How to create and send a direct debit batch

What is it for?

The direct debit batch groups several invoices of customers who authorised the debit (they have an active mandate) and generates the SEPA file you take to the bank. The bank collects from the customers' accounts on the collection date. fiscaldoo keeps the batch, the file, the notice given to each customer and the bank's response.

When to use it?

• When you want to collect, in a single operation, the invoices of several customers who signed a direct debit mandate.
• Do not use it for a customer who pays by bank transfer or Multibanco: only invoices of customers with an active mandate are included.
• The batch does not send anything to the bank: it generates the file and, after you take it to the bank, records that it was sent.

Where to find it?

Accounting › Record › Collections from customers › Direct debit batches. The batch is created from the list of invoices (step 2). The customer notices open from the batch itself, with the Pre-notifications button; the Direct debit pre-notifications menu appears to the Administrator; for the other profiles, only in developer mode.

Before you start

• Your profile is Accountant (or Treasury: Manager): it is the one that validates and sends a batch. The Billing profile does not see these menus.
• The company has the SEPA creditor identifier, which the bank assigns to the company. Without it the file is not generated (see “Common problems”). The Administrator fills it in at step 1.
• The bank journal has the company's IBAN.
• The customer has an Active mandate and the invoice is issued and unpaid, in euros. SEPA direct debits are only made in euros.

How to use it

1. With the Administrator profile, open Accounting › Configure › General › Settings, go to the SEPA direct debit section and type the SEPA creditor identifier (for example PT91ZZZ123456789, a demo value). Click Save. The same section has the time limits: SDD lead days (CORE) and (B2B), with 1 business day, and SDD pre-notification days (CORE and B2B), with 14 days.
2. Open Invoices (Billing › Collect), search for the invoice and tick it in the list; you can tick several. Click Actions and then Create SDD batch.
3. In the Create SDD batch window, choose the Bank journal and the Collection date. The window suggests the date two business days from today; use a date that lets you meet the pre-notification (step 6). The list shows the invoices and the amount due. Click Create SDD batch.
4. The batch opens in Draft, with one line per mandate: customer, scheme (CORE (consumers) or B2B), customer IBAN, invoices and amount. Only the draft can be changed. Click Validate and generate the file.
5. The batch becomes Validated and the Sequence type of each line is filled in: FRST for the mandate's first collection and RCUR for the following ones. Open the SEPA file tab: the file SDD_….xml and the File hash (SHA-256) are there. The File warnings say that the file carries the names without accents (for example “Escola de Conducao Rota, Lda”), because the SEPA format does not accept them. Click Download file to take it to the bank.
6. Click Pre-notify the customers. For each customer, a pre-notification (PNS/…) is created with the notice text, the amount, the collection date and Tell the customer until (14 days before the collection: 02/11/2026 for a collection on 16/11/2026). fiscaldoo does not send the notice: the record says “Nothing is sent from here: deliver the PDF to the customer and mark it as delivered.” Click Download the PDF, give it to the customer, go back to the record and click Mark as delivered and Confirm.
7. After taking the file to the bank, open the batch and click Mark as sent. The Confirmation window warns: “Nothing is sent to the bank from here. Confirm only after taking the file to the bank.” Click Confirm.

Expected result

• The batch is Sent, with Sent on and Sent by filled in, and can no longer be changed or cancelled.
• The invoices are still To pay: the batch does not record the payment. The invoice is only paid when the bank collects and the payment is recorded, for example with a receipt. If the bank rejects or returns the collection, see direct debit returns.
• Pending validation by a certified accountant: the 14-day pre-notification period, the business-day lead time to the collection date and the accounting record of the payment after the bank collects.

Important notes

A sent batch cannot be cancelled

Cancel only exists in draft and validated. A Sent batch is the record of what went to the bank: if the bank rejects collections, create a resend batch, in direct debit returns. Cancelling a validated batch frees the invoices and leaves the batch Cancelled in the list (the list totals count it).

• An invoice can only be in one batch at a time, and there is one line per mandate: two invoices of the same customer are added up on the same line.
• An invoice of a customer without an active mandate is left out.
• A batch can combine customers with CORE and B2B mandates: it has one line per mandate, with FRST on each mandate's first collection and RCUR on the following ones, and one pre-notification per line. A B2B mandate can only be activated after you tick Validated by the debtor bank on the mandate record; without it the customer is not included in the batch.

Common problems

“The SEPA file cannot be generated: the SEPA creditor identifier of the company is missing or not valid”

• Cause: the company does not have the SEPA creditor identifier (or has it with the wrong check digits).
• What to do: ask the Administrator to fill it in under Accounting › Configure › General › Settings › SEPA direct debit (step 1).

“None of the invoices can be collected by direct debit: … has no active SDD mandate”

• Cause: the invoice's customer does not have an Active mandate. The batch window does not create anything.
• What to do: register and activate the customer's mandate and create the batch again.

“The batch cannot be validated: … the collection date … is too close”

• Symptom: with the collection set for today (01/11/2026): “the collection date 01/11/2026 is too close: CORE needs at least 1 business day(s) after today (earliest 2026-11-02)”. The same window says “an invoice is already in the batch SDD/…” when the invoice has already gone into another batch.
• What to do: in draft, change the Collection date to the date shown or later. If the invoice is already in another batch, and that batch is still in draft, remove it from there; if that batch has already been Sent, the invoice cannot go into another batch while that one exists, because a sent batch can no longer be changed.

“The pre-notifications cannot be made: … the customer must be told 14 day(s) before …”

• Symptom: with the collection on 03/11/2026: “the customer must be told 14 day(s) before the collection date 03/11/2026, that is until 20/10/2026, and it is too late”.
• What to do: use a collection date 14 days ahead (a batch already validated does not change date: cancel it and create another), or record in the mandate a shorter period agreed with the customer.