NACM National Trade Credit Report

Electronic Accounts Receivable Data Contribution

Turn your monthly accounts receivable data into a valuable credit-management resource for your company and the NACM member community.

NACM South Atlantic makes electronic A/R data contribution straightforward. Export your customer aging information from your accounting system and send it to NACM in a standard electronic format. Our team will help verify the initial file structure and data mapping before regular monthly reporting begins.

Better Credit Information Starts With Better Data

Why Contribute Your Accounts Receivable Data?

Business-to-business credit professionals make credit decisions every day, often extending substantial unsecured trade credit to customers.Current payment experience provides valuable insight into how businesses are meeting their obligations.

By contributing your monthly A/R aging information, you help strengthen the NACM National Trade Credit Report while gaining access to credit-management tools that can help your own organization identify risk and manage receivables more effectively.

Contributor Benefits

More Than Simply Reporting Payment History

Electronic data contribution can reduce manual credit-reference work while providing additional tools for monitoring customer risk.

01

National Trade Credit Report

Help strengthen the payment-history information available to NACM members making business credit decisions.

02

Portfolio Risk Analysis

Data contributors may receive access to tools designed to help identify changes and potential risk across an accounts receivable portfolio.

03

Account Monitoring

Monitor customer accounts for meaningful changes that may warrant additional credit review or attention.

04

Fewer Manual References

Making payment experience available through NACM credit reports can help reduce repetitive telephone, email, and fax credit-reference requests.

Getting Started

Four Simple Steps

1

Export Your A/R Aging

Generate a customer aging file from your accounting or accounts receivable system.

2

Send NACM a Sample File

NACM reviews the file structure and determines how your fields correspond to the NACM reporting format.

3

Verify the Mapping

A sample load allows you to confirm that balances and aging buckets such as Current, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days are mapped correctly.

4

Submit Monthly

After verification, send the same file format each month. Automated contributors may also arrange FTP file transfer with NACM.

Printable Reference

Download the Data Contribution Guide

Our Data Contribution Guide provides a convenient one-page reference showing the recommended customer fields, acceptable file layout, common questions, and monthly submission inhformation.

Download or print a copy for your credit department, accounting department, IT staff, or anyone responsible for producing your monthly accounts receivable export.

21 Data Fields
Customer identification, balances and aging information
File Example
See the correct single-line record format
Questions & Answers
Answers to common contribution questions

Download Data Contribution Guide (PDF)

NACM South Atlantic Data Contribution instruction sheet showing required A/R fields and frequently asked questions

Data Contribution Guide — click the image to view the printable PDF.

File Specifications

Preferred Electronic File Formats

Most accounting systems can export accounts receivable information
in one of the following formats:

TXT
Text File
XLS / XLSX
Microsoft Excel
CSV
Comma-Separated Values

Don’t see your format?NACM South Atlantic can work with many electronic data formats. Contact us before modifying or manually rebuilding an export from your accounting system.

Important File Layout

One Customer Record Per Line

Each customer must occupy one complete row or line in your data file.

Do not place the customer number, company name, street address, city, state or ZIP Code on separate lines. Those values are individual fields belonging to the same customer record.

Think horizontally, not vertically. One customer equals one row containing all available fields.

Comparison showing an unusable customer record stacked over multiple lines and the correct customer record contained on one CSV line

Example CSV Record

123456, CLIFFORD PRODUCTS GROUP, 123 MAIN STREET, ANYWHERE, FL, 55512

Data Layout

Recommended Accounts Receivable Fields

Each customer record should contain the available identifying and aging information shown below. Fields marked Optional are not required.

1
Customer Account Number
2
Business Name
3
Street Address Line 1
4
Street Address Line 2
5
City
6
State
7
ZIP Code
8
Phone Number
9
Open Date
10
Report Date
11
Last Sale Date
12
Balance
13
Current
14
30 Days
15
60 Days
16
90 Days
17
120 Days Optional
18
Terms of Sale Optional
19
Comment Code Optional
20
Federal Tax ID Number Optional
21
Country Optional

Frequently Asked Questions

Electronic Data Contribution FAQ

How do I know my data loaded correctly?

NACM performs a sample load of your initial file. You will have an opportunity to verify the field mapping and confirm that the Current, 30, 60, 90 and 120-day aging buckets were loaded into the appropriate categories before regular monthly reporting begins.

Can I make corrections to the file before sending it?

Yes. Individual rows may be corrected or removed when appropriate. However, once your file format has been mapped by NACM, the structure of the file should remain consistent.

Please contact NACM before adding, removing, rearranging or changing columns so that your data continues to map correctly.

Does NACM sell the accounts receivable data I contribute?

Contributor data is used exclusively for the NACM National Trade Credit Report rather than being sold as a separate contributor database.

Who can access the credit information?

NACM National Trade Credit Reports are available to NACM members. Individual business credit reports provide relevant payment experience for the company being reviewed rather than giving another company unrestricted access to your complete accounts receivable database.

How often should we submit our data?

Accounts receivable information should normally be submitted monthly using the same verified data layout.

How do we send the monthly file?

Monthly A/R files may be sent to datasubmission@nacmsouthatlantic.com. Companies automating their monthly reporting may also arrange for an SFTP transfer after the initial file format has been received and verified.

Ready to Contribute?

Send Us Your First A/R File

Contact NACM South Atlantic before submitting your initial file. We’ll review the format, verify your data mapping, and help establish a reliable monthly contribution process.