Pre-Notification of SEPA Direct Debits

The changeover of national collection procedures to the SEPA direct debit scheme requires, along with the use and management of SEPA mandates, that the business partner be notified in advance about the items to be collected and the mandate to be used must be named.

You can implement this pre-notification yourself on the invoice using the corresponding additions.

Example Example

You make a note for the customer of the following information on the invoice: “The invoice amount is collected via mandate M4711.”

End of the example.

However, this only provides a complete solution if there is only one mandate for the payer's bank details or if the correct mandate has already been determined from different mandates during invoice creation.

You have to check whether the mandate number determined in this case should also be entered in the line item so that the pre-notified mandate can also be used later in the payment run.

If SEPA direct debit pre-notifications are used as follows they can provide an alternative to using the invoice as a pre-notification.

Features

The SEPA direct debit pre-notification contains the date of collection, the creditor ID of the company collecting the money, and the mandate reference that is used at collection.

You can create and send the direct debit pre-notification as a separate letter (new correspondence type). As another alternative, you can create this letter in processes that cause invoices to be issued, and print the letter on the invoice. In any case, you have to ensure that you only collect items for which pre-notification has been sent. That is, only items that you have mentioned in correspondence with the customer. You also have to ensure that you collect the items with the mandate entered in the pre-notification.

In Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable, you specify at the mandate level if direct debit pre-notifications are possible. At the level of the paying company code, you can specify in which paying company codes direct debit pre-notifications can be created.

You can also specify for each payment method if a direct debit pre-notification is necessary before collection can take place.

During posting, you can specify that pre-notification is necessary for certain items. You can also change this setting when you make manual changes to documents.

Activities

To be able to create direct debit pre-notifications, make the necessary settings in Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable under Start of the navigation path Business Transactions Next navigation step Payments Incoming/Outgoing Payment Creation End of the navigation path in the following activities:

Under Management of SEPA Mandates Enter General Specifications , specify that SEPA direct debit pre-notifications can be created.
In addition, you specify the number of days after the pre-notification date that the direct debit is still allowed to take place. A direct debit is not allowed for a date earlier than the pre-notification date. The system does not perform a direct debit for a collection date that is more than the defined number of tolerance days after the pre-notification date. Instead, this results in a payment exception in the payment run. In such cases, you have to reverse the pre-notification and create a new one with a new collection date.
You specify the paying company codes in which SEPA direct debit pre-notifications can be created in the Define Specifications for Paying Company Code activity.
In the Define Payment Methods activity, you specify the payment methods for which SEPA direct debit pre-notifications must be created.
If the creation of a direct debit pre-notification is required, the system does not collect a receivable, unless a suitable direct debit pre-notification was previously created. If a direct debit pre-notification does not have to be created, the system collects the receivable, even if a suitable direct debit pre-notification was not previously created.
In the Customizing activity Enter Number Ranges for Direct Debit Pre-Notifications (SEPA), define the number range to be used by the system to determine the mandate reference number.
The number range is used in the standard system at event 0570. If your own implementation is active at event 0570 or if you have entered your own module in table SEPA_CUST to determine the mandate reference, these have priority.

You specify whether you want to use this number range for each paying company code in Customizing for Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable under Business Transactions Payments Incoming/Outgoing Payment Creation Define Specifications for Paying Company Code . Double-click the required company code and set the Use Number Range checkbox in the Specifications for Determining Mandate Reference group box.

More Information

SAP Note 1894342