ABA Format File Details
The ABA (Australian Bankers Association) or Cemtext file format is a standardized format used by banks for batch transactions.
ABA File Format Overview
Each line in an ABA file is a “record”. An ABA file has three main records, the descriptive record, a detail record for each transaction and the file total record at the end.
The first character position of each new record indicates what type of record it is. An ABA record is exactly 120 characters long (excluding new line characters).
Record Types
Descriptive Record (Type 0)
This is the header record that appears at the start of the file.
| Char Pos | Field Size | Field Description | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Record Type 0 | Must be ‘0’ |
| 2-18 | 17 | Blank | Must be space filled |
| 19-20 | 2 | Reel Sequence Number | Must be numeric starting at 01. Right justified, zero filled |
| 21-23 | 3 | Name of User’s Financial Institution | Must be approved Financial Institution abbreviation. Bank of Queensland’s abbreviation is BQL, Westpac’s abbreviation is “WBC”. Consult your Bank for correct abbreviation. |
| 24-30 | 7 | Blank | Must be space filled |
| 31-56 | 26 | Name of User supplying file | Must be User Preferred Specification as advised by User’s FI. Left justified, blank filled. All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks. |
| 57-62 | 6 | ID of User supplying file | Must be User Identification Number which is allocated by APCA. Must be numeric, right justified, zero filled. |
| 63-74 | 12 | Description of entries on file e.g. “PAYROLL” | All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks. Left justified, blank filled. |
| 75-80 | 6 | Date to be processed (i,e. the date transactions are released to all Financial Institutions) | Must be numeric in the formal of DDMMYY. Must be a valid date. Zero filled. |
| 81-120 | 40 | Blank | Must be space filled |
Note: all unused fields must be blank filled
An example type 0 descriptive record for a user name “MY NAME” for the bank BQL is shown below. Note trailing spaces may not be apparent.
0 01BQL MY NAME 1111111004231633 230410
Detail Record (Type 1)
These records contain the individual transaction details. An optional terminating balancing record is required by some banks to net out the debits and credits totals.
| Char Pos | Field Size | Field Description | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Record Type 1 | Must be ‘1’ |
| 2-8 | 7 | Bank/State/Branch Number | Must be numeric with hyphen in character position 5. Character positions 2 and 3 must equal valid Financial Institution number. Character position 4 must equal a valid state number (0-9). For credits to Employee Benefits Card accounts, field must always contain BSB 032-898 |
| 9-17 | 9 | Account number to be credited/debited | Numeric, hyphens and blanks only are valid. Must not contain all blanks (unless a credit card transaction) or zeros. Leading zeros which are part of a valid account number must be shown, e.g. 00-1234. Where account number exceeds nine characters, edit out hyphens. Right justified, blank filled. For credits to Employee Benefits Card accounts, Account Number field must always be 999999 |
| 18 | 1 | Indicator | ”N” – for new or varied Bank/State/Branch number or name details, otherwise blank filled. Withholding Tax Indicators: “W” – dividend paid to a resident of a country where a double tax agreement is in force. “X” – dividend paid to a resident of any other country. “Y” – interest paid to all non-residents. The amount of withholding tax is to appear in character positions 113-120. Note: Where withholding tax has been deducted the appropriate Indicator as shown above is to be used and will override the normal indicator. |
| 19-20 | 2 | Transaction Code | Usually 53 (see Transaction Codes section) |
| 21-30 | 10 | Amount | Only numeric valid. Must be greater than zero. Shown in cents without punctuations. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned. |
| 31-62 | 32 | Title of Account to be credited/debited | All coded character set valid. Must not be all blanks. Left justified, blank filled. Desirable Format for Transaction Account credits: - Surname (period) Blank - given name with blanks between each name |
| 63-80 | 18 | Lodgement Reference | All coded character set valid. Field must be left justified. No leading spaces, zeroes, hyphens or other characters can be included. For Employee Benefits Card payments, must contain only the 16 character Employee Benefits Card number; for example 5550033890123456. |
| 81-87 | 7 | Trace Record (BSB Number in format XXX-XXX) | Bank (FI)/State/Branch and account number of User to enable retracing of the entry to its source if necessary. Only numeric and hyphens valid. Character positions 81 & 82 must equal a valid Financial Institution number. Character position 83 must equal a valid State number (0-9). Character position 84 must be a hyphen. |
| 88-96 | 9 | Trace Account Number | Right justified, blank filled |
| 97-112 | 16 | Name of Remitter | Name of originator of the entry. This may vary from Name of the User. All coded character set valid. Must not contain all blanks. Left justified, blank filled. |
| 113-120 | 8 | Amount of Withholding Tax | Numeric only valid. Show in cents without punctuation. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned. |
Note: all unused fields must be blank filled
An example type 1 detail record is shown below. Note the transaction code is 53 and that the account number is ficticious. Multiple type 1 detail records are combined to create a full batch.
1000-000157108231 530000001234S R SMITH TEST BATCH 062-000 12223123MY ACCOUNT 00001200
File Total Record (Type 7)
This record appears at the end of the file and contains control totals. If the optional balancing record is included, then the credit and debit totals will be equal and the net total amount will be zero.
| Char Pos | Field Size | Field Description | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Record Type 7 | Must be ‘7’ |
| 2-8 | 7 | BSB Format Filler | Must be ‘999-999’ |
| 9-20 | 12 | Blank | Must be space filled |
| 21-30 | 10 | File (User) Net Total Amount | Numeric only valid. Must equal the difference between File Credit & File Debit Total Amounts. Show in cents without punctuation. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned. |
| 31-40 | 10 | File (User) Credit Total Amount | Numeric only valid. Must equal the accumulated total of credit Detail Record amounts. Show in cents without punctuation. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned. |
| 41-50 | 10 | File (User) Debit Total Amount | Numeric only valid. Must equal the accumulated total of debit Detail Record amounts. Show in cents without punctuation. Right justified, zero filled. Unsigned. |
| 51-74 | 24 | Blank | Must be space filled |
| 75-80 | 6 | File (user) count of Records Type 1 | Numeric only valid. Must equal accumulated number of Record Type 1 items on the file. Right justified, zero filled. |
| 81-120 | 40 | Blank | Must be space filled |
Note: all unused fields must be blank filled
An example type 8 file total record is shown below. The net total and credit total amounts assume four of the above example type 1 records were included in the batch (record count = 4). Note the example below may not show all trailing spaces.
7999-999 000312924700031292470000000000 000004
Special Notes
Transaction Codes
Generally you only need to use the transaction code “53 - Pay” in your ABA file, however valid codes are as follows. Note that some transaction codes are debits and others are credits, and some require withholding tax column to be filled.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 13 | Externally initiated debit items |
| 50 | Externally initiated credit items with the exception of those bearing Transaction Codes |
| 51 | Australian Government Security Interest |
| 52 | Family Allowance |
| 53 | Pay |
| 54 | Pension |
| 55 | Allotment |
| 56 | Dividend |
| 57 | Debenture/Note Interest |
Employee Benefits Card Accounts
For payments to Employee Benefit Card Accounts:
- BSB must always be 032-898
- Account number must always be 999999
- Lodgement Reference must contain only the 16-character Employee Benefits Card number
Withholding Tax Indicators
- W: Dividend paid to resident of country with double tax agreement
- X: Dividend paid to resident of other countries
- Y: Interest paid to all non-residents
