ABA Format File Details

Issued by the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) the ABA or Cemtext file format is a
format used by banks to allow for batch transactions.

ABA FILE FORMAT

What does an ABA file look like?

Each line in an ABA file is a "record". An ABA file has three main records, the
"descriptive" record, a "detail" record for each transaction and the "file total record" at
the end. The first character position of each new record indicates what type of record it
is. An ABA record is exactly 120 characters long (excluding new line characters).

Descriptive record (type 0)

Char Field
Field Description Specification
Pos Size
1 1 Record Type 0 Must be '0'
2-18 17 Blank Must be filled.
Must be
numeric
commencing
19-20 2 Reel Sequence Number at 01.
Right
justified. Zero
filled.
Must be
approved
Financial
Institution
abbreviation.
Bank of
21-23 3 Name of User's Financial Institution
Queensland's
abbreviation
is BQL,
Westpac's
abbreviation
is "WBC".
 Consult your
Bank for
correct
abbreviation.
Must be
24-30 7 Blank
blank filled.
Must be User
Preferred
Specification
as advised by
User's FI. Left
justified,
31-56 26 Name of Use supplying file
blank filled.
All coded
character set
valid. Must
not be all
blanks.
Must be User
Identification
Number
which is
57-62 6 Name of Use supplying file allocated by
APCA. Must
be numeric,
right justified,
zero filled.
All coded
character set
valid. Must
63-74 12 Description of entries on file e.g. "PAYROLL" not be all
blanks. Left
justified,
blank filled.
Must be
numeric in
the formal of
Date to be processed (i,e. the date transactions are
75-80 6 DDMMYY.
released to all Financial Institutions)
Must be a
valid date.
Zero filled.
81- Must be
40 Blank
120 blank filled.
Note: all unused fields must be blank filled

Detail Record (type 1)

Char Field
Field Description Specification
Pos Size
1 1 Record Type 1 Must be '1'
Must be numeric with
hyphen in character
position 5. Character
positions 2 and 3 must
equal valid Financial
Institution number.
2-8 7 Bank/State/Branch Number Character position 4 must
equal a valid state number
(0-9). For credits to
Employee Benefits Card
accounts, field must
always contain BSB 032-
898
Numeric, hyphens and
blanks only are valid. Must
not contain all blanks
(unless a credit card
transaction) or zeros.
Leading zeros which are
part of a valid account
number must be shown,
e.g. 00-1234.
9-17 9 Account number to be credited/debited
Where account number
exceeds nine characters,
edit out hyphens. Right
justified, blank filled. For
credits to Employee
Benefits Card accounts,
Account Number field must
always be 999999
"N" for new or varied
18 1 Indicator
Bank/State/Branch number
 or name details, otherwise
blank filled.
Withholding Tax Indicators:
"W" dividend paid to a
resident of a country where
a double tax agreement is
in force.
"X" dividend paid to a
resident of any other
country.
"Y" interest paid to all
non-residents.
The amount of withholding
tax is to appear in character
positions 113-120.
Note: Where withholding
tax has been deducted the
appropriate Indicator as
shown above is to be used
and will override the normal
indicator.
For most transactions this
will be 53. A full list of
19-20 2 Transaction Code
compatible transaction
codes are listed below.
Only numeric valid. Must be
greater than zero. Shown in
21-30 10 Amount cents without punctuations.
Right justified, zero filled.
Unsigned.
All coded character set
valid. Must not be all
blanks. Left justified, blank
filled.
Desirable Format for
31-62 32 Title of Account to be credited/debited Transaction Account
credits:
- Surname (period)
Blank
- given name with blanks
between each name
All coded character set
63-80 18 Lodgement Reference
valid. Field must be left
 justified, and contain only
the 16 character
Employee Benefits Card
number; for example
5550033890123456.
No leading spaces, zeroes,
hyphens or other characters
can be included.
Bank (FI)/State/Branch and
account number of User to
enable retracing of the entry
to its source if necessary.
Only numeric and hyphens
valid. Character positions
Trace Record
81-87 7 81 & 82 must equal a valid
(BSB Number in format XXX-XXX)
Financial Institution
number. Character position
83 must equal a valid State
number (0-9). Character
position 84 must be a
hyphen.
88-96 9 (Account number) Right justified, blank filled.
Name of originator of the
entry. This may vary from
Name of the User. All
97-112 16 Name of Remitter
coded character set valid.
Must not contain all blanks.
Left justified, blank filled.
Numeric only valid. Show in
cents without punctuation.
113-120 8 Amount of Withholding Tax
Right justified, zero filled.
Unsigned.
Note: all fields must be completed

File Total Record (type 7)

Char Field
Field Description Specification
Pos Size
1 1 Record Type 7 Must be '7'
2-8 7 BSB Format Filler Must be '999-999'
9-20 12 Blank Must be blank filled.
Numeric only valid. Must equal
the difference between File
Credit & File Debit Total
21-30 10 File (User) Net Total Amount
Amounts. Show in cents without
punctuation. Right justified, zero
filled. Unsigned.
Numeric only valid. Must equal
the accumulated total of credit
31-40 10 File (User) Credit Total Amount Detail Record amounts. Show in
cents without punctuation. Right
justified, zero filled. Unsigned.
Numeric only valid. Must equal
the accumulated total of debit
41-50 10 File (User) Debit Total Amount Detail Record amounts. Show in
cents without punctuation. Right
justified, zero filled. Unsigned.
51-74 24 Blank Must be blank filled.
Numeric only valid. Must equal
accumulated number of Record
75-80 6 File (user) count of Records Type 1
Type 1 items on the file. Right
justified, zero filled.
81-120 40 Blank Must be blank filled.
Note: all unused fields must be blank filled

Transaction codes

Generally you only need to use the transaction code "53 - Pay" in your ABA file,
however valid codes are as follows. Note that some transaction codes are debits and
others are credits, and some require withholding tax column to be filled.

Code Transaction Description

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