Startup Idea: Automated ACH Payment System for Manufacturing Enterprise

Startup idea to develop an enhanced software module for an outdated enterprise system (Made2Manage), dedicated to automating ACH payments to vendors. The envisioned software should allow encoding of bank details, segregate ACH and check payees, generate unique transactions numbers, and produce an uploadable .txt file for ACH templates. The aim is to improve efficiency, reduce costs and facilitate just-in-time payments in a manufacturing accounts payable environment.

I work in a manufacturing environment in accounts payable. My biggest pain point is in issuing and mailing paper checks to vendors. I have had too many checks lost or damaged in the mail, necessitating voiding the check in our enterprise system, placing a stop payment (for $25.00) on the check with the bank and reissuing the check.

I would love to have a software component added to our enterprise system (an outdated software called Made2Manage) that would automate sending ACH payments to vendors. My ideal software would 1) allow us to encode bank routing and account information into the vendor profile, 2) differentiate ACH payees from check payees on the profile so that when I perform a check run, the ACH payees would automatically be excluded (and when I do an ACH run, the check payees would be excluded), 3) create a distinct transaction number to differentiate between ACH and check payment in case the funds do not settle correctly, and 4) create an uploadable .txt file that our CFO or our bank could import and use to populate ACH template(s).

A software that allowed this would eliminate payment delays to vendors due to mail delivery interruptions, and it would reduce the cost of payments because we would not have to print checks (specialized paper and MICR toner) and pay for the postage and envelopes to mail them. It would also allow for just-in-time payments, whereas paying by check necessitates running checks a week earlier than their due date to allow for transit time. We have asked a Made2Manage consultant about any possibilities of automating the payment process, but I am not aware that they offered any solutions.