pennsylvania scdu electronic payment guide

Pennsylvania SCDU Electronic Payment Guide SCDU-EPG 9/7/2006

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Pennsylvania SCDU Electronic Payment Guide


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I. Purpose and Scope .................................................................................................................................. 3 II. Background ............................................................................................................................................ 3 III. Process .................................................................................................................................................. 5 IV. ExpertPaySM .......................................................................................................................................... 6 V. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) ......................................................................................................... 15 VI. Child Support Application Banking Convention................................................................................. 20 VII. 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice Transaction Set .................................................................. 25 VIII. Child Support Mapping .................................................................................................................... 25 IX. Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 37 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................ 44 Attachment A ............................................................................................................................................. 49


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I. Purpose and Scope The purpose of this guide is to provide Pennsylvania employers and their respective financial institutions with the current formats, definitions and implementation recommendations to remit child support payments and payment information electronically via ExpertPaySM and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, according to current conventions and standards. These methods speed up the income-withholding process and allow employers to realize the convenience and security of ExpertPaySM, as well as the numerous benefits of electronic funds transfer (EFT). The Child Support Application Banking Convention provides employers with an electronic method for sending child support obligations withheld from employees’ wages to the State Collection and Disbursement Unit (SCDU) by means of ACH credit payments. The funds and payment information for these payments, which are originated by the employer’s financial institution through the ACH Network, is transferred electronically, thereby offering the employer a more attractive alternative to the less efficient practice of issuing a check with a detailed paper listing of the employees whose wages were garnished. Pennsylvania employers have the option of remitting child support payments online, via ExpertPaySM. ExpertPaySM utilizes 128-bit encryption technology that makes it extremely secure, and it’s very user-friendly, making it a safe and efficient alternative for remitting payments electronically. ExpertPaySM is free for employers remitting child support garnishments to the State of Pennsylvania. Employers in the State of Pennsylvania also have the option of remitting payments electronically utilizing the NACHA (National Automated Clearing House) CTX (Corporate Trade Exchange) format containing an Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice Transaction Set. (ASC X12 is the inter-industry standard-setting authority for EDI). Use of the CTX/820 enables an employer to send multiple child support payments with remittance information in one transaction to the SCDU. With a maximum allowance of 9,999 Addenda Records, the CTX format allows the entire 820 transaction set to be “enveloped” within the ACH format. Table 1 of the ASC X12 820 conveys the gross payment amount, while Table 2 details information for each employee covered by those payments using the DED (Deduction) data segment. A banking convention typically refers to a standard format for the presentation of data within a single Addenda Record. When that convention is incorporated into the X12 standard, it is referred to as a data segment. This document depicts the status of the DED data segment of the ASC X12 820 per version release 4010, published in December 1999 by the Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA). (DISA is the secretariat of the ASC X12). II. Background Increasing rates of divorce and single-parent families have focused a great deal of attention on the well-being of our nation's children, generating considerable activity in federal and state government legislation and supporting agencies. Recognizing the changes occurring and the implications of these changes on our society, Congress enacted a number of programs to help in the collection and disbursement of child support payments.


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In 1975 Congress established the Child Support Enforcement Program with the passage of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. This program provided a federally- funded, state-based system for:

establishing paternity; establishing child support orders; collecting support payments, and disbursing funds collected.

The Child Support Enforcement Program provides Title IV-D services to families receiving assistance under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Foster Care and Medicaid programs. Title IV-D services also include families who formerly received assistance under these programs and any other family who applies for IV-D services. As a group, these are typically referred to as "IV-D" cases. Private, attorney-based, child support cases are known as "non-IV-D" cases (i.e., private cases). Child support obligations collected for families in the TANF and Foster Care programs have historically been used to repay government assistance the families have received through these programs. Child support obligations collected for families who are not receiving government assistance go directly to those families to help them remain self-sufficient. Further changing the landscape of family legislation, amendments were made to the Child Support Enforcement Program in 1984, 1988, and 1996. The Family Support Act of 1988 made income withholding the primary method for collecting child support obligations and mandated the method by which income-withholding is transmitted from employers to child support enforcement entities. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 required that all states establish centralized collection and disbursement sites in order to further strengthen the child support program. The Pennsylvania State Collections and Disbursement Unit (PA SCDU) provides employers the opportunity to electronically remit support payments to one central location for all cases in the State of Pennsylvania. The State is required to receive payments electronically and to disburse payments to custodial parents within two (2) days of receipt. Every day, thousands of paper checks arrive at the PA SCDU, as well as other SCDU’s all over the country. They must be opened, scanned, identified, deposited, credited to the appropriate non-custodial parent(s), and turned into disbursement payments for custodial parents. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) reported that in 2002, $20 billion in child support payments was collected, seventy-six percent of which came from employers deducting child support obligations from their employees’ paychecks as required by law. While the benefits to taxpayers and children have been proven, mandatory income withholding has also resulted in an increased administrative burden on employers. For this reason, the value of the second component of the legislation, which requires that the SCDU be able to accept withholdings and send and receive interstate child support collections transmitted using EFT technology, has become evident.


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III. Process An employer is notified to withhold the wages of a particular employee via an income withholding order or notice, generated either from a court or state or local child support enforcement agency. The order/notice instructs the employer to withhold wages from an employee and serves as the employer’s legal basis for doing so. The order/notice includes contact information where the employer can obtain the PA SCDU’s bank information for sending payments electronically. The employer should contact the PA SCDU to determine which payment format(s) it’s capable of receiving (PA SCDU has the capability of receiving the CTX, and CCT+ formats). The employer should also contact its own financial institution to determine its EFT capabilities, and seek assistance with formats, standards, and technical requirements to implement this application. In order to transfer the funds and data, the employer transmits the payment instructions and remittance information to its financial institution. The financial institution then originates the ACH entries to transfer the payments and remittance information through the ACH Network to the financial institution of the PA SCDU. Once received, the PA SCDU’s financial institution posts the funds to its account and provides the remittance information (EDI ASC X12 820) associated with those payments in the format agreed upon with that entity. PA SCDU in turn updates its records, credits the non-custodial parent’s account, and disburses payment. If the custodial parent resides in a different state, PA SCDU will transfer the funds and payment data, often using EFT technology to the SCDU in the appropriate jurisdiction for disbursement to the custodial parent. Remitting a child support payment electronically eliminates the recurring time and expense of preparing lists of employee remittance information for each payroll and mailing that data along with paper checks. It also eliminates recurring postage costs. And because the remittance information is transmitted electronically and is not entered by hand, the chances for payment application errors are greatly diminished. Employers who remit child support payments to PA SCDU have the flexibility of choosing one of two electronic payment methods: ExpertPaySM

ExpertPaySM is an innovative and secure (128-bit encryption technology), web-based solution found at www.expertpay.com. ExpertPaySM allows employers to manage every aspect of the payment process with a click of the mouse. And ExpertPaySM is FREE to employers who remit child support payments to the State of Pennsylvania. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) By using EFT, employers can send payments electronically via their own financial institution, which will originate an ACH credit transaction to PA SCDU. Employers should check with their financial

http://www.expertpay.com/


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institution to see if it offers an ACH credit origination service and whether or not they (the employer) are eligible to use this service. Employers should also inquire about fees, capabilities, and deadlines.

IV. ExpertPaySM

We are happy to offer employers who remit payments to PA SCDU a free option to remit payments electronically. We hope you will find ExpertPaySM a useful tool in the payment of employee child support. Following is a step-by-step guide for employers to access, register for, and use ExpertPaySM. It is our goal to provide our customers with a website that minimizes the effort of making child support payments. However, if at any time you have a question or concern, you can get help at one of the numbers listed below. If you have a general question or concern about ExpertPaySM, please feel free to contact a PA SCDU customer support representative at 877-676-9580, Monday–Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time. Employers may utilize ExpertPaySM to remit all child support payments. There is no charge to employers for payments remitted to the PA SCDU. However, if you have questions regarding fees for payments remitted to other states, please contact an ExpertPaySM customer support representative using the contact information listed on the ExpertPaySM website, www.expertpay.com or refer to “fees” link on employer homepage to view the state by state breakdown of costs. Online help is available via e-mail at [email protected], where a representative will be happy to answer any questions you may have and guide you through the process. If you would like you may also call Customer Service at ExpertPaySM at 1-800-403-0879 Eastern Standard Time. Employer Registration for ExpertPaySM: If you are new to ExpertPaySM, click on the “New Users Register by Clicking Here” link on the ExpertPaySM website, www.expertpay.com. This will take you to the registration screen shown on the following page.


mailto:[email protected]



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Most of the information required is pretty self-explanatory. However there is also an option to “Request for Profile Upload’. The profile upload functionality allows employers to electronically upload payment information to ExpertPaySM. For more information on the upload and its requirements, click on the help link provided. ExpertPay provides the ability for employers to send a file with the employer payment profile data for upload into ExpertPay. This service will only be available to employers that have requested and been approved for the service. Click Here for more information on ExpertPay's profile upload function. To request this service, please check the following field.

Request for Profile Upload

Once you have entered the necessary information, click on “Continue,” and verify that the information is accurate. After you have verified the information, click “Continue,” which will bring you to the terms and conditions (terms of service) of the website. You must then click on the “I Agree” button in order for your account to be registered. You will receive your account number and password via e-mail. Your confirmation e-mail containing your account number and password will also contain a link to the ExpertPaySM website. You can then go to the website and enter your user ID and password to access ExpertPaySM. (If you forget your password, a new password can be obtained by entering your user name in the “Have you forgotten your password?” box on the ExpertPaySM home page.) After you have successfully signed in, the account summary page (the employer home page) will be displayed. The options listed in the navigation menu on the left side of the screen allow employers to enter, edit, and/or delete information, and complete payment transactions. How to Make Child Support Payments via ExpertPaySM

Once you have registered for ExpertPaySM, there are three basic steps to complete in order to make your first payment. To begin with, some employers or NCPs may want to change their password, or employers may want to add other users to the ExpertPaySM system. Instructions on how to complete these tasks are found below, in the “Change Password” and “Manage Users” sections. If you are satisfied with the password you received from ExpertPaySM via email—or if you are the only user in your company that needs access to the ExpertPaySM system—you can skip this step. Before an employer can make a payment, details about the employer’s bank account and the employees for whom child support payments are being withheld must be entered into the ExpertPaySM system. Instructions on how to add or change a bank account and how to enter and edit the profile of employee and employer information can be found on pages 9-10. To make a child support payment on behalf of an employee, employers must access the Payment Center option of ExpertPaySM. See pages 11 & 12 for details about the options available within the Payment Center— including how to set up a profile for recurring (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly) and one-time payments. Other information about ExpertPaySM, including online reports and costs associated with ExpertPaySM, can be found on pages 13 & 14. Change Password This option allows you to change your assigned password to a personalized one. Enter the old password; next, enter the new password you have chosen, then enter the new password again to confirm it.

https://www.expertpay.com/help/WebHelp_emp/emp_uploads_overview.htm


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Manage Users This option allows the primary user to create secondary users. The primary user is the individual who originally registered, or originally registered the company with ExpertPaySM. (The primary user can be changed at any time by contacting a customer support representative using the contact information listed on the ExpertPaySM website, www.expertpay.com. The primary user may add or delete a secondary user, but only an ExpertPaySM customer support representative can change the primary user.) After you log in to ExpertPaySM, click on the “Manage Users” button on the left side of the screen; you will then click on “Add User.” The screen shown on the next page will appear. The primary user has the ability to limit the actions of the secondary users on the website by adjusting the options under “User Permissions” on the Employer User Permissions Detail screen by clicking on the drop-down boxes.

Withholding Payment: Grants the user access to the payment amount. Options are “None,” “View,” and “Modify.”

Withholding Profile: Grants the user access to details about the employer’s ExpertPaySM profile, bank account, and employee information. Options are “None,” “View,” and “Modify.”

Payment Submission: Grants the user the right to submit a withholding payment for processing. Options are “None” and “Submit.”

Transaction History Report: Grants the user access to a report of past transactions. Options are “None” and “View.”

Withholding Profile Report: Grants the user access to a report of employees and withholding amounts. Options are “None” and “View.”

Payment History Report: Grants the user access to a report of past payments. Options are “None” and “View.”

Bank Accounts The Bank Accounts option allows an employer to enter the bank accounts from which the support payments will be debited. Under this option, an employer must enter a routing number, account number, account type, and a maximum payment amount, as well as check the appropriate box if this is a default



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bank account. After the information is entered, a verification screen will appear. Review the information and click “Yes” if the information is correct. If the information is incorrect, click “No” to correct the error. If you click “Yes,” you have successfully added/created a bank account. For new or updated bank accounts, the first payment will be held for verification purposes for an additional two (2) business days before it is debited, in addition to the normal payment cycle described on page 11. If a user has more than one account, additional accounts may be added by clicking on “New Bank Account” and repeating the process. Payment Profiles After logging in to ExpertPaySM, click on “Payment Profiles” and the following screen will appear:

The “Payment Profiles” option allows you to name your profile (for example, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.). Once you name the profile, you will choose the bank account from which the payment will be deducted. If the information is correct, click on the “Save and Update” button. After you save the profile you will see a payment profile summary. On this screen you can add, edit, or delete employees to the profile. When you click on the “Add Employee” button, the screen on the following page will appear:


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Enter the appropriate employee information. In Pennsylvania, the state identification number for an employee is the PACSES Member Number (a 10-digit number). If the information is correct, click “Continue.” This will allow the system to search for that employee. The search produces the screen of possible matches shown below.

If no matches are found, the following screen will appear:


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If no matches are found, recheck the information to verify its accuracy. If you have entered the correct information and still no match is found, simply click “Override” and accept the data as entered. In all cases, it is the employer’s responsibility to have the correct data for his/her employee. Payment Center After logging in to ExpertPaySM click on “Payment Center” and the following three payment options will appear:

Prepare Payment Prepare One-Time Payment Setup Recurring Payment

Select a Payment Profile and click Continue to prepare a new payment details.

Select a Profile

Note: After you submit a one-time payment, none of the data will be saved

for reuse. To save the employee information for future payments, add it to

a new or existing payment profile.

You may use your existing Payment Profile(s) to setup a

recurring payment.

On this screen you must first choose your payment profile by clicking on the drop box arrow and making a selection. Then click “Continue.” You will then enter the Payment Detail screen. Enter the effective date, which is the date on which ExpertPaySM debits money from the employer bank account. The employer also has the option to make a one-time payment. Any information included in the one-time payment preparation will not be saved in the system. Additionally an employer may elect to set up a recurring payment. Once you begin this process, select the profile for which you would like to initiate a recurring payment for and click continue. (Note: An employer also has the option to add cases manually to this payment.). Next, make sure you have a bank account selected for which the payment will be debited from. The employee list for this payment will appear at the bottom of the screen. Validate that all the information is correct as is and click continue. The next screen will give you the option to choose, payment frequency (i.e. weekly, biweekly, etc), Number of payments you want to be recurring (i.e. until x payments have been made, pay until further notice, or pay until a specified date). Also select an effective date for the first payment that will begin the recurring payment. Click “continue”. Lastly, verify all information is correct and then click “submit payment”. (Note: This debit effective date also determines when the credit data will go to the PA SCDU. With existing accounts, the process takes two to three business days from the debit effective date to the time the payment gets to the PA SCDU. New or updated accounts will require an additional two (2) business days for verification as described on page 9, for a total of four to five business days to get the first payment information to the PA SCDU). You will then complete the following steps:

Select a withholding date (date employer deducts money from an employee). Choose which bank account you wish to have debited. Click to save and update. This will bring you back to the Payment Center screen.


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The payment list in the “Payment Center” screen displays the child support withholding profiles. Each profile will have buttons at the far right of its respective row that are used to submit (S), edit (E), cancel (C), or view (V) a payment. The availability of the buttons depends upon the status of the payment. Additionally, the Payment Center option allows any changes to be made to your list of employees. However, making changes in this screen will not edit the employee permanently. Making corrections in the Payment Center option—such as deleting an employee due to termination or no deductions—will only be effective for that pay period. (Note: In order to permanently delete an employee, an employer must update that employee’s information in the Payment Profile screen. See “Changing or Deleting an Employee’s Information,” page 13.) The list appears as shown below:

The first row in the example above indicates that the payment is in progress and will take effect on June 4. The payment can only be viewed because it is already in progress. The last row shows that the payment has only been submitted and can still be edited or cancelled. Any payment submitted after 8 PM Eastern Time will be processed on the next business day. A payment may be edited or cancelled until 8 PM Eastern Time on the day it is entered. After 8 PM Eastern Time, the payment is processed and it’s up to the employer to correct any errors by contacting ExpertPaySM customer support using the contact information listed on the ExpertPaySM website, www.expertpay.com. ExpertPaySM is not responsible or liable for employer error in entering payment information. Other Information About ExpertPaySM

Reports Menu Links to three different reports that may be viewed by an employer are available on the Reports Menu Screen:

Payment Transaction Report Payment Profile Report Employee Payment History Report



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To view any of these reports, the employer must enter a date range in which the transaction took place, and click “Retrieve.” For the Employee Payment History report an employer will also need to enter the employee’s Social Security number. Changing or Deleting an Employee’s Information As stated above, editing or deleting an employee within the Payment Center is only effective for that payment, not for all future payments. To make a change in an employee’s information (e.g., withholding amount) or to permanently delete an employee, you must edit the Payment Profile. To reach the Payment Profile screen, log in to ExpertPaySM and choose the “Payment Profile” link from the list of options. Select the payment profile you wish to edit (e.g., weekly, monthly), and either edit the appropriate information, or delete the employee’s record. Further information on the Payment Center can be found on pages 11 and 12. Costs Employers who remit payments to the PA SCDU will not be charged for those remittances. There may be a cost to remit child support payments to other states however. If you have any questions regarding fees charged for remittances to other states, please contact an ExpertPaySM customer support representative using the contact information listed on the ExpertPaySM website, www.expertpay.com. The information below appears in the ExpertPaySM Terms of Service Agreement:

FEES ExpertPaySM receives payment information from employers and debits employer bank accounts to offset the cumulative payment transactions. All payments are forwarded to the government agency in a state the day funds are available. In effect, ExpertPaySM acts as a clearing and distribution system that permits an employer to interact with many states from a single web site. Fees are charged to an employer for returned items and these fees are recovered through ACH debit to the employer’s bank account. There are three types of fees - fees for providing incorrect banking information, fees for returned debits due to non-sufficient funds and fees for employer initiated reversals. RETURN FEE Any payment submitted by you that is returned to ACS due to incorrect bank information supplied by you on your member account will result in a $20.00 fee. This occurs when there is invalid bank information (routing or account information) or closed accounts. This fee will be debited from your updated account prior to any future use of the service. The payments that were originally submitted and resulted in the return will be stopped and must be re-submitted by you. NON-SUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE Any payment submitted that is returned to ACS for non-sufficient funds will result in a $50.00 NSF fee. This fee will be debited from your account prior to any future use of the service. The payments that were originally submitted but resulted in the NSF will be stopped and must be re-submitted by you [When you submit payments using EXPERTPAY, an ACH debit is sent to your account(s) to withdraw the funds. The funds will then show as being received in our account and withdrawn from your account on the “settlement date”. However, if your account did not have the funds to cover the EXPERTPAY debit amount, then your Bank will notify EXPERTPAY within 2 days that the payment was NSF, and our account is debited. As a precaution, EXPERTPAY holds all funds until we are confident that the funds have cleared your Bank. We then send to the appropriate state child support agency. If an NSF notice is received, we will cancel your



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original payment, and assess your account the $50.00 fee. Note, this is in addition to any fees your own Bank may charge.

V. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) This section is not applicable to employers who submit payments via ExpertPaySM. This section contains information about Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). For most employers, this information will be most useful to either a systems administrator making changes to a company’s existing EFT systems or to the financial institution through which your company submits an EFT payment. Introduction To begin submitting payments via EFT, it is necessary to choose the method your company wishes to use to submit payments, and then coordinate with your payroll office, technical staff, and your financial institution. In order to transmit child support payments using EFT, you must be able to generate a file that can be transmitted to your bank. Your bank should be able to instruct you on how to submit electronic payment information. Development of this electronic processing capability may be accomplished “in-house” by your own technical staff via software provided by your bank or by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. The PA SCDU can also provide you with software that will facilitate this process. Your bank must then be able to transmit the file—including the addenda records—to the automated clearing house (ACH). The ACH releases the file on the appointed date to the PA SCDU bank (Wachovia Bank), which forwards the file information, including the addenda records, to the PA SCDU for posting to the obligors’ cases as indicated in the addenda record. Certification Process We have established a certification process to help you prepare for your initial EFT submission. The certification process consists of two major components:

Data Cleanup: ensures that the data is complete and accurate so payments are not delayed at the PA SCDU for manual intervention and processing.

Pre-Note Transaction: ensures that you have the correct destination bank account at Wachovia recorded in your system. It is not necessary to remit a “penny test file.” A zero-dollar pre-note transaction is sufficient to ensure that you have the correct account information.

Both the Cleanup and Pre-Note processes are not mandatory, but highly recommended.

Data Cleanup To ensure a smooth transition to EFT, it is important that the information submitted with your file is correct. While we stress the importance of this clean-up it is not required to begin to send EFT files. You may email a listing of your current cases to [email protected]. We will then validate the information against the Pennsylvania automated child support system.

mailto:[email protected]


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The verification will include the following items: 1. Member Number: This is a 10-digit case identifier. 2. Social Security Number (SSN): The obligor’s unique identification number. 3. Obligor Name Once we have validated the information we will notify you of any changes or additions. Pre-Note Transaction Once the data is certified, you will be requested to send a pre-note transaction file through the ACH system to the destination bank account at Wachovia Bank, just to be sure that the correct account information has been recorded. We recommend that you include at least one employee record to ensure that the addenda record formatting is correct. Again, we only require a zero-dollar pre-note transaction. You will be notified by your bank if the transaction fails. While a prenote is important PA-SCDU does not require it prior to submission of EFT files. However we will stress that all information provided is the responsibility of the employer to ensure accuracy. Following is information derived from the User Guide For Electronic Child Support Payments Using the Child Support Application Banking Convention (version 2) written by the NACHA (National Automated Clearing House Association) Task Force on Electronic Child Support Payments. The complete user guide may be found at www.nacha.org. The information provided below has been modified slightly to address the needs of the PA SCDU. The following diagram illustrates the process between the employer and the SCDU:

http://www.nacha.org/


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The employer can take further advantage of EFT technology by consolidating the transmission of wage withholding for child support with its Direct Deposit of payroll as shown below:

Additionally, the SCDU and custodial parent can realize the benefits of EFT technology when direct deposit is used for the disbursement of child support payments:


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EFT Record Formats The rules and guidelines governing the formats, specifications, and exchange of ACH entries are published by NACHA. With respect to the data that is contained in the addenda records of ACH formats, the NACHA Operating Rules stipulate the type of data that may be exchanged, as well as which standards and formats are permitted, but the structure of the data contained therein is managed outside of the NACHA rules. For example, the NACHA Operating Rules permit the exchange of certain EDI messages or transaction sets (e.g., 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice) within the Addenda Records of the CTX format (for employers wishing to use the CCD+ format, please refer to Appendix A at the end of this manual), but those standards are developed and maintained by other standards development organizations, such as ASC X12 and UN/EDIFACT. The following record formats are used to convey entries through the ACH Network:

File Header Record (the 1 record) Company/Batch Header Record (the 5 record) Entry Detail Record (the 6 record) Addenda Record (the 7 record) Company/Batch Control Record (the 8 record) File Control Record (the 9 record)


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An ACH file is bound by one File Header Record and one File Control Record, which act to facilitate transmission, identification and balancing of the file. A file may be comprised of one or more batches, which are denoted by the Company/Batch Header Record and Company/Batch Control Record. These records contain information specific to all of the Entry Detail Records contained within that batch. A batch may house one or more Entry Detail Records that share certain attributes, as explained in the NACHA Operating Rules. The Entry Detail Record is the record that constitutes the payment order and is used within the banking system to execute EFT and settlement. The CTX payment format is used within the ACH Network to enable the transfer of funds between business or government entities. To exchange data along with payments using EDI technology, Addenda Records are used. Addenda Records include an 80-byte, Payment-Related Information Field within which the remittance detail is transmitted. Under the NACHA Operating Rules, the CTX format allows for the provision of 9,999 Addenda Records, which must carry a full ASC X12 transaction set or UN/EDIFACT message (the transaction set or message must be formatted correctly – including the envelope information and, in the case of the ASC X12 820, both Table1 and Table 2 shown on page 25). The NACHA record formats for CTX entries flow in the following order: Please remember the CTX must contain a fully formatted ASC X12 820 transaction set – which includes all envelopes, Table 1, and Table 2 on page 25, which can contain multiple DED loops. The syntactically correct ASC X12 820 is then broken into 80-byte segments embedded in the CTX 07addenda records. File Header Record

Company/Batch Header Record Entry Detail Record

Addenda Record (up to 9,999 addenda with 80-byte Payment Related Information Field)

Addenda Record Addenda Record Addenda Record Addenda Record

Entry Detail Record Addenda Record (up to 9,999 addenda with 80-byte Payment

Related Information Field) Addenda Record Addenda Record Addenda Record Addenda Record Addenda Record

Company/Batch Control Record File Control Record


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VI. Child Support Application Banking Convention Within the 80-position Payment Related Information Field of the CTX Addenda Record, remittance information corresponding to the child support payment made by an employer to the SCDU is presented in the following banking convention. This convention is referred to as the ‘DED’ Deduction data segment under ASC X12 syntax and is composed of ten fields:

Segment Identifier Application Identifier Case Identifier Pay Date Payment Amount Non-Custodial Parent Social Security Number Medical Support Indicator Non-Custodial Parent Name FIPS Code Employment Termination Indicator

Each field is referred to as a data element, which is the smallest named item in a record. It may represent a qualifier, a value, or text. A data element has three primary attributes - length, field requirement, and type. Each data element is identified by an element identifier which is used for reference (e.g., DED01, DED02, etc.), and each element has a specific position within the record (segment). In constructing the segment, each data element is preceded by a separator character. In the ACH, the data element separator is an asterisk (‘*’). Each segment must end with a terminator, which in the ACH is a backslash (‘\’). The following is an example of the DED segment as used in the Payment Related Information fields of the CTX Addenda Record: DED*application identifier*case identifier*pay date*payment amount*non-custodial parent ssn*medical support indicator*non-custodial parent name*FIPS code*employment termination indicator\ Note the use of the asterisk (‘*’) and backslash (‘\’). Data elements in a segment are either mandatory or optional. Data elements in a segment that are not mandatory, as defined by the standard, may be omitted. The omission of an optional element is noted by the placement of an asterisk in the place of that element. For example, if non-custodial parent name were to be omitted from the segment, it would look like this: DED*application identifier*case identifier*pay date*payment amount*non-custodial parent ssn*medical support indicator**FIPS code*employment termination indicator\ Also, if an optional data element is the last data element in a segment, and that field is not


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being used, the preceding asterisk is replaced by the backslash. For example, if the employment termination indicator is omitted from the segment, it would look like this: DED*application identifier*case identifier*pay date*payment amount*non-custodial parent ssn*medical support indicator*non-custodial parent name*FIPS code \ The following grid delineates the DED Convention format for employers.

DED CHILD SUPPORT CONVENTION

SAMPLE DED CONVENTION

DED*CS*ZC146*951024*13547*975348431*N*SMITH,HAR*19000*Y\ The column headings used on the grid are as follows:

the Element defines the data element name; the Comments and Content define the data element, and the Attributes are defined as follows:

1. Field Requirement - The first column of attributes represents the field requirement for that data

element. An ‘M’ denotes a mandatory element, whereas an ‘O’ denotes an optional field. 2. Data Type - The second column of attributes specifies the field data type.


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‘AN’ denotes a string-type data element. Contents of string data elements are a sequence of letters, digits, spaces and/or special characters (with the exception of the asterisk). The contents shall be left-justified. Trailing spaces should be suppressed unless they are necessary to satisfy a minimum length requirement. ‘DT’ denotes a date type data element. Format for the date is YYMMDD, where YY is the last two digits of the year (00-99), MM is the numeric value of the month (1-12), and DD is the numeric value of the day (1-31). (This format does not support a 4-digit year.) ‘ID’ denotes an identifier data element from a pre-defined list of values. ‘N2’ denotes a numeric type data element with 2 decimal places to the right of a fixed, implied decimal point. The decimal point is not transmitted. It is intended that this number will always be positive for the child support application banking convention. Thus the amount, $550.00 would appear as *55000*. 3. Length - The third column of attributes signifies the minimum/maximum use of an element. This specifies the minimum and maximum length of a particular field. For example, 1/6 indicates that this data element must be at least one character, but not more than six. ELEMENT DEFINITIONS DED01 Application Identifier: Supported Code Value - ‘CS’ - Child Support The application identifier indicates the type of deduction being withheld from an employee’s pay. If you are an employer withholding child support from an employee’s paycheck, use CS as the application identifier. Child Support SCDU’s should use one of the following application identifiers to identify their interstate payments: II Interstate Income Withholding IT Interstate State Tax Offset IO Interstate All Others RI Interstate Cost-Recovery Income Withholding RT Interstate Cost-Recovery State Tax Offset RO Interstate Cost-Recovery All Others DED02 Case Identifier: The case identifier element is the IV-D case number or court order number. The case identifier always refers to the identification number of the case in the state receiving the


23

EFT/EDI transaction (e.g. the child support SCDU). This is true whether the transaction is from an employer within the state of Pennsylvania or from another state. It is the responsibility of the SCDU to provide the employer with the correct Case Identifier, typically during the case clean-up/reconciliation process before an employer sends the first electronic payments. DED03 Pay Date: The pay date element provides the obligor’s (non-custodial parent’s) pay date; the date the income was withheld from the employee’s paycheck. DED04 Payment Amount: The payment amount element indicates the non-custodial parent’s child support withheld for this pay period, which is being paid to the SCDU. DED05 Non-Custodial Parent Social Security Number: The non-custodial parent’s Social Security Number element provides the SCDU with the non-custodial parent’s Social Security Number. DED06 Medical Support Indicator: Supported Code Values - ‘Y’, ‘N’ The medical support indicator indicates whether the employer offers family medical insurance coverage. If medical insurance coverage is available, a ‘Y’ is placed in the field; if there is no coverage available, an ‘N’ is placed in the field. When one SCDU is sending an interstate payment to another state, and the payment is not from income-withholding (e.g., a lottery seizure), the SCDU sending the payment may enter a “W” to indicate the medical support indicator is not applicable. Employers should not use “W” as a code value. DED07 Non-Custodial Parent Name: The non-custodial parent’s name element indicates the first seven letters of the obligor’s last name followed by the first three letters of his/her first name. A comma must be used to separate the last name from the first name of the non-custodial parent when the last name is less than seven characters. This field is not case-sensitive, i.e., mixed case letters are acceptable. DED08 FIPS Code: The Federal Information Process Standard (FIPS) code refers to the FIPS Code of the SDU receiving the transaction. It is 5 characters when indicating both the state and county codes. It is 7 characters when indicating state, county, and local codes. Currently only three states, FL, MI, and NY require the FIPS code for incoming payments. DED09 Employment Termination Indicator: Supported Code Value - ‘Y’ The employment termination indicator is used to notify the child support enforcement agency that an individual’s employment has terminated. A ‘Y’ is placed in this field if the


24

employee has terminated; otherwise the field is not used. The payment amount field may contain zero when this field is used. If an employer’s payroll system is unable to generate the employment termination indicator, the employer is required to notify the child support enforcement agency (by phone, e-mail or mail) when an employee with an obligation has left his/her employment. Sample CTX File, ASC X12 820 Transaction Set


25

VII. 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice Transaction Set

VIII. Child Support Mapping

Employer sending information to the Child Support State Collections and Disbursement Unit (SCDU) In a typical child support scenario, a local or state child support office sends an income withholding order/notice to an employer, ordering the employer to deduct a certain amount of child support from the employee/non-custodial parent’s paycheck every pay period. The employer must then submit the information and the funds to the appropriate SCDU entity. Using a CTX containing an ASC X12 820


26

transaction set, an employer may remit for multiple employees in the same transaction set. Employers wishing to use the CCD+ format, please refer to Appendix A at the end of this manual.


27


28


29

Notes: 2/287 The DED loop is for child support payments. Comments: 1/035 The TRN segment is used to uniquely identify a payment order/remittance advice.


30

Semantics: The transaction set identifier (ST01) used by the translation routines of the interchange partners to select the appropriate transaction set definition (e.g., 810 selects the Invoice Transaction Set).


31

Semantics: BPR02 specifies the payment amount. When using this transaction set to initiate a payment, all or some of BPR06 through BPR16 may be required, depending on the conventions of the specific financial channel being used. BPR06 and BPR07 relate to the originating depository financial institution (ODFI).


32

BPR08 is a code identifying the type of bank account or other financial asset. BPR09 is the account of the company originating the payment. This account may be debited or credited depending on the type of payment order. BPR12 and BPR13 relate to the receiving depository financial institution (RDFI). BPR14 is a code identifying the type of bank account or other financial asset. BPR15 is the account number of the receiving company to be debited or credited with the payment order. BPR16 is the date the originating company intends for the transaction to be settled (i.e., Payment Effective Date). BPR17 is a code identifying the business reason for this payment. BPR18, BPR19, BPR20 and BPR21, if used, identify a third bank identification number and account to be used for return items only. BPR20 is a code identifying the type of bank account or other financial asset.


33

Semantics: TRN02 provides unique identification for the transaction. TRN03 identifies an organization. TRN04 identifies a further subdivision within the organization.


34


35

Semantic: 1 DED01 is the type of deduction. 2 DED02 is the code indicating the case identifier. 3 DED03 is the pay date. 4 DED04 is the payment amount. 5 DED05 is the social security number of the absent parent. 6 DED06 indicates if the obligor has family medical insurance coverage available through their employer. A "Y" indicates medical coverage is available. An "N" indicates there is no coverage. A "W" indicates that the disposition of medical insurance is not applicable to the deduction. 7 DED07 is the name of the absent parent. The absent parent's name contains the first seven letters of the obligor's last name followed by the first three letters of the obligor's first name. A comma must be used to separate the last name from the first name of the absent parent when the last name is less than seven characters. 8 DED08 contains the Federal Information Process Standard (FIPS) Code. The FIPS code is 5 characters when indicating both the state and county codes. It is seven characters when indicating state, county and local codes. 9 DED09 identifies to the child support enforcement agency that an individual's employment has terminated. A "Y" is used if the employee has been terminated otherwise the field is not used. DED04 may contain zero if this field is used.


36

Comments: SE is the last segment of each transaction set.


37

IX. Glossary Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) of the American National Standards Institute. American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) – Defines the character set codes used for information exchange between equipment. Accredited Standards Committee X 12 (ASC X12) - An American National Standards Institute committee that develops and maintains EDI standards. It is comprised of industry members for the purpose of creating Electronic Data Interchange standards for submission to the American National Standards Institute for subsequent approval and dissemination. Address – A sequence of characters designating the origin or destination of data being transmitted. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) – The parent organization of the Electronic Data Interchange’s ANSI ASC X12 standard. It is also the recognized coordinator and clearing house for national standards information in the United States and sometimes Canada. ANSI serves as the North American representative to the International Standards Organization. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard – A document published by ANSI that has been approved through the consensus process of public announcement and review. Each standard must be developed by an ANSI committee and must be revisited by that committee within five years for update. Asynchronous – A communications protocol in which messages are sent one character at a time. Each character is framed by start and stop bits. An optional parity bit may also be included. Attributes – A name assigned to the three data elements of the ASC X 12 attributes: element usage, element type, and Minimum/Maximum length. Authentication – A mechanism which allows the receiver of an electronic transmission to verify the sender and the integrity of the content of the transmission through the use of an electronic “key” or algorithm, which is shared by the trading partners. This is sometimes referred to as an electronic signature. Automated Clearing House (ACH) – A central clearing facility, operated by the Federal Reserve or a private sector organization on behalf of depository financial institutions (DFI) in which participating DFI’s transmit or receive ACH entries. Beginning Segment – The first segment of data in a transaction set. The beginning


38

segment typically contains a segment identifier, the transaction set, and other data elements. A segment is similar to a record in a standard database application. Bisynchronous – An IBM communications protocol that sends messages as blocks of characters. The receiving computer checks each block of characters sent for completeness and accuracy. Cash Concentration and Disbursement/Plus (CCD) and CCD+ – A credit or debit entry initiated by an organization to consolidate funds of that organization from its branches, franchises or agents, or from other organizations, or to fund the accounts of its branches, franchises or agents, or of another organization. A CCD+ carries one addenda record with 80 characters of additional payment related information. Employers wishing to use the CCD+ format, please refer to Appendix A at the end of this manual. Communications Session - The uninterrupted flow of data from one computer system to another, including commands. In a communication session, there are interchange groups that contain EDI control information about the originator and trading partner(s) and the functional groups in the transmission. Compliance Checking – Process for ensuring that transmissions comply with ANSI ASC X12 or other EDI syntax rules. Conditional Data – A data element that contains information that is Element dependent on the value or presence of other data elements in the transaction set. Conditional data elements are mandatory under certain conditions, either by nature of the specific transaction being transmitted or by agreement between EDI trading partners. Control Segment – A control segment has the same structure as a data segment but is used for transferring control information for grouping data segments. Control Segments are Loop Control segments (LS/LE), Transaction Set Control Segments (ST/SE), and Functional Group Control Segments (GS/GE), defined in X12.6, and interchange Control Segments (ISA/IEA, TA1) defined in X12.5. Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) – A credit or debit entry initiated by an organization to effect a transfer of funds to or from the account of that organization or another organization and accompanied by remittance information formatted in accordance with ANSI ASC X12.5 and X12.6 syntax. The CTX is a NACHA format for use in the ACH payment system. Remittance information carried in the CTX must be formatted in a syntactically correct ANSI ASC X12 transaction set containing a BPR or BPS data segment. Data Conversion – The process of converting the value in a data element to an equivalent value.


39

Data Element – A collection of all data elements available in an EDI system. The data element defines the data type, the minimum and maximum length of the data, a reference number, and, and if appropriate, a list of acceptable values. Data Element Delimiter – A character used to separate data elements within a segment. Data Element Length - This is the range, minimum to maximum, or the number of character positions available to represent the value of a data element. A data element may be of variable length with range from minimum to maximum, or it may be of fixed length in which the minimum is equal to the maximum. (X12.3) Data Element Number – A unique reference number assigned to each data element in the data element dictionary for each EDI standard. Data Element Requirement Designator – A code defining the need for a data element value to appear in the segment if the segment is transmitted. The codes are mandatory (M), optional (O), or relational (X). Data Element Type - A data element may be one of six types: numeric, decimal, identifier, string, date, or time. Data Encryption Standard – The use of a binary number with a key of more than 72 quadrillion combinations to scramble the transmission of a message. Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) – ANSI ASC X12 Committee secretariat. Data Mapping – A method by which information held in one format is restructured to a different format. In EDI, mapping is performed between the structure of data in an application system and the structure defined by the EDI standard. Delimiter – The delimiters consist of two levels of separators and a terminator. The delimiters are an integral part of the transferred data stream. Delimiters are specified in the interchange header and may not be used in a data element value elsewhere in the interchange. From highest to lowest level, the separators, and terminator are segment terminator, data element separator, and sub-element separator. Direct Transmission – The exchange of data from the computer of the sending party directly to the computer of the receiving party. A third party value added service is not used in a direct transmission. EDI Translation – The conversion of application data to and from the X12 standard format. EDI Translator – Computer software used to perform the conversion of application data to and from the X12 standard format.


40

Electronic Envelope – Electronic information which groups a set of transmitted documents being sent from one sender to one receiver. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) – The electronic transfer of money between accounts at different banks. Ending Segment – The segment that indicates the end of a transaction set. Envelopes – The required header and trailer segments that surround EDI data. FedWire – The US Federal Reserve’s large-dollar real-time gross settlement payment system. Flat File – A data file that contains alphanumeric and/or numeric data but not control characters. It is neither indexed nor stored in hierarchical form. Functional – An EDI transaction set that indicates the results of syntax analysis of the receipt of EDI messages. A functional acknowledgement applies to a functional group and can include details about EDI syntax and compliance checking errors. Functional Acknowledgement – A transaction set (997) transmitted by the receiver of an EDI transmission to the sender, indicating receipt and syntactical acceptability of data transmitted according to the ASC X12 standards. The functional acknowledgement allows the receiving party to report back to the sending party problems encountered by the syntax analyzer as the data is interpreted. It is not intended to serve as an acknowledgement of data content. Functional Group – A collection of one or more transactions of the same type. Functional Group Header (GS) – A control segment used to begin an group of one or more functionally related transaction sets. Functional Group Trailer (GE) – A control segment used to indicate the end of a functional group. Header Segment – A segment that begins every envelop and identifies the data contained in that envelope. Each header contains a control number that must match the control number in the corresponding trailer. Interchange Control Header (ISA) – A control segment used to begin an EDI transmission. The ISA is a fixed length control segment of which the fourth character identifies the data element separator. Interchange Control Trailer (IEA) – A control segment used to define the end of an interchange of one or more functional groups.


41

Interchange Control Structure – The interchange header and trailer segments envelope one or more functional groups or interchange related control segments are performing the following functions: 1) defines the data element separators and the data segment terminators, 2) identifies the sender and receiver, 3) provides control information for the interchange, and 4) allows for authorization and security information (X12.5). Interchange Envelops – An envelope that contains the interchange header and trailer segments, control number and number of functional groups in the interchange. There is one interchange envelope for each trading partner in an EDI transmission. Loop – A group of two or more semantically related, adjacent segments that reoccur in the same sequence and at the same location for either a specified maximum number of times or an unlimited number of times. Loop repeat – Defines the maximum number of times a given loop can occur. Mandatory Data Element – An element containing information that must be present in the transaction as mandated by the standard. Mandatory Segment – A segment containing information that must be present in the transaction as mandated by the standards. MAP – The organization of information that defines the relationship between application data fields and EDI standard data elements and segments. Maximum Use – The maximum number of times a data segment can be used in Specifications succession. National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) – The national trade association for electronic payments associations, which establishes the rules, industry standards, and procedures governing the exchange of commercial ACH payments by depository financial institutions. Optional Data Element – A data element used in ANSI ASC X12 that contains information not required by the standard but that can be included in the transaction at the discretion of the sender or receiver. Optional Data Segment – A data segment used in ANSI ASC X12 that contains information not required by the standard but that can be included in the transaction at the discretion of the sender and receiver. Partner Identifier - The name or code of the trading partner to which a transaction set is to be sent or from whom it was received.


42

Proprietary Standard – An industry or company-specific data format that has been developed by a company for exchanging data with its trading partners. These proprietary formats usually do not comply with ANSI ASC X12 – based standards. Protocol – A specification of the conventions between two or more communicating devices on the hardware configuration, timings, data format, error detection, and other parameters that may affect communication between those devices. Qualifier – A data element value expressed as a code to give specific meaning to another data element or segment. Reference Designator – A unique alphanumeric indicator that specifies the position of a data element within a data segment in the ANSI ASC X12 standard. Release Number - A number that identifies the publication of the EDI standard used for the generation or interpretation of data. Repeating Segment – A single segment that reoccurs for either a specified maximum number of times or an unlimited number of times at a single location in the transaction or message. Security – System screening which denies access to unauthorized users and protects data from unauthorized uses. Segment Directory (X12.22) - Provides the purposes and formats of the segments used in the construction of transaction sets. The directory lists each segment by name, identifier, the contained data elements in the specified order, and the requirement designator for each data element. Segment Identifier – A unique identifier for a segment composed of a combination of two or three uppercase letters and digits. The segment identifier occupies the first character positions of the segment. The segment identifier is not a data element. Segment Terminator – A unique character appearing at the end of a segment to indicate the termination of the segment. Synchronous – A communications protocol in which messages are sent as blocks of contiguous characters. Each block begins with a synchronization character and a start-of- message sequence and ends with an end-of-message sequence. Syntax – A grammar or rules which define the structure of the EDI standards (i.e. the use of loops, qualifiers, etc.) Syntax rules are published in ANSI X12.6. Trading Partner Parties or entities who exchange EDI transactions.


43

Trailer Segment – A segment that ends every envelope and provides counts of the segments, transaction sets, or functional groups transmitted. Each trailer contains a control number that must match the control number in the corresponding header. Transaction Set – The EDI equivalent of a business form. An example is a purchase order. This term is typically used to describe ANSI ASC X12 EDI formats. Transaction Set ID - An identifier that uniquely identifies the transaction set. This identifier is the first data element of the transaction set header segment. Translation – The act of accepting a document in other than an X12 standard format and translating it to the X12 format. Value-Added Network (VAN) – A company that provides communications services, electronic mailboxing and other communications services for EDI transmission. Version Number – A number that identifies the publication of the EDI standard used for the generation or interpretation of data. For example, in the ANSI ASC X12 standard format, the version number can be found in the functional group header segment (GS) and in the interchange control header segment (ISA). X12 - The EDI standards as established by the Accredited Standards Committee of the American National Standards Institute. The full nomenclature is often referred to as ANSI ASC X12. X12.5 –Interchange Control Structure. This standard provides the interchange envelope of a header and trailer for the electronic interchange through a data transmission, and it provides a structure to acknowledge the receipt and processing of this envelope. Separate segments and data elements not in X12.22 or X12.3. X12.6 – Application Control Structure. This standard describes the control segments used to envelop loops of data segments, transaction sets, and groups of related transaction sets.


44

Appendix A

In order for your company to send a Child Support EFT transaction to Pennsylvania's State Collections and Disbursement Unit (PA SCDU), you are required to use the ACH network. Your company will first transmit the payment information and remittance information to your financial institution. Your financial institution will then create the ACH entries required to transfer the Child Support payment via the ACH network to the financial institution that Pennsylvania is using to collect the funds. The financial institution will send this information to PA SCDU for processing. Please contact the SCDU Employer Customer Service Unit at 877-676-9580 to obtain the information that your financial institution will require in order to send the EFT Child Support payments to the financial institution that Pennsylvania is using. RECORD FORMATS FOR EFT

The following record formats are used to send EFT transactions over the ACH Network: • File Header Record ( NACH Record Type 1)

• Company/Batch Header Record (NACH Record Type 5)

• Entry Detail Record ( NACH Record Type 6)

• Addenda Record --- This is the record that contains the payment information.

(NACH Record Type 7)

• Company/Batch Control Record ( NACH Record Type 8)

• File Control Record (NACH Record Type 9) The ACH file starts with a File Header Record and ends with a File Control Record. The file may contain one or more unique batches each starting with a Company Batch Header Record and ending with a Company Batch Control Record. Your company can send multiple batches in the same file. This gives you the opportunity to group your transactions by division, location, payroll frequency etc. The heart of the ACH file are the Entry Detail Record and the Addenda Record. The Entry Detail Record contains the information necessary to transfer the funds from your company financial institution to the Pennsylvania Child Support financial institution. The Addenda Record is used to supply information about your employee and the information necessary to correctly apply the payment. There are two types of Entry Detail Records that your company can use: 1. CCD+ 2. CTX


45

This document will only cover the CCD+ format.

Please see Attachment “A” for the ACH file layout of the Records referred to above. Please read the section entitled Child Support Application Addenda Record for use in the State of Pennsylvania. If your company is planning to use an outside payroll service to generate the EFT transactions, they must contact our SCDU Employer Customer Service Unit at 1-877-676-9580 in order to insure that PA SCDU can properly identify your company. Outside payroll companies tend to place their company identification information where they should be putting yours.

CHILD SUPPORT APPLICATION ADDENDA RECORD FOR USE IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

If an employer chooses to make their employee(s) Pennsylvania child support payment(s) via EFT, then the Payment Related Information segment of the CCD+ Addenda Records must conform to the format and standards discussed in this document. Any EFT child support payment that is not in compliance with this document will be rejected by PA SCDU and sent back to the Originating Financial Institution for return to the employer. The Child Support Payment Addenda Record contains an 80 character Child Support Segment that is composed of the following ten data fields:

• Segment Identifier • Application Identifier • Member Identifier • Pay Date • Payment Amount • Defendant's Social Security Number • Medical Support Indicator (not used in PA) • Defendant's Name • FIPS Code (not used in PA) • Employment Termination Indicator

Each of these fields is also referred to as a data element, which is the smallest named item in a record. A data element has three primary attributes (1) Length. (2) Mandatory and (3) Type. Each data element occupies a specific position within the record segment and is identified by a unique identifier. In constructing the segment, each data element (except for the first) is preceded by the separator character. The Network used to transmit EFT transactions (The ACH NETWORK) from your bank to the Pennsylvania Child Support bank, requires that the data element separator used be an asterisk ( * ). Each segment must end with a terminator, which in the ACH Network is a backslash ( \ ).


46

The following is an example of the Deduction Data (DED) segment as used in the Payment Related Information Segment of the Child Support Payment Addenda Record:

DED*Application Identifier*Member Identifier*Pay Date*Payment Amount*Defendant's SSN*Medical Support Indicator*Defendant's Name*FIPS Code*Employment Termination Indicator\

Each of the ten Data Elements in the segment can be either mandatory or optional. The Data Elements that are optional may be omitted. The omission of an optional element is noted by the placement of an asterisk in the place of that element. For example, if the defendant's name were to be omitted from the segment, it would look like this:

DED*Application Identifier*Member Identifier*Pay Date*Payment Amount*Defendant's SSN*Medical Support Indicator**FIPS Code*Employment Termination Indicator\

Also, if an optional data element is the last data element in a segment, and that field is not being used, the preceding asterisk is replaced by the backslash. For example, if the employment termination indicator is omitted from the segment, it would look like this:

DED*Application Identifier*Member Identifier*Pay Date*Payment Amount*Defendant's SSN*Medical Support Indicator*Defendant's Name*FIPS Code\

TYPES: C = Alphanumeric field. The contents must start from the left most position of the field and continue for the entire length of the field even if you have to leave blank spaces at the end. The exception to this is field DED08, by definition this field can vary in length from one to ten positions. ID =The field must always have one of the indicated values. DT =The field is in a Date Format. (year, month, day) N =The field can only contain numbers. N2=The field is numeric and has two places (CC) to the right of an implied decimal point. SCDU will assume that any value in this field is a positive number. For example $124.59 would be shown as 12459, the decimal point is assumed to come before the last two places. If you entered 124 for the value $124.00, PA SCDU will take the 124 to have a value of $1.24. You must enter the last two zeros.


47

NOTE: If a numeric field is fixed in length (the field must always be the same size), the number shown must be right justified (end in the right most position of the field) and be zero filled in front of the number (i.e. In a field that was defined as six positions long, the number 122 would be expressed as 000122). NOTE: PA SCDU will not allow an employer to remove any funds from the Child Support Payment Account via an EFT transaction. If your company has sent an overpayment, please contact the SCDU Employer Customer Service Unit at 877-676-9580 and they will resolve the refund issue. LENGTH: Used to indicate the length of the field. If a single number is given for the length (ie.18) then the entire field must be used even if you must use blank spaces. If a range of numbers is given for the length (i.e. 2-10), than you only must use the minimum size shown. In the example that would be 2.

SAMPLE PA SCDU DED PAYMENT INFORMATION SEGMENT

DED *CS*0123456789*990124*13547*987654321**Smith,John**Y\ Data Element Values and explanations in the above segment: DED01 = DED -- This is a fixed value that will always be used. This is a mandatory field. DED02 = CS -- This is a fixed value that will always be used.

This is a mandatory field.

DED03 = 0123456789 -- The first ten positions (0123456789) is the Member Identifier (Member ID). The next ten positions of the field are not used in Pennsylvania. Since the Member Identifier is a variable length field it is terminated with an “*” when you are finished entering the number.

DED04 = Pay Date – This is the date that your company will take the funds out of the employees pay. This date must be equal or prior to the date that the EFT transaction reaches SCDU. In the example above the date shown is January 24, 1999. Please note that the date is expressed in the form year, month, day. This is an optional field. DED05 = Payment Amount – This is the amount that your company is withholding from your employee in compliance with a Court Order. In the example above the Payment Amount shown is $135.47. The decimal point is implied to be the last two positions of the number shown. This is a mandatory field. This field can not be zero unless the no longer employed indicator in DED10 is set to “Y”.


48

DED06 = Defendant's SSN – This is a nine position numeric number. In the example above the SSN is 987654321. This number must be nine positions. This is a mandatory field. DED07 = Medical Support Indicator – This field is not used in PA. However, you must put an “*” in its place. DED08 = Defendant's Name -- This is the employee's name. The format is Last Name, First Name. The length of the field is from one to ten positions long. Do not enter more then ten positions even if you do not have enough room for the full name. In most cases you will not be able to fit the full name in this field. This is an Optional field and if you chose to omit it you must put an “*” in its place. In the example above the name is Smith,John. Please use the first seven positions of the Last Name followed by the first three positions of the First Name. A comma must be used to separate the last name from the first name when the last name is less than seven characters. DED09 = This field is not required and is not used in Pennsylvania. However, you must put an “*” in its place. DED10 = This field is set to “Y” if the employee is no longer employed at your company or if this is the last pay period that the employee will be employed at your company. The only time that the Payment Amount can be zero is when this field is set to “Y”. “Y” is the only value that has any meaning to SCDU in this field. This is an Optional field and may be omitted. If you omit this field you do not have to replace it with an “*” since this is the last field in the Payment Related Information Segment.

NOTE: The Segment must end with “\”.


49

Attachment A

ACH File Layout for EFT Payments

FILE HEADER RECORD FORMATS FOR ALL ENTRIES

Field

#

Position

Size

NACHA Formats &

Contents (All fields must be in CAPS)

Mandatory

or Optional

for NACHA

NACHA Data Element Name

1

01-01

1

'1'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-03

2

'01'

Mandatory

Priority Code

3

04-13

10

bTTTTAAAAC

Mandatory

Immediate Destination

4

14-23

10

1NNNNNNNNN

or 3NNNNNNNNN

or 9NNNNNNNNN

or NTTTTAAAAC

where N is any number from 0-9

Mandatory

Immediate Origin

5

24-29

6

YYMMDD

Mandatory

File Creation Date

6

30-33

4

HHMM

Optional

File Creation Time

7

34-34

1

Upper Case A-Z or Numeric 0-9

Mandatory

File ID Modifier

8

35-37

3

'094'

Mandatory

Record Size

9

38-39

2

'10'

Mandatory

Blocking Factor

10

40-40

1

'1'

Mandatory

Format Code


50

FILE HEADER RECORD FORMATS FOR ALL ENTRIES

Field

#

Position

Size

NACHA Formats &

Contents (All fields must be in CAPS)

Mandatory

or Optional

for NACHA

NACHA Data Element Name

11 41-63 23 Alphanumeric Optional Immediate Destination Name

12

64-86

23

Alphanumeric

Optional

Immediate Origin Name

13

87-94

8

Alphanumeric

Optional

Reference Code

NACHA Description of Fields

NACHA defines all fields as: Mandatory, Required or Optional. For simplicity, these fields are defined here as either Mandatory or Optional. Please see NACHA Corporate Guidelines for further explanation.

1. '1' designates a file header record. 2. Priority code on all files will be '01' unless otherwise advised. 3. The R/T identification number for your company bank preceded by a blank, where TTTT = routing transit number and AAAA = ABA number and C = check digit. Please check with your bank to determine the correct information. Note: Each file must settle to only one bank. 4. The company tax id number OR the R/T identification number for your bank preceded by a blank. PA SCDU Requirement: Use your company IRS tax id number, preceded by the number '1'. Alternately, you may use a Data Universal Numbering Systems (DUNS) number preceded by the number '3', or a unique number preceded by '0' - '9'. However, please note: If you ever change this number, you must notify your bank and PA SCDU. PA SCDU uses the

number to associate this file with your company. Most banks also use this number in the same

manner.


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5. Date the file is created. For your protection, most banks edit this field for file duplication. 6. Time of day the file is created. Time is expressed using 24 hour or military clock. 7. A 1-digit (A-Z or 0-9) used to distinguish multiple files prepared on the same day. The first file of the day should have an upper case 'A' in this field. If a second file is submitted on the same day, the field should contain an upper case 'B', etc. 8. Record size will always be '094'. 9. Blocking factor will always be '10'. 10. Format code will always be '1'. 11. Contains name of receiving bank, in this case, your bank. Each file may settle to only one bank. 12. Contains name of your company. Please be as descriptive as possible. If you ever change the company name, you must notify your bank. Most banks use this field to associate your file with your company. 13. This field is optional. If not used, then fill with blanks or zeros.


52

COMPANY/BATCH HEADER FOR ALL ENTRIES Field

Positio

n

Size

NACHA Formats & Contents (All fields must be in

CAPS)

Mandatory or Optional for NACHA

NACHA Data Element

Name

1

01-01

1

'5'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-04

3

Numeric

Mandatory

Service Class Code

3

05-20

16

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Company Name

4

21-40

20

Alphanumeric

Optional

Company Discretionary Data

5

41-50

10

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Company Identification

6

51-53

3

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Standard Entry Class Code

7

54-63

10

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Company Entry Description

8

64-69

6

YYMMDD Alphanumeric

Optional

Company Descriptive Date

9

70-75

6

YYMMDD

Mandatory

Effective Entry Date

10

76-78

3

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Reserved

11

79-79

1

'1'

Mandatory

Originator Status Code

12

80-87

8

TTTTAAAA

Mandatory

Originating DFI (Bank) Identification

13

88-94

7

Numeric

Mandatory

Batch Number

1. '5' designates a Company/Batch Header Record. This record identifies the Originator and

briefly describes the purpose for the batch of transactions. All data in this record applies to all detail records within this batch.

2. Service class code is '200' if both debits and credits are contained in this batch, '220' if all

credits and '225' if all debits. 3. Contains the name of your company. This field will be shown by the receiving bank on its

statement or advice to PA SCDU.


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4. This field may contain descriptive data, but it may not be printed by the receiving bank on its statement or advice to PA SCDU.

5. Your company IRS employer ID number (FEIN)*, preceded by the number '1' should be in

this field. Alternately, you may use a DUNS number preceded by the number '3', or a unique number preceded by any number, '0' - '9'.Used to identify an Originator.

* PA SCDU’s Preference.

6. Use the appropriate code to designate the type of transaction (other codes are in the NACHA

rule book): CCD - Cash Concentration or Disbursement (Corporate to Corporate) CTX - Corporate Trade Exchange (Corporate to Corporate) 7. Company entry description should describe the type of transaction; i.e 'Child Pay'. This

description will apply to all detail records within the batch. The contents of this field will be shown by the receiving bank on its statement or advice to PA SCDU.

8. A date meaningful to your employee or customer, such as payroll period ending date. 9. The date on which this transaction should post to the receiver's account. 10. Reserved, leave blank. Federal Reserve will insert settlement date. 11. '1' indicates that you have accepted the rules and regulations of the Automated Clearing

House. 12. The R/T identification number for your bank where TTTT = routing transit number and

AAAA = ABA number. 13. A sequential ascending number assigned by you for each batch. The range is '0000001'

through '9999999'.


54

ENTRY DETAIL FOR CCD OR CTX ENTRIES

Field

#

Positi

on

Size


CAPS)

Mandatory or

Optional for NACHA

NACHA Data Element

Name

1

01-01

1

'6'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-03

2

Numeric

Mandatory

Transaction Code

3

04-11

8

TTTTAAAA

Mandatory

Receiving DFI (bank) Identification

4

12-12

1

Numeric

Mandatory

Check Digit

5

13-29

17

Alphanumeric, left justified

Mandatory

DFI (Bank) Account Number

6

30-39

10

$$$$$$$$CC

Mandatory

Amount

7

40-54

15

Alphanumeric

Optional

CCDID Number CTX: Audit Number

55-76

22

CCD: Corporate Name

8

CTX 55-58 59-74 75-76

CTX 4 16 2

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

CTX: Broken down into 3 fields:

9

77-78

2

Alphanumeric

Optional

Discretionary Data

10

79-79

1

Numeric

Mandatory

Addenda Record Indicator

11

80-94

15

Numeric

Mandatory

Trace Number

1. '6' designates an entry detail record. Entry detail records contain information needed to post

transaction. 2. Use '22' = credit to checking account


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3. The receiving bank's R/T number, where TTTT = routing transit number and AAAA = ABA number. This indicates the bank to which this transaction will be routed. Routing Number is: 031000503

3. The check digit is the 9th (and last) digit of the bank routing transit number in 3 above. The

check digit is used to assure that the routing/transit number is not altered during transmission.

5. The bank account number for the recipient at the RDFI specified in number 3 above. Only

characters" 0 - 9" and "-" (dashes) are valid. Blanks are NOT valid characters within the account number except as fillers. Must be left-justified with any unused positions following the account number must contain blanks. SCDU's Bank Account Number is: 2000002910251.

6. The amount of the transaction in dollars and cents, with no punctuation. High order zeros

will be used.. 7. The number by which you identify the individual or company; i.e. employee number, store

number, etc. The number should uniquely identify the individual within your system. 8. Name of receiving individual or receiving company.

9. Optional Data field.

10. If an addenda record, type '7', will follow, then this position must contain '1'; otherwise, it

contains '0'. This will always be a “1” for Child Support Payments. 11. The trace number is an ascending consecutive number used to uniquely identify each

transaction. The first eight digits of the trace number consist of the bank R/T number as described for Field 12 of the Company Batch Header Record '5'. The last seven digits of the trace number consist of a sequential number in ascending sequence with each subsequent transaction incremented by 1. Example: 053000210000001, 053000210000002, 053000210000003


56

ENTRY DETAIL ADDENDA FOR CTX AND CCD ENTRIES Field

#

Positio

n

Size


CAPS)

Mandatory or

Optional for NACHA

NACHA Data Element

Name

1

01-01

1

'7'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-03

2

'05'

Mandatory

Addenda Type Code

3

04-83

80

Alphanumeric

Optional

Payment Related Information

4

84-87

4

Numeric

Mandatory

Addenda Sequence Number

5

88-84

7

Numeric

Mandatory

Entry Detail Sequence Number

1. '7' designates an Entry Detail Addenda Record. Entry Detail Addenda are included if

additional descriptive data is needed. If used, the Addenda Record must immediately follow the entry detail record with which it is associated and that entry detail record must have '1' in position 79.

2. Addenda type is '05' for CCD. 3. See the section titled “Child Support Application Addenda Record for use in the state of

Pennsylvania” for a detailed description of the 80 position payment related information field that occupies positions 04 to 84 of this addenda record.

4. A sequential number consecutively assigned to each Primary Addenda Record following an

Entry Detail Record. 5. Contains the last seven digits (or the ascending sequence number section) of the Entry Detail

Record's trace number. This number is found in the trace number (Field 11) of the related Entry Detail Record (type 6).


57

COMPANY/BATCH CONTROL FOR ALL ENTRIES Field

#

Positio

n

Size


CAPS)

Mandatory or

Optional for NACHA

NACHA Data Element

Name

1

01-01

1

'8'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-04

3

Numeric

Mandatory

Service Class Code

3

05-10

6

Numeric

Mandatory

Entry/Addenda Count

4

11-20

10

Numeric

Mandatory

Entry Hash

5

21-32

12

$$$$$$$$$$CC

Mandatory

Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount

6

33-44

12

$$$$$$$$$$CC

Mandatory

Total Credit Entry Dollar Amount

7

45-54

10

1NNNNNNNNN

Mandatory

Company Identification

8

55-73

19

Alphanumeric

Optional

Message Authentication Code

9

74-79

6

Alphanumeric

Mandatory

Reserved

10

80-87

8

TTTTAAAA

Mandatory

Originating DFI (Bank) Identification

11

88-94

7

Numeric

Mandatory

Batch Number

1. '8' designates a Company/Batch Control Record. This 'trailer' record contains control totals

that summarize preceding detail entries. 2. Service class code is '200' if both debits and credits are contained in this batch, '220' if all

credits and '225' if all debits. This must be the same as that used in the 5 record. 3. The number of Entry Detail Records plus each Entry Detail Addenda Records in this batch


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4. The sum of the individual bank identification numbers in all of the Detail Entry Records in this batch. In the event that the sum exceeds 10 digits, the entry hash is the right justified 10 digits of the sum. For example, if you have 5 "6" type records with 05300021 in field three:

05300021 05300021 05300021 05300021 05300021

Entry hash: 0026500105

5. The total debit entry dollar amount in dollars and cents (no punctuation) of all debit

transactions in this batch. Note: This field must be zero. You can not issue a debit to the PA SCDU Pennsylvania

Child Support Account. 6. The total credit entry dollar amount in dollars and cents (no punctuation) of all credit

transactions in this field. 7. Contains the same information as the Company Identification field '5' in the

Company/Batch Header Record '5'. If you ever change this number, you must notify PA SCDU in advance as we rely on this number to identify your company and your settlement account number.

8. This is an optional field and you may leave it blank or place anything that you feel is

meaningful in the field. 9. Reserved. Blanks are mandatory in this field. 10. The R/T identification number for your bank preceded by a blank, where TTTT = routing

transit number and AAAA = ABA number. 11. Contains the same number as the batch number field '13' on the Company/Batch Header

Record '5' for this batch.


59

FILE TRAILER FOR ALL ENTRIES

Field #

Positio

n

Size


CAPS)

Mandatory

or Optional

for NACHA

NACHA Data Element

Name

1

01-01

1

'9'

Mandatory

Record Type Code

2

02-07

6

Numeric

Mandatory

Batch Count

3

08-13

6

Numeric

Mandatory

Block Count

4

14-21

8

Numeric

Mandatory

Entry/Addenda Count

5

22-31

10

Numeric

Mandatory

Entry Hash

6

32-43

12

$$$$$$$$$$cc

Mandatory

Total Debit Entry Dollar Amount in File

7

44-55

12

$$$$$$$$$$cc

Mandatory

Total Credit Entry Dollar Amount in File

8

56-94

39

Blanks

Mandatory

Reserved

1. '9' designates a file trailer record which must summarize all detail records in this file. 2. The number of batches in this file. 3. The number of blocks of data in this file. 4. The number of Entry Detail Records plus Entry Detail Addenda Records in this file

which must be equal to the sum of entry/addenda count field on all Company/Batch Control Records in this file.

5. The sum of the contents of the individual bank routing/transit numbers in all of the

Detail Entry Records in this file. (Must be equal to the sum of entry hash field on all Company/Batch Control Records in this file.) In the event that the sum exceeds 10 digits, the entry hash is the right justified 10 digits of the sum.

6. Total amount of all debit transactions, which must equal to the sum of the Total

Debit Entry Dollar Amount field on all Company/Batch Control Records in this file. 7. Total amount of all credit transactions. (Equal to the sum of the Total Credit Entry

Dollar Amount field on all Company/Batch Control Records in this file.)


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8. Blanks are mandatory in this field. If the last block after the Record Type '9' Record is incomplete, then pad the last

block with 9's.

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