50, and 100):

   
4. You can include existing ACH payment method information from NetSuite in the import by toggling ON the Import Existing ACH Payment Methods option in the Advanced Import Options section:

   

   This ensures that any ACH information already stored in NetSuite are imported along with the vendor information during the import.

   1. Note: All routing and account information for ACH must be included as a custom field in the vendor record. We recommend using CSV import to duplicate this information in the following custom fields:

      
5. If you’d also like to carry over existing check payment methods, toggle ON the Import Existing Check Payment Methods option:

   

6. Before importing, a payment method, you can check the Import ACH Account and Import Check Address columns to assess the completeness of your imported ACH / Check details:

   

   It displays either YES or No - Address Missing / Bank Details Missing for each record, indicating whether that payment method information exists in the Netsuite vendor record. The import will still proceed, blank fields will be ignored.

7. By default, the import process sends an email invitation to each payee, prompting them to accept terms and input their payment details into Automate. If you want to prevent these emails from being sent, toggle ON the Don’t Send Email Invites to Payees option:

   

   a. Note: To proceed with ACH, vendors must click the email to agree to terms and conditions. For check, vendors don't have to click this email.

8. When ready, select a vendor from the list and click the Next button to continue:

   

Confirming and Submitting Payee Invitations

Once the payee is selected, Automate provides an opportunity to define how the invitation email is presented. This includes choosing the originating business entity, which determines both the branding of the message and which ACH or Check settings are inherited.

Finalize the invitation process as follows:

1. Select the appropriate entity from the Send From Business Entity dropdown:

   

   This defines how the sender name appears in the email and aligns the payee with specific ACH and Check configurations linked to that entity.

2. Then, complete the action by clicking the Submit button followed by the Confirm button:

   

   

   This applies your import choices and initiates any related vendor communication.

3. After completing the import, click on the View Payees button:

   

   

   This displays the internal table where all imported records are stored and ready for further configuration or payment processing.

This concludes the process for importing payees, confirming invitation settings, and reviewing imported records within SquareWorks Automate.