How to Create a Positive Pay File from Buildium
Buildium is property management software, and like most accounting platforms it does not produce a bank positive pay file on its own. There is no menu item in Buildium that builds the fixed-width or CSV check issue file your bank expects. What Buildium does give you is a clean list of the checks you wrote, which is all the source data a positive pay file needs.
The fastest path is to run a check report in Buildium, download it, and convert the columns into your bank's exact layout. This guide shows which report to use, the menu path, the column details that trip people up, and how to turn the file into a finished positive pay upload with the free browser-based generator.
Buildium has no native positive pay export
If you have searched Buildium's Accounting and Banking areas for a positive pay option, you have not missed anything. Buildium supports check printing, bank reconciliation, and bank feeds, but it has no feature that writes a positive pay file in any bank's format. That is normal. A positive pay file is a list of issued checks, and you already have that list inside Buildium. You just need to export it and reshape it.
If you are new to the concept, the what is positive pay guide explains why banks ask for this file and what they check it against.
Run the Check detail report
The report that maps most directly to a positive pay file is the Check detail report. It lists only checks, and it already breaks out the check number as its own column, which saves you cleanup work.
- Open the Reports menu in Buildium.
- Click the Check detail link.
- Set your parameters. Choose the bank account and the date range that match the checks you want to send to the bank, usually the checks written since your last upload.
- Click Download report. Buildium lets you download as
.xls,.csv, or.pdf. Choose.csvor.xlsso the data stays in columns. Do not pick PDF.
The Check detail report includes date, check number, property, payable to, memo, and amount. The payee in the Payable to column is what your bank uses if you are on payee positive pay. If you also reach the Banking page, you can open a bank account from Accounting > Banking to view its register, but the Check detail report is easier to filter and export.
Column gotchas before you convert
A few details in Buildium's export need attention so the bank does not reject your file.
- Check number lives in its own column. On the Check detail report the check number is separate from the amount and payee, so you do not have to parse it out of a description field. Confirm the column is fully populated before you upload.
- Amount is a single column, not debit and credit. The Check detail report shows one
Amountcolumn. If you instead use the Transaction detail by account report, that one splits values into separate debit and credit columns, so you would have to pick the correct side. This is the main reason to prefer the Check detail report for positive pay. - Filter to checks only. The Check detail report already excludes deposits and other transaction types. If you export from a general transaction report instead, remove anything that is not a check, including EFT payments, owner draws, and deposits.
- Date format. Buildium exports dates in a readable format such as
MM/DD/YYYY. Many banks wantMMDDYYYYorYYYYMMDDwith no slashes. Do not hand-edit every row. The converter reformats the date column for you. - Voided checks. Some banks want voids included with a void status or a zero amount, and others want them left out. Check your bank's rule, and see the void checks in positive pay guide if you are unsure.
Convert the file with the free browser tool
Once you have the Buildium .csv or .xls, open the free positive pay generator in your browser. It runs entirely on your machine, so your check data is never uploaded anywhere. Load the export, then map the Buildium columns to the fields your bank wants, typically account number, check number, amount, issue date, and payee.
Banks differ on field order, file type, and whether amounts use an implied decimal. Because the exact layout is account-specific, do not guess. Use the custom format builder to match your bank's spec field by field, or start from a preset if your bank is listed. The positive pay file format reference explains fixed-width versus CSV layouts and the common fields, and you can run the result through the file validator before you send it.
Note for payroll runs
If some of your check fraud risk is payroll, the same approach applies on the payroll side. On platforms like Paychex or Paylocity the equivalent source is the payroll check register or the check report, not an accounting export. Pull that register, then convert it the same way. The bank does not care whether a check came from Buildium or a payroll system, only that the check number, amount, and date match what cleared.