Several Swedish banks are now clearly stating that payments with incorrect OCR numbers will be rejected. This is particularly relevant with the transition to the new payment infrastructure and the ISO 20022 standard.
Historically, payments could sometimes go through despite incorrect OCR numbers, as banks applied a more tolerant validation. In the new infrastructure – especially for automated payment files – validation becomes significantly stricter.
In practice, incorrect OCR numbers can therefore lead to:
- rejected payments
- additional manual handling
- delays in the payment process
Validate OCR numbers when registering the invoice
In Swebase, you can validate OCR numbers already when the purchase invoice is registered in Business Central.
By activating this control, errors can be detected immediately – before the payment file is sent to the bank.
Depending on the configuration, the system can either:
- block invoices with invalid OCR numbers
- or display a warning so the error can be corrected
Swebase setup
Under Swebase setup, you can define a default value for how OCR validation should be handled for vendors.
When an OCR number is entered on a purchase invoice, the number is automatically validated if the function is activated.
For each new vendor, a decision must be made the first time regarding which validation level should be used. The default value is retrieved from the Swebase setup.
Available control levels
The function can be configured with different control levels:
Not active – the function is disabled
Standard no – validation must be selected manually per supplier
Standard yes – mandatory – invalid OCR numbers are blocked
Standard yes – message – the system shows a warning
Settings on the vendor card
OCR validation can also be configured individually on each vendor. The following fields are available:
OCR No. Validation
Defines which type of OCR validation should be used.
OCR No. Format
Different countries use different OCR standards, for example: Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian.
OCR No. same as invoice no.
The vendor’s invoice number can automatically be copied to the OCR field.
Summary
By validating OCR numbers already when the invoice is registered, errors can be detected earlier in the process. This reduces the risk of rejected payments and makes the payment workflow in Business Central more reliable.
