How to Create a Positive Pay File From FOUNDATION Software
FOUNDATION is construction accounting software for contractors, covering job costing, payroll, general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and purchase orders and subcontracts. When you pay vendors from the Accounts Payable module, you print or record checks, and many banks then require a positive pay file listing every check you issued. This guide shows which FOUNDATION report to pull, the columns that matter, and how to turn that export into a file in your bank's exact layout.
If positive pay is new to you, read what is positive pay first. In short, your bank matches each check that clears against the list of checks you issued, by check number, amount, and often payee. Anything that does not match gets held before it pays. The list you send the bank is the positive pay file, also called a check issue file.
Does FOUNDATION export positive pay natively?
FOUNDATION does not publish a documented, universal positive pay export the way some ERPs do. For context, systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Business Central ship a built-in positive pay format that you map to a bank specification and run as a report. FOUNDATION's published Accounts Payable features center on invoice entry, payment selection, check printing, and job-based reporting, not a named positive pay file generator.
Some contractors do say they produce positive pay from FOUNDATION, which usually means a custom export configured for one bank, often set up through the built-in DataGenie report and import/export designer or by a FOUNDATION consultant. If your bank changes its spec, or you switch banks, that one-off export may no longer match. The reliable path is to export your check data, then map it to your bank's current layout with a tool you control. That is what the rest of this guide covers.
Step 1: Pull the check register from Accounts Payable
FOUNDATION groups each module's functions under the same three menu areas: Daily Transactions, Maintenance, and Reports. Open the Accounts Payable module, then go to its Reports area to find the check register and payment history reports for the bank account you write checks from.
Note the difference between two similarly named items. The pre-check register previews the impact of a payment run before checks are printed, so it is a planning tool, not a record of issued checks. For positive pay you want the register of checks that were actually printed or recorded. Set the date range to cover the checks you need to report, and filter to the correct bank or checking account so you do not mix in payments drawn on another account.
Step 2: Export the report and confirm the columns
FOUNDATION's reporting and DataGenie tools let you export data and build custom layouts, including CSV and text output, so you can move the register into a spreadsheet. Once it is in CSV or Excel, confirm the export contains these fields:
- Check number. Each row needs the bare check number, for example
10421. If the column carries extra text likeCHK 10421or a batch label, clean it down to the digits the bank expects. - Check amount. The dollar amount of the check. Make sure it is the net check amount, not an invoice subtotal or a running balance.
- Issue date. The check date, not the invoice date or the date you ran the report.
- Payee name. The vendor or payee. Include it if your bank does payee match, since many positive pay layouts compare the name too.
If your register lists payments by invoice rather than by check, one check that pays several invoices can appear as multiple rows. The bank wants one row per check. Collapse those rows so each physical check shows once, with its total amount.
Step 3: Keep issued checks only
A positive pay file should list checks you actually issued. Before you convert, remove anything that is not an outgoing check on this account: ACH or electronic payments that the bank tracks separately, deposits, journal entries, and transfers. If a check was voided, follow your bank's rule. Some banks want voids reported with a void status or a zero amount, others want them left out entirely. See handling void checks in positive pay for the options.
Also confirm the date format. Your bank's spec expects one specific format, commonly MM/DD/YYYY or YYYYMMDD. If the export shows a different format, fix it before you generate the file so the bank does not reject the batch or misread the dates.
Step 4: Convert the export with PositivePayMaker
Once you have a clean export with check numbers, amounts, dates, and payees, reshape it into your bank's exact file layout. Banks each define their own fixed-width or delimited format, and typing one by hand is slow and error-prone. The structure of these files is explained in the positive pay file format guide.
PositivePayMaker does the conversion in your browser. You upload the FOUNDATION export (CSV or Excel), map the columns to check number, amount, issue date, and payee, pick your bank's layout, and download a file ready for your bank's portal. It is free and runs client-side, so your check data never leaves your browser. If your bank is not in the list, the custom format builder lets you define field positions, delimiters, and date format to match your bank's spec. Browse the supported formats to find yours.
Validate the first file with your bank
Treat the first file as a test. Generate it, then run it through the file validator to catch structural problems before upload. Send it to your bank and confirm the check numbers and amounts match and that the bank accepts the layout. A field off by one position can reject the whole batch, so verify once, then the process becomes routine.
Because FOUNDATION serves the construction industry, contractors handling check fraud controls may also want positive pay for construction, which covers job-account and multi-bank considerations specific to builders.