Match direct debits to Ramp Bill Pay bills

Overview

Match a vendor-initiated ACH withdrawal from a Ramp Checking Account or Ramp Operating Account to one or more bills it pays in Ramp Bill Pay. Ramp keeps the bill visible through approval and syncs the matched payment to a supported accounting provider without separately syncing the debit as another transaction.

Direct debit is available for non-recurring bills in USD. Ramp does not send funds to the vendor; the vendor pulls funds directly from your Ramp account.

Ramp can match a direct debit automatically. If no automatic match is found, you can match the withdrawal manually.

Prepare a bill for direct debit

Your business must use Ramp Bill Pay and have an eligible Ramp Checking Account or Ramp Operating Account. Before the vendor withdraws funds, confirm that the account's external debit settings allow the vendor's ACH debit.

Banking auto-sync skips matched withdrawals. With Direct debit set and all approvals complete before withdrawal, Ramp checks for a single high-confidence, exact-amount automatic match when the debit arrives. Banking auto-sync can run before an automatic match finishes.

Consider manual sync for bills entered or approved after withdrawal completes, one debit covering several bills, or suggestions needing confirmation (nonexact amounts or several candidates). Withdrawals synced to your accounting provider are excluded from suggestions and cannot be matched. Auto-sync already skips withdrawals missing required accounting categories. For Ramp Plus customers using Ramp Checking Accounts, see Banking accounting sync settings to switch to manual sync. With manual sync, you must also sync other Banking transfers yourself.

If you do not use Banking auto-sync, keep the withdrawal unsynced until Ramp matches it automatically or you review and confirm its direct debit match. The matched payment syncs through Bill Pay only after the bill is synced and the payment is marked paid.

  1. Create or open the eligible bill in Bill Pay.
  2. Under Payment method, select Direct debit.
  3. Under Pay from account, select the Ramp account the vendor will debit.
  4. If the vendor already initiated the withdrawal and Ramp shows Optionally attach a transfer if you already paid, select the matching processing or completed transfer.
  5. Submit the bill for approval.

Ramp marks the matched payment as paid once the attached transfer has completed and settled and all required approvals are complete. The bill is marked Paid once all its payments are paid. If no transfer is attached, the payment waits for a transfer match and shows Match transfer as the next action.

How automatic direct debit matching works

Ramp checks for a match after bill approval and when a vendor's withdrawal is received or completed. You do not need to confirm an automatic match.

Ramp uses the same transfer candidates as suggested matches. It automatically links a payment only when there is a single high-confidence, exact-amount match. All required approvals must be complete, and the payment must still be unpaid.

If no qualifying match is found or the candidates are ambiguous, review suggested matches or match the withdrawal manually. To match one debit to payments for multiple bills, use the manual workflow.

Undo an automatic match. If Ramp matches the wrong withdrawal, you can remove the match.

Match a direct debit after bill approval

You can match an approved bill from the bill, the Ramp account's transaction history, or the Accounting Banking table:

Processing transfers cannot be matched from the Accounting drawer. To match a processing transfer, start from the bill in Bill Pay or the withdrawal in Banking.

Matching a processing withdrawal does not mark the bill paid until the withdrawal settles and all required approvals are complete.

Match one debit to multiple bill payments. To match one debit to payments for multiple bills, start from Banking or Accounting Banking using Match to Ramp bills as described above. The selected payments must add up to the full debit amount. Select no more than one payment from each bill, and match bills with partial payments separately.

Important: Match to Ramp bills links the debit to bills created in Ramp Bill Pay. Match to [accounting provider] bill/invoice is a different workflow that links the debit to bills imported from your accounting provider. See Match external debits to bills in your accounting provider.

Review suggested direct debit matches

Ramp suggests processing or completed external ACH withdrawals from the selected Ramp account only if they have not already synced to an ERP. Suggestions consider the amount, vendor or ACH originator name similarity, and whether the debit occurred within 60 days before or after the payment. Review these candidates from the bill in Bill Pay.

A transfer from a different Ramp account is not eligible. Suggestions that do not meet the automatic matching requirements still require your review and confirmation.

Match direct debits to partial payments

You can use direct debit for a bill split into partial payments when your connected accounting provider supports partial payments. Each payment must match one debit for exactly that payment's amount, and the payments must add up to the bill total. You cannot split one payment across multiple debits.

Sync matched direct debits to accounting

After the bill is synced and the matched payment is marked paid, Ramp syncs the payment through the standard Bill Pay accounting workflow. Ramp uses the cash account mapped to the Ramp account that the vendor debited.

The linked external debit is excluded from separate Banking transaction sync, preventing the payment and debit from creating duplicate accounting records. Direct debit payments can sync to accounting providers that support Ramp's standard Bill Pay payment sync.

Remove a direct debit match

Open the bill in Bill Pay and select Remove transfer. For a bill with partial payments, open the specific payment and remove its transfer instead. Ramp unlinks the debit and marks the bill or payment as unpaid.

If the bill payment already synced, review the confirmation for its accounting impact. Ramp can attempt to void the synced payment for supported accounting providers; otherwise, reverse the payment manually in your accounting provider.