A vendor ACH authorization form, sometimes called a direct deposit form, is how a supplier gives your company permission to pay it electronically into its bank account. It replaces paper cheques and records exactly where each payment should go.
It is the document that moves a supplier from paper cheques to electronic payment. By signing it, the vendor agrees that you may deposit what you owe straight into a named business account through the ACH network, and confirms the routing and account numbers to use.
Accounts payable teams send it during supplier onboarding, after the purchase is approved and before the first invoice falls due. It replaces paper cheques with ACH credits, which cost less to send and are easier to match to invoices.
The signed form is also your evidence. If a payment lands in the wrong account, it shows which details the vendor supplied, when, and who on your side checked them.
Tick boxes for a new enrolment, a change of details or a cancellation, so you know what the form is asking you to do.
Business name and address, a payments contact with phone and email, and the tax ID or EIN.
Bank name and address, name on the account, 9-digit routing number, account number and account type.
The email address that should receive payment notices and the remittance advice listing paid invoices.
Consent to direct deposits, a promise to report account changes or payment errors, then signature, printed name, title and date.
Ready to use in Word, Excel, Google Sheets and PDF. Fill it in, save it, reuse it.
Email the blank form to the vendor's finance contact once the purchase is approved.
Get the signed form back with a voided cheque or bank letter, through a secure upload rather than an email body.
Call the vendor on a number you already hold and have them read the details back. Record who confirmed them.
One person keys the details into the vendor master and a second person approves the change.
Send a prenote or small test payment if you use them, then tell the vendor when the first payment will arrive.
The simplest usable version is one page with legal name, tax ID, bank name, routing number, account number, account type, signature and date, plus a box where your team records the call-back.
Send the form only to vendors you have already approved, and ask for it back with a voided cheque or a bank letter attached. Example values are placeholders, because real account numbers should never sit in a template, an email body or a shared drive.
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Request type | Tick one: new enrolment, change of details or cancellation | New enrolment |
| Effective date | First payment date this request applies to | [Date] |
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Legal business name | Exactly as on the W-9 or tax registration | Harbour Facilities LLC |
| Trading name (DBA) | Only if different from the legal name | Harbour Cleaning |
| Tax ID | EIN for US vendors | [EIN] |
| Business address | Registered street address | [Address] |
| Payments contact | Name, role, phone and email of whoever handles receivables | [Name], Accounts receivable |
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bank name | Name of the receiving bank | [Bank name] |
| Bank address | City and state of the branch | [City, State] |
| Routing number (ABA) | The 9-digit ACH routing number, which can differ from the wire number | [9-digit routing number] |
| Account number | Full account number, written clearly | [Account number] |
| Account type | Checking or savings | Checking |
| Account holder name | Must match the legal business name | Harbour Facilities LLC |
| Supporting document | Voided cheque or signed bank letter | Bank letter attached |
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Remittance email | Where payment advices should go | [Remittance email] |
| Reference on payments | What the vendor needs to match your payment | Invoice and PO number |
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation statement | Pre-printed consent to ACH deposits | See wording below |
| Change and error notice | Vendor agrees to report account changes or payments received in error | See wording below |
| Authorised signatory | Printed name and title of someone able to commit the vendor | [Name], Finance director |
| Signature and date | Handwritten or e-signature | [Signature], [Date] |
| Field | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor number | From your vendor master | V-0412 |
| Call-back number and source | Taken from the contract or vendor master, never from the form | [Phone], from contract |
| Verified by and date | Who confirmed the details by phone | [AP team member], [Date] |
| Approved by | Second person who checked the entry | [Controller] |
| Entered in system | Date the details went into the ERP or banking portal | [Date] |
Illustrative vendor. Placeholders only: never send real bank numbers by unencrypted email.
I authorise [Your Company Name] to deposit payments owed to [Vendor Legal Name] into the bank account named on this form by ACH credit. If a payment is deposited in error, I authorise [Your Company Name] to reverse the entry for the amount of the error only. [Vendor Legal Name] will tell [Your Company Name] in writing of any change to these account details, and of any payment received in error, as soon as it is known. This authorisation stays in effect until [Your Company Name] receives written notice of a change or cancellation, signed by an authorised signatory, and has had a reasonable time to act on it. Requests made by email or phone alone will not be accepted. Authorised signatory: [Name] Title: [Title] Signature: [Signature] Date: [Date]
A clear cover email gets the form back complete the first time. It also sets expectations about verification, so the vendor is not surprised when you phone to confirm the account.
Subject: ACH payment setup for [Vendor Legal Name]: form attached Dear [Vendor Contact Name], Thank you for working with [Your Company Name]. We pay suppliers by ACH, so please complete the attached vendor ACH authorization form before your first invoice is due on [Date]. Please return: 1. The completed and signed form. 2. A voided cheque or a letter from your bank confirming the account name and number. 3. A signed W-9, if you have not already sent one. Upload the documents to [Secure Upload Link] or post them to [Address]. Please do not type bank details into the body of an email. When we receive the form, a member of our AP team will call your finance contact on a number we already hold to confirm the details. Payments start after that call. If you have questions, contact [AP Contact Name] at [AP Email] or [AP Phone]. Kind regards, [Your Name] [Title] [Your Company Name]
Verification is the step that makes the form worth having. Fraudsters impersonate real suppliers with convincing change requests, so a signed form proves nothing until someone confirms it through a separate channel.
| Red flag | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Arrives just before a payment run | Pressure leaves no time to check | Pay the old account or hold the payment |
| Sender domain differs slightly | A lookalike address is a common trick | Compare it with past emails from the vendor |
| Account holder name differs | Money would reach a different business | Ask for a bank letter in the legal name |
| Asks to redirect all open invoices | Maximises the loss in one go | Verify, then apply only to new payments |
Keep one row per form, including change requests, so each vendor's bank detail history stays in one place. Auditors usually ask for exactly this list.
| Vendor | Action | Requested | Received | Verified | Days open | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour Facilities | New setup | 01 Sep | 04 Sep | 05 Sep | 4 | Active |
| Brightline Software | New setup | 10 Sep | 12 Sep | 16 Sep | 6 | Active |
| Acme Office Supply | Bank change | 22 Sep | 22 Sep | 23 Sep | 1 | Active |
| Kestrel Data | New setup | 15 Sep | 15 | Chasing | ||
| Northwind Logistics | Bank change | 08 Sep | 08 Sep | 22 | Verify |
Illustrative data as at 30 Sep 2026. Northwind's request failed its call-back, so the change stays on hold.
Works in Excel and Google Sheets. Headers in row 1, data from row 2, formulas copied down.
| Col | Header | Entry or formula | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Vendor | Text | Legal name, as on the form |
| B | Vendor number | Text | From the vendor master |
| C | Action | Drop-down: New setup, Bank change, Cancellation | What the vendor asked for |
| D | Requested | Date | When you sent the form or received the request |
| E | Form received | Date | Blank until the signed form arrives |
| F | Call-back date | Date | Blank until the details are confirmed by phone |
| G | Number source | Drop-down: Contract, Vendor master, Other | Where the call-back number came from |
| H | Verified by | Text | Who made the call |
| I | Approved by | Text | Who approved the vendor master entry |
| J | Days open | =IF(F2='', | Days from request to verification, or to today |
| K | Status | =IF(E2='', | Where the form is stuck |
| L | Control check | =IF(OR(G2='Other', | Flags an unsafe number source or one person doing both checks |
Spendflo supplier onboarding collects vendor details and documents in one flow, with approvals.
See supplier onboardingThe 9-digit number that identifies the vendor's bank. Banks sometimes use a different number for wires, so ask for the ACH one.
A zero-dollar test entry sent before the first live payment. It checks the account exists, not who owns it.
The standard ACH format for business-to-business payments, with room for a short line of remittance information.
A business ACH format that can carry detailed remittance for many invoices with a single payment.
The note that tells the vendor which invoices a payment covers, usually sent by email on the payment date.
| ACH | Wire | Cheque | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Usually 1-2 business days, same day if your bank offers it | Usually same day | Days in the post, then clearing |
| Cost to send | Low bank fee per payment | Higher bank fee per payment | Printing, postage and staff time |
| Remittance detail | Travels with the payment (CCD or CTX) | Limited reference field | Paper stub in the envelope |
| If sent to the wrong account | Hard to recover once settled | Very hard to recover | Can be stopped before it is cashed |
General practice: fees and timings depend on your bank. Moving most suppliers off cheques? Read about vendor payment automation.
Use the number in the contract or vendor master, never the one on the request.
One person enters bank details and a different person approves them.
A bank letter or voided cheque in the vendor's legal name catches mismatched accounts.
Keep signed forms in a restricted folder linked to the vendor record, not in shared inboxes.
Reconfirm details for any vendor you have not paid in a year before paying again.
An email with a signed form attached can be forged, so it is never enough on its own.
Hold the change and pay the existing account rather than skip the call-back.
Every copy in an inbox is another place the numbers can leak from.
A prenote confirms the account exists, not that it belongs to your vendor.
Add your logo, legal name and AP contact to the Word file, then lock the authorisation wording.
Set up an upload link or portal, so completed forms never arrive as email attachments.
Start with vendors you pay most often by cheque and log each request on the day you send it.
Call back, get the second approval, then move each vendor to ACH from the next payment run.
On 24 Sep, an email claiming to be from Northwind Logistics asks AP to move payments to a new account before the 30 Sep run, with a signed form attached. The AP clerk calls Northwind on the number in the contract. Their finance team never sent it. The row stays at Verify and the 2,500.00 payment goes to the original account. Illustrative scenario.
Every part on this page, in Word, Excel, Google Sheets and PDF, with the examples filled in.
Use the form and keep the call-back details on the form itself. If one person does everything, have the owner approve every bank change.
Run the setup log, split entry and approval, and review the control-check column before each payment run. Fold the form into your AP controls.
ACH is a US network. For overseas suppliers, swap the routing fields for IBAN and SWIFT or BIC, and pay by international wire or a payment provider.
Best for a fillable form vendors complete on screen.
Best for vendors who print and sign by hand.
Best for the setup log, and it opens in Google Sheets too.
$3.7B in software spend processed through Spendflo, at 30% average savings.
See your savingsA good vendor ACH form collects the right bank details, gets them signed and leaves a record of who confirmed them. The call-back and the second approver are what turn that paperwork into protection.
Six sections, from action type to signature, with nothing missing.
Open the form →2Nine checks and a call-back on a number you already hold.
Open the checklist →3One row per request, with a control check auditors can read.
Open the setup log →Quick answers to what people ask most about the vendor ach authorization form template.
Yes, you can download one free from this page, along with a cover email, a verification checklist and a setup log. Add your logo and authorisation wording, then send it to each vendor you plan to pay by ACH.
Your bank may supply one, but most businesses use their own form or a ready-made template like the one on this page. You can download the vendor ACH authorization form here in Word or PDF, with a setup log in Excel.
Tick the action type, enter your business and contact details and tax ID, add the bank name, routing number, account number and account type, then give a remittance email and sign. Attach a voided cheque or bank letter, and download the template on this page to see an example for every field.
It is a form a supplier signs to give you its bank account details and permission to pay it by ACH direct deposit instead of by cheque. The free download covers action type, vendor details, bank details, remittance, signature and an internal verification box.
Yes, the download buttons at the top of this page give you the Word form, a printable PDF and the Excel setup log. The Word file is fillable, so vendors can type their details and sign electronically.
Accounts payable
Purchase orders
Contracts
Vendor management
Sourcing and RFx
Budgets and business cases
Procurement
Purchasing
Software buying
Supply chain
Spendflo supplier onboarding collects vendor details and documents in one flow, with approvals built in. AP automation is coming soon.
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