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SEPA Supplier Payments

Shinjinee Sarkar
  • Updated

 

What’s changing?

From 15 November 2026, banks will reject SEPA files if the payer or supplier address is not fully structured.

 

BrightBooks will:

  • Create SEPA files in the new pain.001.001.09 format.
  • Require complete addresses for:
    • Your business
    • Every supplier you pay by SEPA
  • Still require IBAN and BIC for the bank account and each supplier.

If anything important is missing, BrightBooks will block the file and tell you what to fix.

 

Before you start

Make sure these details are filled in:

1. Your bank account

In Chart of Accounts:

  • Bank account has:
    • IBAN
    • BIC

This must be a SEPA‑enabled account, or it won’t appear for SEPA payments.

 

2. Your business address

In Settings > General Setup > Business Details:

  • Street / Address Line 1
  • Town
  • Postcode
  • Country

All four are required.

 

3. Each supplier you will pay by SEPA

In the supplier/contact record:

  • IBAN
  • BIC
  • Invoice address (used for SEPA):
    • Street / Address Line 1
    • Town
    • Postcode
    • Country

If any of these are missing for a supplier, that supplier will block the whole SEPA file.

 

How to pay suppliers by SEPA

Step 1 – Log in and select your business

  1. Log in to BrightBooks.
  2. On the Business page, find your business:
    • Use the search box (top right), or
    • Scroll the list under Select a Business and increase the row limit (e.g. click 100) if you don’t see it.
  3. Click your business name.
 

Step 2 – Go to Payments

  1. The Customers page opens.
  2. On the left, click Banking > Payments.
  3. The Payments page opens.
 

Step 3 – Start a SEPA payment run

  1. On the Payments page, click Create SEPA File.
  2. The Pay Suppliers page opens.
 

Step 4 – Choose bank, date and suppliers

On Pay Suppliers:

  1. Bank account
    • In BANK ACCOUNT, choose the SEPA bank account.
    • If it’s missing, add IBAN/BIC to the bank account in Chart of Accounts.
  2. Payment date
    • In SEPA PAYMENT DATE, choose the date you want the bank to process the payments.
    • If the date isn’t suitable for the bank, BrightBooks will show a warning.
  3. Select invoices to pay
    • In the table, tick the Pay checkbox for each supplier/invoice you want to pay.
    • To pay all listed items, use the Pay option at the top (if available).
 

Step 5 – Run the SEPA payment

When you click Pay, BrightBooks checks:

  • Your bank account has IBAN and BIC.
  • Each supplier has IBAN and BIC.
  • Your business address has:
    • Street, Town, Postcode, Country.
  • Each supplier address has:
    • Street, Town, Postcode, Country.
  • A payment date is set.
 

If everything is complete

  1. Click Pay.
  2. When the confirmation message appears, click Yes.
  3. BrightBooks creates the payment run and generates a SEPA XML file in pain.001.001.09 format.
 

If something is missing

  • BrightBooks does not create the SEPA file.
  • You will see a message listing:
    • Each supplier (and/or your business) that is incomplete.
    • Which fields are missing (for example, Postcode or Country).
  • Fix those details in the supplier or business record, then repeat the payment run.

For SEPA testing and live uploads:
The bank account and every supplier must have IBAN and BIC, or they will not appear correctly in the SEPA file.

Step 6 – Download the SEPA file

After a successful payment run:

  • Download the SEPA XML file from the Pay Suppliers page.
  • This file:
    • Is in the pain.001.001.09 format.
    • Contains all payments, IBANs/BICs and structured addresses.
  • Upload it to your bank (AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, etc.) as usual.

You can’t easily read this file by eye; it’s meant for the bank’s systems.

 

Pay Suppliers Invoice Report

To get a list of invoices included in the payment run:

  1. On Pay Suppliers, click Print.
  2. In the Filter window, choose All.
  3. BrightBooks shows the Pay Suppliers Invoice Report with all paid invoices.
 

Regenerating older SEPA runs

If you re‑download a past SEPA payment run:

  • BrightBooks rebuilds the file using:
    • The new pain.001.001.09 format.
    • Your current business and supplier addresses.
  • If any data is now incomplete, regeneration will be blocked, and the missing fields will be listed.
  • Regeneration is recorded in an audit log.
 

Common issues and how to fix them

  • Supplier has no postcode
    • Add a postcode to the supplier’s invoice address, then try again.
  • Address line 1 is a company name only (no street)
    • Update Address Line 1 to include a street (for example, “Main Street, Unit 4”).
  • Some suppliers are complete; others are incomplete
    • The whole file is blocked.
    • Fix all suppliers shown in the error list, then rerun the payment.
  • Supplier in the UK or another SEPA country
    • Make sure Country is set correctly (for example, GB).
    • Street, Town, Postcode, and Country are still required.
 

Remittance/proof of payment

BrightBooks does not create a separate “Remittance” document, but you can show which invoices were paid:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Choose Print Templates, then Payments Template.
  3. Under Header Details, tick Show Allocations.

Allocated invoices will then appear on the payment screen and on the emails you send.

 

For any troubleshooting issues, please click here.