Paying BPAY Bills for Xero users
Use BPAY batching or BPAY auto-pay and say bye to manually paying and reconciling BPAY bills in Xero.
If you are still manually paying BPAY bills and like to reduce your BPAY workload, you can now choose between BPAY batching or full BPAY automation (auto-pay) to simplify your BPAY.
With our Xero integration and automated workflows, you can pay multiple bills using a BPAY batch file, or we can pay it for you under the auto-pay option.
Start your no-risk 14 days free trial now.
Which option suits your business best?
Choose between BPAY Batching or Auto-Pay
If you choose BPAY Batching
BPAY Batch arrives in your inbox
When you register, you will tell us which bank to create the BPAY batch for.
BPAY batch is supported by CBA, WBC, NAB, Macquarie & Bankwest.
The BPAY batch will be emailed to you or your designated team either on the due date or xx days (customisable) before it's due, ready for upload to your banking platform.
If you choose BPAY Auto-Pay
We schedule & pay the BPAY bill for you
Load the bank accounts and/or cards you like to use in Parakeet.
Drag & Drop to prioritise them in the order you like and we will make the payment to your BPAY biller on the due date or xx days if you prefer (customisable).
Advance Feature
Auto-bank account allocation
Do you need to allocate BPAY bills to be paid from different bank accounts either on a bill-by-bill, by suppliers or by purchasing entity basis?
If so, our automation means you don't have to manually load and allocate BPAY batches in your internet banking, saving you time and error.
Whether it's 2 or 70 bank accounts, our advance auto-bank allocation do it all for you.
After the bills are approved, Parakeet automatically chooses the right bank account to use based on your rules.
Allocate on a bill-by-bill basis
Category A bills - Pay from account A
Category B bills - Pay from account B
Allocate by Paying Entity
Bills for Entity A - Pay from account A
Bills for Entity B - Pay from account B
Allocate by Vendors / Suppliers
Group A suppliers - Pay from account A
Group B suppliers - Pay from account B
Note - customisation fee & monthly support fees apply
Under both Options
BPAY bills are marked as paid in Xero
Under BPAY Batch - once the batch is emailed to you, we mark each individual BPAY bill forming the batch as 'Paid' in Xero.
Under BPAY Auto-Pay - once the BPAY bills are paid on your behalf, we mark the BPAY bills as 'Paid' in Xero.
This is done automatically for 10 or 100 or 1000 BPAY bills, saving you time and effort.
Reconciliation
Your finance, accounts and bookkeeping team will appreciate this... see below for full breakdown.
BPAY Batching or Auto-Pay?
Not sure which BPAY option suits your business?
Download your free guide below.
Pay tens or hundreds of BPAY bills, straight out of Xero
How it works
For static CRN
1A. Update Xero with BPAY details
For Billers that always have the same CRN
Update the biller's details in Xero with their Contact Name, Tax (ABN) and BPAY details (screen shot) and you are set.
Advance Feature - Variable CRN
1B. Multi-CRN Support
For Billers that always have a different CRN
Update the biller's details in Xero with the word 'Multi'.
Add the 'CRN' into the history notes section of the bill.
After the bills are approved, Parakeet automatically reads the CRN from Xero.
Note:
Customisation fee & additional ongoing fees apply
2. Tell us when you want the bills paid
Load the bills as you would normally in Xero and we automatically schedule it for batching (or payment) based on the due date you set.
We can even customise it so we batch (or pay) xx days before the due date so you are never late.
3. Approve the bills
We will never pay your bills unless you have approved it in Xero.
We accept all approval tools such as Xero's in-built approval button or another app like Approval Max.
Once you approve it in Xero, we automate the scheduling, batching (or payment) and reconciliation of your BPAY bills.
You can also add an extra layer of control by using Xero's Planned date option and / or enabling Parakeet's in-build approval step.
One Click Payment comes to Xero
Use Planned Date to set payment dates
Instead of using the due date to schedule BPAY payments, you can use the "Planned date" feature in Xero.
Set the "planned date" to tell us when bills should be paid and use the "due date" to record your vendor's due date.
This is a simple and powerful way to add an additional approval step in Xero (with audit tracking) for second approvers.
And if your BPAY bills are locked for month-end or year end, it means you don't need to unlock a 'locked' bill to schedule payments.
Optional payment approval step
Approve the BPAY bill in Parakeet
Enable approvals in Parakeet for extra control.
You can set up the BPAY bills in Xero and either you or another approver can approve the bills in Parakeet.
For BPAY autopay, after approval, we schedule & pay the bill on the due date.
For BPAY batching, after approval, the BPAY batch is generated on the day it is approved.
Helping Australia's business community
Reconciliation - We create the chart of accounts in Xero for you and...
Sort out the book keeping entries too
Every BPAY bill paid (or batched) is individually marked as paid in Xero and closed out correctly to save you time and effort.
For any BPAY bills you paid via Card, we create a 'spend money' in Xero and record it against the interim clearing account and book it under your new surcharge expense account.
You can of course, customise where you like to book these entries.
Finally, we 'net' the amount you paid into a 'Final Clearing' account (we establish for you) so when you download and reconcile your bank statement, you will see the net amount, ready for you to 'match' off.
In this example, we paid 30 BPAY bills totalling $6,187.50.
Now instead of your allocating the $6,187.50 entry to the 30 BPAY bills, you simply have to do a "1 - click transfer" to your 'Parakeet AP Clearing (Final)' account.
Reconciliation done.
What users think of our Xero BPAY integration
Do you handle more complex BPAY scenarios? No problems.
We work with finance and accounts team to simplify complex BPAY scenarios.
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We handle high volumes of BPAY payments on behalf of your customers. e.g. health care providers, NDIS providers, property managers, lease agents and franchises.
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Create custom workflows to cater for different BPAY Customer Reference Numbers (CRN) each time.
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Bulk update of BPAY biller codes & CRN into Xero
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Automatically allocate use of different bank accounts based on legal entities
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These capabilities work with both BPAY batching and Auto-pay options.
14 days free trial, Group savings available
Simplify your BPAY bills
Fixed Fee Pricing
POPULAR
Growth Plan
$200 per month
Inclusions
1,200 bills paid / batched per year
After 1,200th Bill
$1.90 per bill
Inclusions resets every 12 months
Group membership savings
Available on all plans.
See here for details
Monthly Memberships Plans
Start with 14 days free trial
Then select one of the plans below
Growth Plan
$200 per month
1,200 bills per year
$1.90 per bill thereafter
Scale-Up Plan
$400 per month
3,000 bills per year
$1.75 per bill thereafter
Established Plan
$750 per month
6,000 bills per year
$1.65 per bill thereafter
Large Plan
$1,300 per month
12,000 bills per year
$1.45 per bill thereafter
Enterprise Plan
Price on application
>12,000 bills per year
Enquire for custom pricing
Group membership savings
Available on all plans.
See here for details
Group membership savings
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Applies when 5 or more businesses connect to Parakeet
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Five businesses = 5%
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Twelve businesses = 12%
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Maximum of 15%
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Savings apply to all the plans subscribed by the group.
All membership packages include:
Integration & on-boarding:
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Xero integration
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Free onboarding session
Bills module:
(Watch the bills module demo here)
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Automated bills payment (including EFT)
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BPAY batching or Auto-Pay
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Capture early payment discounts
Frequently asked questions
1. What options do I have with managing BPAY out of Xero?
You have 2 options.
You can choose between our fully automated BPAY bill payment solution OR start with Parakeet emailing you BPAY batches for you to upload before or on the due date.
In both options, Parakeet still automates the process of applying payment and reconciliation entries for these bills. The only difference is whether we make the payment for you, or you choose to receive a BPAY batch to upload into your banking platform. Download our free guide here.
You can select which option you like to start with when you sign up here.
2. Can I just use Parakeet for BPAY and not EFT?
Yes. We can either automate the payment of all your BPAY bills or just provide you with the BPAY batch.
We can exclude normal non-BPAY vendor payments.
You will tell us when you sign up, which option you like to select.
3. For BPAY batches, which bank formats do you support?
Our BPAY batch formats supports National Australia Bank, Westpac, CBA (Commbiz), Bankwest, Macquarie Bank.
If your bank is not listed, it means they are not compatible for BPAY batch. In this case, you can choose the Auto-Pay option which automates your complete BPAY payment with us.
4. Can you pay the same BPAY biller BUT with different reference numbers each time? Can you automate this?
Yes we can. Refer here to find out more.
5. How about reconciliation? Do you apply the payment to the bill?
Yes we do.
Every bill that we manage, whether via our full automation option or BPAY batch file email option, we automatically apply that payment to the bill.
When it comes to do your bank reconciliation, you simply use our '1-click-n transfer' to the Clearing Account we established for you.
6. How does it work?
In 3 steps.
1) Update BPAY biller details into Xero Contacts
2) Configure your Parakeet account & Connect to Xero
3) Approve your bills in Xero (either using Xero's approval or other approval apps such as Approval Max, etc)
7. Where do I provide the BPAY details?
You input the BPAY and customer reference number (CRN) into the 'batch payments' section of your Xero contacts.
Refer to here.
8. What do I need to prepare?
As long as your Xero contacts are populated with the correct information & bills are in the awaiting payments queue in Xero, then that is all you need to do.
9. What about non-BPAY suppliers/vendors?
Yes, we manage those too in exactly the same way.
The only change is the different information we need in your Xero contacts.
10. Can I pay my BPAY bills via Credit Cards and/or Bank Accounts?
Using BPAY batching option:
You will manage this when you upload the BPAY batch to your internet banking platform. Unfortunately, we will not know if a BPAY biller accepts cards or bank accounts only.
Using Full automated solution:
Yes, you load your Bank Accounts and Credit Cards into your Parakeet Wallet and rank your payment methods in order or preference. We will pay your BPAY bills using your prioritised payment method.
11. When do you pay my BPAY billers?
Using BPAY batching option:
We generate the BPAY batch file and email it to you either 1 day (customiseable) before the 'Due Date' you set in Xero or on the due date itself.
Using Full automated solution:
We use the 'Due Date' you set in Xero. We do recommend you take into account the Clearing time (next question) required based on different payment methods.
12. How long does it take for the funds to reach the billers?
Using BPAY batching option:
Usually the next business day.
Using Full automated solution:
If you are paying via Bank Accounts, it is +3 business days for Clearing by the Banks. Otherwise if you are paying via Credit Cards, it is +1 Business days for Clearing by the Card network.
13. What volumes can you handle?
Any. Whether you are doing 5 or 1000 bills per week, our platform and processes will scale with you.
14. If I try it and don't like it, can I switch it off?
Yes, you can. It's a simple toggle to switch it off.
15. Can you take a BPAY Batch I have and pay it for me?
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