Cork-based chartered management accountant Tony Manning provides accounting and consulting services to a range of clients in Ireland and abroad and is well-advanced in his SEPA preparations.
“I use Sage Tass software for accounts and Micropay for payroll and I run a small payroll bureau for a number of clients, including one Puerto Rico-based company with a facility in Cork.The updated Micropay software takes the existing bank details of the staff and converts them into BIC and IBAN codes automatically. That’s fantastic,” he says.
His bank has also been very helpful in his preparations. “I am with AIB and they have upgraded me to be an IBAN user and that is very useful.”
Outside of his own business, Manning is actively working with clients to assist them in their preparations . “It is vitally important for businesses to get the BIC and IBAN details for all their customers and suppliers,” he says. “Some accounting and payroll software will make the conversion to BIC and IBAN numbers for domestic direct debits, creditor and payroll payments, but where payments have been entered manually through internet banking, the payee’s full IBAN and BIC will have to be set up again in bank software. Also, the majority of SMEs will probably be making these payments manually so they will not be able to rely on software to do the conversion, even for domestic transactions.”
Another issue to which he is alerting his clients relates to the payment cycle. “The payment cycle is being brought forward by one day and the debit date when the funds leave the account will henceforth be one day ahead of the value date. That means that funds have to be in the account the day before the transaction is due, otherwise the payment will not be made.”
Beyond these issues, he is sanguine about the changeover. “I don’t think it will be rocket science in the end. BIC and IBAN have been part of our lives for the past four or five years. All that’s happening now is that they are closing the other door. It shouldn’t present any great difficulties to businesses.”