What Is an ABA File?
An ABA file (short for Australian Bankers’ Association file) is a standard text file format used to submit batch payment instructions to an Australian bank. It tells the bank: pay this amount, from this account, to these recipients.
Every ABA file follows the same rigid structure. Each line is exactly 120 characters wide, with specific fields at specific positions. The bank’s system reads the file character by character, so even one extra space in the wrong place can cause a rejection.
The format is sometimes called a Cemtex file (after the legacy Cemtex software that popularised it), a bank transfer file, or a direct credit file. They all mean the same thing.
What’s Inside an ABA File?
An ABA file has three types of records:
- Header record (type 0): identifies the file: your bank’s BSB, your account number, your business name, the file description, and the date of the entries.
- Detail records (type 1): one line per payment. Each line contains the recipient’s BSB, account number, account name, transaction code, and amount in cents.
- Footer record (type 7): a summary that totals all the credit and debit amounts, and counts the number of detail records. The bank uses this to verify nothing was lost in transmission.
A file with 50 payments has 52 lines total: 1 header + 50 detail records + 1 footer.
Which Banks Accept ABA Files?
All of the major Australian banks accept ABA files for batch payments, including:
- ANZ: via ANZ Internet Banking for Business
- Commonwealth Bank (CBA): via CommBiz
- NAB: via NAB Connect
- Westpac: via Westpac Online Banking (note: Westpac requires a self-balancing entry in some scenarios)
- Bendigo Bank, St.George, Bank of Queensland, Macquarie, and most credit unions and regional banks
Each bank has a slightly different upload interface, but the file format itself is the same. You generate one file; it works with any institution.
What’s the Difference Between an ABA File and a Regular EFT?
A regular EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) moves money from one account to one other account. You enter the recipient’s BSB and account number, type the amount, and hit confirm. It’s a single transaction.
An ABA file is a batch of many transactions bundled into one file. You upload the file to your bank’s portal, and the bank processes all the payments at once, often overnight in a scheduled batch run.
The practical difference:
| Regular EFT | ABA file | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of payments | 1 | Up to thousands |
| How you submit | Online form | Upload a file |
| Processing time | Near-instant (often) | Overnight batch |
| Typical use | One-off payments | Payroll, supplier runs |
Who Uses ABA Files?
ABA files are used by any business that regularly pays multiple people at once:
- Small businesses running weekly or fortnightly payroll
- Bookkeepers processing supplier invoices for clients
- BAS agents handling payment runs across multiple businesses
- Finance teams at larger companies paying hundreds of contractors or creditors in a single run
If you’re still entering payments one by one through your bank’s online portal, an ABA file will cut a fortnightly payroll run from an hour of data entry to a single file upload.
How Do You Create an ABA File?
Traditionally, businesses used expensive legacy software or asked their accountant to prepare the file manually. Today there are easier options.
createABA lets you upload a CSV or Excel file from your accounting software (Xero, MYOB, Excel, Google Sheets), map your columns once, and download a valid ABA file in under 30 seconds. All in the browser, with no data sent to any server.
The free tier lets you test the full process with up to 3 payment rows. Pro gives you unlimited rows plus saved bank details, so repeat payment runs take seconds.
Ready to try it? Create your first ABA file →