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This guide details how reconciliation works for partners with platform-issued account numbers.

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Overview

ACH transactions are processed in batches during scheduled settlement windows. Settlements occur at the underlying FBO account level, including transactions initiated or received by partners through platform account numbers via API or file. Within online banking, statements, and Lead-generated daily transaction files, you’ll see bulk settlements rather than individual payment details. For platform account number reconciliation, utilize webhooks and ACH events (for real-time monitoring) combined with Lead-generated ACH Cash Recon reports, to obtain transaction-level details.
While Lead-generated daily activity reports include transactions posted to an underlying account via online banking, ACH Cash Recon reports only include ACH entries associated with platform account numbers and will not include ACH transactions initiated or posted outside of the platform.

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Same Day vs. Next Day Settlement

The processing windows set expectations on settlement time for ACH outgoing, and also set approximate expectations on when settlements should happen for inbound.
Any outgoing Same Day ACH submitted after the same-day cutoff of 3:15 p.m. CT will settle at 7:30 a.m. CT the next business day.

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Recon For API

Messages follow ACH status patterns.

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Incoming ACH Transitions

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Outgoing ACH Transitions

Except in rare validation or compliance-related circumstances where funds are moved to under_review, inbound payments will transition from scheduled to posted quickly, and webhooks sent for each status update may be helpful for different use cases. Outbound ACHs initiated via API or files go through the status changes detailed above. Lead sends webhooks containing queryable events for every status change in an inbound or outbound ACH.
Events that fire a status = posted and the event’s created_at date.timestamp is the source of truth for when funds are available at the platform account number level. It should not be expected that this time will coincide with batch settlements at the Fiserv level with any useful predictability.

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Using SFTP Reports & Online Banking For Reconciliation

The posted events reported in webhooks will coincide with individual transactions detailed in the ACH Cash Recon Report, which is dropped in your SFTP directory between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. CT the following calendar day. At the online banking level, Lead posts ACH payments to your underlying account in batches, as part of a net settlement during settlement windows. There are four possible batches for each window, each with its own unique AMI code, grouped as:
  • incoming debits
  • incoming credits
  • outgoing debits
  • outgoing credits

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Example Steps

Outgoing API Credit Transaction
1

First

On Feb 26 at 2:00 p.m CT, you call POST ACH of $100 for next day settlement and generate a record in status scheduled.
  • The API response will be a 200 and not a 202, as the creation of the payment record is asynchronous.
  • A webhook will notify of all status changes.
  • If a webhook for status manual review, Lead may ultimately reject or accept, and will send webhooks to notify of every status update in these and all cases.
2

Second

Three more next-day settlement ACHs are submitted: $200, $300, and $400, which are all in scheduled status unless and until they complete.
  • Behind the scenes, these payments are submitted in batch at the next available Fed window, governed by an effective_date we provide based on your selection of same-day or next-day processing.
3

Third

At 7:30 a.m. CT on Feb 27, Lead will receive a confirmation file from the Fed, informing us of settled payments.
4

Fourth

Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. on Feb 27, Lead updates each of next-day settlement submissions from Feb 27 to a posted status, triggering webhooks, allowing for immediate recon.
All files delivered to your SFTP folder on February 27 contain details only for February 26 settlements. As a result, none of the February 27 payments will appear in these files. In online banking, you will see a single aggregated settlement of $1,000 representing the four payments, without individual transaction details.
5

Fifth

On Feb 28, the ACH Cash Recon report including Feb 27 settlements will show the breakdown that includes each transaction. Likewise the transactions will be included in the Feb 28 Daily Transactions file dropped by Lead, but as a $1000 bulk settlement, just like what’s been visible in the Portal UI since the morning of Feb 27.

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Settlement Exceptions

Manual Adjustments Lead’s Payment Operations team may need to perform a fully manual ACH adjustment. These individual “monetary adjustment” entries will appear as single line items in the Lead-generated daily transaction report. Inbound ACH Payments Entry-level validations may capture and handle issues, which can include:
  • If targeted account_number does not exist on our platform, or a platform account_number is used with a Fiserv routing number, Lead will turn these payments around as returns with reason “account not found,” so that clients will not expect to see activity in any report nor as a webhook/event.
  • A payment moves from scheduled to under_review on T, and remains under review until T+1; then moves to posted on T+1. This will produce the webhook and created_at date.time stamp for T+1 and will show in the ACH Cash Recon report on T+2 for T+1 transactions.
    • Example: Target account_number is in inactive status, and the client is prompted to reactivate the account_number to receive the payment.