This guide explains how to manage your recipients for Float Bill Pay to ensure accurate, on-time Bill Payments.
Guide Overview
How to Add Recipients to Float
How to Add a Recipient's Payment Details
- Manually Add the Recipient Payment Details in Float
- Send an Email Invite to the Recipient to Add Their Payment Details
- Bulk Send an Email Invite to Multiple Recipients to Add Their Payment Details
How to Edit a Recipient's Payment Details
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to Add Recipients to Float
You can add recipients to Float in two ways:
Manually Adding the Recipient:
- Go to Bill Pay > Select "Manage Recipients" > Select "Add Recipient +"
Enter the recipient’s name, currency, and any other available details
- Save
Syncing a Recipient from Accounting Sync:
- If you’ve connected QuickBooks Online (QBO), NetSuite or Xero to Float, your recipients will automatically sync into Float
- Synced recipients inherit their currency from your accounting system and cannot have it changed in Float
For more details, see: QBO Integration Guide - CAD / Xero CAD Integration Guide / NetSuite Integration Guide
Important:
If you sync recipients from another system to Float or create them in Float without adding the mailing address and payment details, bills created for that recipient will show an "Incomplete recipient record" error message. To resolve this, Add a Recipient's Payment Details
How to Add a Recipient's Payment Details
There are two ways to add a recipient's payment details to Float:
Manually Add the Recipient Payment Details in Float
- Navigate to Bill Pay
- You can add the payment details in two ways:
- Select "Manage Recipients" > Select the recipient and add all of the payment details > Save
OR - Open a bill and select the "Add Payment Information" button for the recipient > Add the payment details > Save
- Select "Manage Recipients" > Select the recipient and add all of the payment details > Save
Note that in order to select a payment method other than "Wire", the "Payment Destination Country" field must first be selected. If the Payment Destination Country field is not populated, the Payment Method field won't be editable.
Send an Email Invite to the Recipient to Add Their Payment Details
Rather than entering a recipient's payment details yourself, you can invite the recipient to submit them directly. This is useful for new or infrequent recipients whose banking details you don't have on hand.
To do so:
- Navigate to Bill Pay > Select "Manage Recipients"
- Select "+ Add Recipient" > Fill out the name, currency and payment destination country (country where the receiving bank is located)
- In the Payment Details section, select "Request from Recipient" > Add the recipient's details:
- [optionally] Select the Payment method
- Add the recipient's email
- Select "Create and Send"
- Once sent, you will see "Invite Pending" on the recipient's details panel
Important Considerations:
- The recipient email invite is only available when creating a new recipient
- It is not currently possible to send an email invite for existing recipients, even if they do not have payment details saved
- If you leave the Payment Method field blank, the recipient will have the option to select it themselves
- The invitation link in the email will expire after 30 days
Bulk Send an Email Invite to Multiple Recipients to Add Their Payment Details
Instead of manually inviting your recipients individually to each add their own payment details, you can invite several recipients to submit their own payment details in one action. As long as they all share the same currency and payment destination country.
To do so:
- Go to Payments > Bill Pay > "Manage Recipients"
- Select "Invite" at the bottom of the drawer
- Add the recipient's name and email address > Select "+ Add another vendor" to invite additional recipients
- Select the recipient's currency and the payment destination country
- Select "Submit" to send the invitation
Important Considerations:
- All recipients in a bulk invite must share the same currency and the same payment destination country
- Once sent, each invite can be managed individually - resend or cancel it the same way as a single invite
How to Edit a Recipient's Payment Details
Go to Bill Pay > Select "Manage Recipients"
Select the recipient and update their payment details
Save
Important:
- Changes to a recipient's payment details will apply to existing unpaid bills for that recipient
- Admins will be notified whenever a recipient's payment details have been changed
- If a bill already has a payment date scheduled and the recipient's payment details are changed, that bill will move back to the Needs Authorization tab on the Payments page and will need to be re-authorized before it is processed
- It is not possible to remove a recipient's payment details once they have been added
How to Delete a Recipient
Go to Settings > Vendors
Select "Delete" in the "Action" column beside the recipient
Important:
Recipients synced from your Accounting Sync will only be deleted from Float and will not be deleted in your Accounting Sync
Recipient Currencies
The recipient's currency, when created (in Float or synced from your accounting system), will dictate the currency of bill payments that can be made to that recipient. USD bill payments can't be made to a CAD recipient and vice versa.
Note: You can’t change a recipient’s currency once it has been set. If you need to pay a bill in a different currency, create a new recipient in the same currency as the bill.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I remove a recipient's payment details?
If I change a recipient's payment details, will they apply to existing bills with that recipient?
How do I add my recipient's intermediary bank details, if they are required?
Can I use a P.O. box for the recipient's address in their payment details?
Can I make a USD payment to a USD-denominated recipient bank account via EFT?
When are payment confirmation emails sent to recipients?
How do Bill Pay recipients relate to Send Money recipients?
Why am I receiving an error when trying to create a new recipient in Float (QBO customers)?
Can I choose what payment method the recipient uses when I invite them?
How long does a recipient have to complete an invite before it expires?
Can I cancel a recipient invite after I've sent it?
Can I resend the invitation to the recipient?
Can I send email invites to multiple recipients at once?
Can I remove a recipient's payment details?
No. Once payment details are added to a recipient, they cannot be removed. You can only change or update the details.
If I change a recipient's payment details, will they apply to existing bills with that recipient?
Yes. Changes to a recipient's payment details will apply to existing unpaid bills for that recipient automatically. You do not need to move bills back to Drafts or delete and re-import them.
However, if changes are made to a recipient's payment details and there's an existing bill to that recipient, which has already been scheduled for payment, the payment will automatically be moved back to the Needs Authorization tab of the Payments page and will need to be re-authorized before the new payment date.
How do I add my recipient's intermediary bank details, if they are required?
Float Bill Pay does not currently have the option to add intermediary bank details for recipients.
If your recipient's bank explicitly requires an intermediary bank to process international payments, it will not be possible to process the payment through Float Bill Pay. These payments would need to be processed directly through your bank or another payment method.
Can I use a P.O. box for the recipient's address in their payment details?
No, it is not possible to use a P.O. box for a recipient's address in their payment details. Float’s payment partner requires the recipient’s physical registered business address, and P.O. box addresses are not supported.
Removing the P.O. box number (for example, using only the street name with no box number) will not work and can lead to the payment failing.
Why am I getting the error "The routing number could not be found" while saving a recipient's payment details?
This error usually occurs because the transit number is incorrect.
A common mistake is assuming that the branch number and transit number are the same. While this may be true for some banks, it is often not true.
To avoid this error:
Do not rely on a branch number pulled from online banking or other sources
Always use the transit number provided on a void cheque or a direct deposit (DD) form
Confirm that the institution number and account number are also entered correctly
Can I make a USD payment to a USD-denominated recipient bank account via EFT?
Yes! CA-domiciled Float businesses can make USD bill payments to a recipient's CA-domiciled USD-denominated bank account through the EFT payment rail.
To do so:
- Go to Bill Pay > Manage Recipients > Search and select your USD recipient
- How to add EFT details to the USD recipient:
- The recipient currency must be USD
- The payment destination country must be Canada
- You'll then be able to select EFT as the payment method
- Add their EFT details and the company details > Save
Important considerations:
- Your business must be CA-domiciled
- The recipient's USD-denominated bank account must be CA-domiciled
When are payment confirmation emails sent to recipients?
Payment confirmation emails are automatically sent to recipients after the authorization of funds release has been given for the invoice.
For more details, see: Sending Bill Payment Confirmations to Recipients
How do Bill Pay recipients relate to Send Money recipients?
Every Bill Pay recipient is automatically available as a recipient in Send Money. They are referred to as a Business Recipient, using the same payment details you've already set up in Bill Pay. Updating a recipient's payment details in Bill Pay updates them in Send Money too, since it's the same underlying record.
Send Money also supports Individual Recipients, for personal or one-off payments that don't need to go through your Bill Pay workflow. These exist only in Send Money, they don't appear in your Bill Pay recipient list, and creating one has no effect on Bill Pay.
For more details, see: Managing Send Money Recipients
Why am I receiving an error when trying to create a new recipient in Float (QBO customers)?
If you're trying to add a new recipient or recipient in Float and get an error, it may be because the name you're using already exists somewhere else in your connected QuickBooks Online (QBO) company, as a vendor, customer, supplier, or employee.
This is a QBO limitation, not a Float bug.
How to fix:
- Check QBO first. Search your QBO account for the name you're trying to use under Customers, Vendors, Suppliers, and Employees. In most cases, you'll find it already exists under one of those lists.
- Reuse the existing record where possible. If the name already exists as a vendor in QBO, select that existing recipient in Float instead of creating a new one.
- If it exists as a customer or employee, not a recipient, when creating the recipient in Float, name it something distinct, for example "Acme Inc. (Customer)" or "Acme Inc. (Employee)."
- This should allow you to create the recipient without any issues.
Can I send a recipient an invite to add their own payment details if they are an existing recipient in Float?
No. At this time, recipient invites can only be sent when creating a brand-new recipient in Float. If an existing recipient is missing payment details, add them manually instead. You would have to delete the recipient in Float and create them again.
For more details, see: How To Create, Edit and Delete Vendors
How long does a recipient have to complete an invite before it expires?
Recipients have 30 days to submit their payment details before the invite link expires. The expiry date will be included in the email sent to the recipient. If it expires, nothing happens to the recipient record or any bills tied to them. You can resend the invite to issue a fresh link or cancel the invite to manually enter the payment details yourself.
Can I cancel a recipient invite after I've sent it?
Yes. You can cancel a pending invite at any time. Cancelling will allow you to manually enter the recipient's payment details yourself.
To cancel a recipient invite:
- Go to Bill Pay > "Manage Recipients"
- Search and select the recipient
- Select "Cancel Invite"
- Once cancelled, you'll be able to manually add the recipient's payment details
Can I resend the invitation to the recipient?
Yes. You can resend the invitation email if your recipient hasn't received it, or if the link has expired.
To do so:
- Go to Bill Pay > "Manage Recipients"
- Search and select the recipient
- Select "Resend Invite"
If I invite a new recipient, can I still create and approve bills for them before they add their details?
Yes. A pending invite doesn't hold up bill creation or approval - bills move through both normally. Once approved, the bill will move to the Unpaid tab with a "missing payment details" status. The recipient must submit their payment details to schedule a payment date for the bill.
Can I choose what payment method the recipient uses when I invite them?
Yes. When sending the invite, you can specify a payment method (EFT, ACH, or Wire) so the recipient's form only shows the fields for that method. If you leave it open, the recipient picks their preferred method themselves.
Can I send email invites to multiple recipients at once?
Yes. From Manage Recipients, select "Invite," add each recipient's name and email, and select "+ Add another vendor" to add more to the batch. All recipients in the same batch must share the same currency and payment destination country. Select "Submit" to send.
Each recipient's invite can then be resent or cancelled individually, just like a single invite, from the "Manage Recipients" section.