FAQs for Booksellers

Batch users can make payments either through ACH or via wire transfer. There is currently a $20,000 limit per week on ACH payments to Batch; if the payment is over $20,000, we ask that bookstores continue to use wire transfers.

Whether through ACH or wire transfer, the payment needs to settle in Batch’s bank account by the 5pm EST payment deadline in advance of the clearance date. The clearance dates and authorization/payment deadlines can be found at the top of every page within your Batch Payment portal; you can also find the full clearance schedule here.

ACH payments usually take a few days to clear, so please be sure to allow yourself enough time for the transaction to finalize. 

We recommend that you reach out to your bank in advance of making your first payment to Batch to find out their policies and procedures for initiating a payment. Most banks offer online and tele-options for initiating payments, while a small number require that do so in person.

To find out more about the various ways to set up a payment to our US bank account, download the instructions How to Make a Payment found here and on our Batch Payments page. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@batchforbooks.com.

Authorizations and your payment must be with us by the close of business day (5pm eastern) on the authorization date shown at the top of every page of your Batch account.

Batch submits payments to vendors on a weekly and/or monthly schedule. For each weekly clearance, the deadline for authorizing invoices and submitting payment to Batch is Wednesday at 5pm eastern.

Batch also does a clearance on the last day of the month in which the deadline for authorizing invoices and submitting payment to Batch is 5pm eastern, two business days prior to the last day of the month. If the last day of the month falls on a weekend, the clearance will occur on the Friday preceding the weekend.

We have therefore automated the system to ensure that only payments that have cleared in our accounts will be processed for payment to suppliers. If full funds have not reached the appropriate account by close of business (5pm eastern) on the day of authorization, all transactions for that month will be automatically unauthorized that evening.

To ensure that your transactions are not unauthorized, we would advise you to arrange payment in good time – bearing in mind the speed of your own bank – so that the money reaches us by the authorization date.

Email support@batchforbooks.com detailing the nature of the problem. If you’re able to provide supporting documentation, such as a statement or an invoice, attach that to the email as well.

Click ‘Reports’ and then ‘Bookseller Payment Status’. This will show any balance carried forward from the previous clearance.

Email support@batchforbooks.com detailing the nature of the problem. If you’re able to provide supporting documentation, such as a statement or an invoice, attach that to the email as well.

You can change the status of invoices marked 'Not Paying through Batch for Books' by selecting 'R' for 'Restore to Open' or 'A' to authorize the transaction to be paid. 

Invoices and credits will be shown on Batch For Books as soon as the vendors send them. The system displays invoice and credit data provided by the vendors; if there are errors or items missing, contact our team at support@batchforbooks.com.

No. If any claims against an invoice are authorized, all associated transactions will also automatically be authorized.

Log on to Batch For Books Payments and choose the Invoice Finder option from the Main Menu. Entering the order number or delivery note number will display details of any invoices relating to those numbers.

Select the invoice and click on the 'N' button ('Not paying'). Click on ‘Update’ at the bottom of the page and the transaction will be removed.

Yes, any invoice can be printed directly from our website. On the system, you will find a complete record of all your transactions with each vendor.

Select ’Period Summaries’ from the Main Menu. Once there, click on ’Show Period‘ and choose ’Past‘ from the drop-down menu. Then select the date and the payment summary will be displayed.

The amount to be transferred is in the 'Ready for Payment' column.

We can easily arrange for your colleagues to have access to Batch For Books, but each person will need his or her own user name and password. To add new users, email support@batchforbooks.com with the following information: name of person to be added, email address of person to be added, and access level of person to be added. After receiving the email, we will send out an email to the new user asking them to register for the site.

The access levels are:

• Authorization — user can authorize invoices for payment.
• Verification — user can verify that the invoice is correct, but final authorization is done by another user, such as the owner of the store.
• Authorization and Verification — user can both verify receipt of invoices and authorize them for payment.

Yes. If you go to Reports, you will see a link for Statement Downloads (All Transactions). The format of the file is .csv, which can be opened in Excel.

On a Mac
— Chrome: Click on the link for Statement Downloads, which will open the file in a new page on your web browser. Go to File → Save As, and save the .csv file to the location of your choosing.
— Safari: Right click on the link for Statement Downloads on the Reports page and select Download Linked File As..., which will allow you to set the name and location where you would like to download the .csv file.

 On Windows
— Microsoft Edge/Firefox: Click on the link for Statement Downloads. A dialogue box should appear asking what you would like to Open or Save the file.
— Chrome: Click on the link for Statement Downloads, which will open the file in a new page on your web browser. Go to File → Save As, and save the .csv file to the location of your choosing.

If you have any issues downloading your information, email support@batchforbooks.com so we can help.

A red flag indicates an overall credit against a vendor, which will be carried forward to the following payment period.

Yes, you can. For detailed information on how to make a claim, please go to https://batchforbooks.com/web/how-batch-works/making-claims.

Batch is able to integrate with both the desktop and online versions of QuickBooks. By integrating Batch with QuickBooks via BatchSync, you’ll be able to save hours of time each month as you'll no longer need to manually enter invoice information into your QuickBooks account. For more details and instructions on connecting Batch with your QuickBooks account, please visit our Linking with QuickBooks page. 

If you use an accounting package other than QuickBooks, let us know by emailing support@batchforbooks.com.

In addition to being able to access invoices on Batch, stores will continue to receive mailed or emailed copies of their invoices directly from the publisher with the following exception:

HarperCollins: Upon going live with Batch, stores will no longer receive mailed or emailed invoices from HarperCollins. In addition to the Batch view of invoices, PDF copies of invoices will be available for viewing, downloading, and/or printing directly on Batch for Books.

To access a HarperCollins invoice, users can click on the PDF icon in the "View PDF" column within the list of transactions (as per the image below).

We launched Batch For Books with Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and HarperCollins, but we are in talks with other vendors to come on board to the system.

If a vendor isn’t available on Batch that you would like to see on there, here’s what you can do:

• Let us know what vendor you’d like to see on there by emailing support@batchforbooks.com.
• Affix “I’d Rather Pay by Batch!” stickers to all your statements. To request stickers, email support@batchforbooks.com. Subject: I’d Rather Pay by Batch
• Talk to your publisher reps and let them know that you’re interested in using Batch. Mention it as often as possible so they know you really want it.

Yes. All vendors on Batch require that your account be in good standing before they’ll start transferring invoice information to Batch for Books. While Batch communicates to participating vendors when a store registers, the following vendors require additional confirmation of your participation in advance of your start date:

• Macmillan: Stores must email Susan Sass (ssass@mpsvirginia.com) and inform her that they confirm their participation with Batch. 

• Penguin Random House: Upon going live, PRH will contact stores via email to confirm their participation. Unlike other vendors, once a store goes live with PRH on Batch, PRH requires that they make their payments through Batch at that point.

We recognize that circumstances may arise where you need the flexibility to pay either through Batch For Books or directly to the vendor. For most of the vendors, you have the option to pay directly through Batch OR you can opt to pay them directly. Should you pay the vendor directly, you will want to mark those invoices as 'Not Paying through Batch' on the system so that those invoices are no longer open. (There is a separate FAQ on reopening and authorizing those invoices later, should you need to.)

The one exception is Penguin Random House who have stipulated that once a store goes live on Batch For Books with PRH, payments must be made through us.

Early in the morning of the day following the closing date for authorizations, you will be able to see the amounts paid to vendors in a few different locations:

1. From the main menu, go to Period Summaries and set the 'Show Period' filter to PAST.
2. From the main menu, got to Reports and then select Bookstore Payment Status.

Yes. If you pay your MPS invoices within the MPS early settlement terms, a credit note will automatically be added to your Batch For Books account. This can then be used as part of your next payment.

Yes. In order to do so, you need to authorize a transaction and bring it forward to the current period. Users are able to bring transaction forward on either an individual basis or en masse. 

For individual transactions — Go to the 'Future period summary' and authorize the invoices to be paid early. Then, find the invoice you want to bring forward in your list of transactions, click on the invoice number to show the invoice detail and click on the 'Due Date' drop down box. Change the due date to the current period and click ‘Update’.

For multiple transactions — Go to the ‘Future period summary’ and authorize the invoices to be paid early. Once the transactions have been authorized, click on the clock icon to the left of the authorized transactions and that will bring all the authorized invoices to the current period. 

Related material: Watch an instructional video on how to bring invoices forward.