The quick answer
With the Electronic Bank Payments SuiteApp, go to Payments > Cheques > Positive Pay and choose the company bank in Bank account. Set Cheque From and Cheque To to the checks you haven't sent the bank yet, because NetSuite doesn't remember which checks were in earlier files. Compare Number of Transactions and Total Payment Amount(Bank Currency) with your check register, then click Submit. The Payment File Administration record lists every check in the file. Refresh it until it reads Processed, download the file from File Reference, and upload it to your bank's Positive Pay service.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
Positive Pay lets your bank compare every check presented for payment with a list you send of the checks you actually wrote. The bank pays checks whose number and amount match and holds the rest as exceptions for you to approve or reject. The list only protects you if it's complete and current.
You need the Electronic Bank Payments SuiteApp installed. The company bank record under Payments > Setup > Bank Details needs a Positive Pay Template in your bank's format and the template details your bank requires, such as your bank account number. Only banks with a Positive Pay template can be chosen on the page. The example uses an Administrator.
In the example, the bank received last week's file with checks up to 4210. Since then, four more checks have been written from 1010 Operating Checking: 4211 to 4214.
01. Review the checks you issued
Go to Transactions > Bank > Write Checks > List. The Checks list shows 8 checks. Amounts leaving the bank show in parentheses.
- Checks 4208, 4209 and 4210, dated 09/22/2026 to 09/24/2026, went in last week's Positive Pay file.
- Checks 4211 Tidewater Signs 925.00, 4212 Harbor Point Insurance 3,418.60, 4213 Larkspur Office Supply 187.90 and 4214 Cobalt Freight 1,265.00, dated 09/28/2026 and 09/29/2026, haven't been reported.
- Check 1507 to Morrow Staffing for 2,300.00 comes from 1020 Payroll Checking, a different bank account.
02. Open Positive Pay and choose the bank
Go to Payments > Cheques > Positive Pay.
The page opens empty: no Bank account, Number of Transactions 0, and Select Transactions shows No records to show. Include Void Cheques and Exclude Cleared Cheques are checked in this account.
In Bank account, choose Operating Checking. Bank Account Format BoA/ML, Maximum Payments in File 2,500 and Subsidiary appear. In this account, Cheque From and Cheque To then fill with the lowest and highest outstanding check numbers, 4,208 and 4,214. Select Transactions lists the 7 checks from 4208 to 4214. Number of Transactions is 7 and Total Payment Amount(Bank Currency) is 8,523.85. Payroll check 1507 isn't listed because it was written from 1020 Payroll Checking. A check only shows up when it was written from the chosen bank's GL account and fits every filter. Besides checks, the page lists bill payments paid by check, and depending on the account, other check-type payments such as customer refunds or sales tax payments.
03. Narrow the range to the new checks
Checks 4208 to 4210 already went to the bank, and the page has no idea. Positive Pay doesn't mark checks as reported, so every run lists them again if they fall in the range. In Cheque From, type 4211 and press Tab. In this account, filters take effect when you leave the field.
Select Transactions now lists 4211, 4212, 4213 and 4214. Number of Transactions is 4 and Total Payment Amount(Bank Currency) is 5,796.50, which is 925.00 + 3,418.60 + 187.90 + 1,265.00. Void Transactions Selected stays 0. Compare the count and total with your check register before you submit. The count can't be more than Maximum Payments in File.
Date From, Date To, Amount From and Amount To can narrow the list further. Include Void Cheques adds voided checks to the file, so the bank knows they're void. What it does with a presented void check depends on the bank's Positive Pay rules. Exclude Cleared Cheques drops checks already marked cleared in the bank register or reconciliation. Cleared and reported are different things. An uncleared check from last week's file still shows up, and a cleared check may or may not have been in an earlier file.
04. Submit and check the file record
Click Submit. NetSuite opens Payment File Administration 00000052: Payment Type Positive Pay, Bank Account Operating Checking, File Processed? Queued. Status Summary shows Transactions for processing: 4.
Click Refresh until File Processed? reads Processed. Here it shows Processing Payments first. The processed record shows Total Amount Paid 5,796.50 and File Reference 00000052.txt with download and Edit links. Rollback and Recreate File are on the action bar. Which actions appear depends on the record's status and your permissions.
On the Payments subtab, the Document Number column lists 4211, 4212, 4213 and 4214 with their amounts. That's the issued-check list the bank compares presented checks against.
Check the result (example values)
- The default range listed 7 checks for 8,523.85, including three the bank already had.
- After changing Cheque From to 4211, the page listed 4 checks for 5,796.50.
- Payment File Administration 00000052 reads Processed, with Total Amount Paid 5,796.50.
- The Payments subtab lists checks 4211 to 4214, and payroll check 1507 isn't in the file.
Download 00000052.txt from File Reference and upload it through your bank's Positive Pay portal or other approved channel. NetSuite doesn't send it. The file is also stored in the File Cabinet folder set on the company bank record. Keep a note of the check range you sent, since the next run starts from 4215 and NetSuite won't track that for you.
Recreate File builds the file again, for example after fixing the bank's template details. Check the new file before uploading it, and don't send both versions unless the bank asks you to. Rollback reverses the file generation in NetSuite. It doesn't tell the bank to ignore a file you already uploaded.
Common questions
Why isn't my bank account in the Positive Pay Bank account list?
Only company bank records with a Positive Pay template show up. Open the bank record under Payments > Setup > Bank Details and check that it has a Positive Pay Template and the template details your bank needs. Your role also needs access to that bank record and its subsidiary.
Why are checks from last week in my Positive Pay file again?
Positive Pay picks checks by the filters you set, and it doesn't remember what was in earlier files. In the example, the default range 4,208 to 4,214 included three checks the bank already had. Changing Cheque From to 4211 left only the four new checks.
What do Include Void Cheques and Exclude Cleared Cheques do?
Include Void Cheques adds voided checks to the list so the bank can tell they're void. Exclude Cleared Cheques drops checks already marked cleared. Neither one tracks which checks you've already reported.
Does NetSuite mark checks as sent after a Positive Pay file?
No. Submitting leaves the checks unchanged, and the next run lists them again if they fall in its range. Keep a record of the check ranges you send, or use the date filters to start where the last file ended.
Does NetSuite send the Positive Pay file to the bank?
Not in the standard workflow. Once the file record reads Processed, download the file from File Reference and upload it through your bank's Positive Pay portal or other approved channel.
Which transactions does Positive Pay include?
Checks and bill payments paid by check that were written from the chosen bank's GL account and fit the filters. Depending on the account, other check-type payments such as customer refunds or sales tax payments can appear too. A check from a different bank account, like the payroll check in the example, never shows up.