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How to add an international vendor

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With Paychex Bill Pay you can pay international vendors electronically, making cross-border business payments just as easy as domestic payments. To pay an international vendor, you can add the international vendor account and bank details to process electronic payments.

In this article, we'll walk you through the steps for ways you can add an international vendor to your Paychex Bill Pay account and how to complete the international vendor profile to process payments.

Here are a few common ways an international vendor can be added to your Paychex Bill Pay Vendors.

Once you complete one of the methods for adding an international vendor above, review the steps below to complete the international vendor profile and add the payment details to ensure successful payment processing.

If the vendor you are trying to add is based in Canada or the UK, you can invite them to sign up for a BILL account.

For more information or answers to common questions, review the Frequently asked questions (FAQs) section.

Add bank details for a vendor that was imported from your accounting platform

If you’ve connected to an accounting platform, your vendors should have been imported into your account. To make an international payment, you will need to add the bank info for this vendor. Please follow the steps below to learn how to edit your vendor to add the bank details. 

  1. Select Vendors in the navigation menu. 
  2. Search or select the vendor from the vendor list that was imported from your accounting platform that you’d like to edit. 
  3. Continue to How to complete the International Vendor Profile to learn how to add your vendor payment details to process a payment with Paychex Bill Pay. 

How to add an international vendor when creating a bill

  1. Select Bills from the navigation menu, then select Enter Bill
  2. On the Add Bill screen, select Vendor Name, then select Add New Vendor 
  3. Select international, then enter the vendor details. 
  4. Finish adding the Bill Details, then select Save. 
  5. Continue to How to complete the International Vendor Profile to learn how to add your vendor payment details to process the Paychex Bill Pay payment. 

Add an International Vendor Manually

  1. Select Vendors in the navigation menu.
  2. From the Vendors page, select Add Vendor  
  3. From the Add Vendors screen enter the vendor’s name then select International for the Vendor location
  4. Fill in the required vendor information fields. If you’ve chosen the side by side view, we automatically enter some vendor data based on the invoice selected.
    • Country and Address
      • Please note: some countries may require a phone number.
    • Select the type of vendor.
      • Business (LLC or Shop Owner)
      • Individual (Freelancer or Contractor)

   

How to Complete the International Vendor Profile

  • Fill in the required vendor information fields. If you’ve chosen the side-by-side view, we automatically enter some vendor data based on the invoice selected.
    • Country and Address 
      • Please note: some countries may require a phone number. 
    • Select the type of vendor.   
      • Business (LLC or Shop Owner) 
      • Individual (Freelancer or Contractor) 

Once you’ve completed the initial steps to adding your international vendor, follow along to learn how to complete the international vendor profile. 

On the Add payment information step, you have two options: 

Option 1: Vendor will provide payment details: 

This is our most secure option. With your vendor's email provided, Paychex Bill Pay will email your vendor to open a Paychex Bill Pay account. The email will prompt the vendor with a link and lead the vendor to a secure portal to add their bank information. 

  1. Confirm the Vendor Email 
  2. Select the Invoice Currency that matches the currency on your invoice. 
  3. Your vendor will receive an email from BILL prompting your Vendor to create an account.
  4. Skip to Set your preferences for this vendor to finish adding your vendor. 
  5. Once all steps are complete, you can track the Connection Invite Status from your vendor’s profile. 

Option 2: I’ll enter the details myself: 

We recommend using this option if you have the following: 

  • Vendor bank details are available. This can be found in your vendor's invoice. 
  • All bank information with the vendor has been confirmed 
  1. Invoice currency: select the currency that matches your invoice. 
  2. Confirm the Vendor’s bank location. If the vendor's bank location is incorrect, select change location to adjust. 
    • Note: International Vendors must have a bank location that matches their listed country.  
    • Canadian and UK Vendors can set up a Basic Receivables Paychex Bill Pay account if they wish to track payments and transfer into USD using Paychex Bill Pay.
  3. Enter the vendor's bank information: 
    • Bank Information: Country-specific banking details: depending on their country, you’ll need their IBAN, SWIFT, IFSC, CLABE, or bank and branch code
      • If we were unable to confirm the bank, the bank details are likely incorrect. Confirm with your vendor that you have the correct bank details. Please reference Country information for international payments help document for more details on IBAN numbers. 
    • Account Holder name: enter their name exactly as it appears on their bank account or the recipient’s bank may delay payment 
    • Account number: Optional in some countries
  4. Select the currency the vendor would like to use to receive the funds. 
    • If you send them USD, confirm with the vendor that their bank account can receive USD. 
    • If you pay in foreign currency, there’s no wire transfer fee—but exchange rates will apply (note: your account will be debited in USD)
  5. Provide their Tax ID if required, and any other optional vendor details, if available.

Set the Vendor Preferences

  1. Enter the Payment contact info: 
    • Confirm the Payment Notification Email. This is pre-set as the contact email entered during Step 1. To adjust, unselect the same as contact email option and enter the email that will be receiving the payment notifications. 
  2. Enter the Account Number with the Vendor
  3. Enter the Tax Information 
    • Business: Business Tax ID 
    • Individual: Tax ID for the individual (SSN) 
  4. Select if this is a 1099 Vendor. 
  5. Set the Payment Processing Time 
    • Process Date Lead Time: 
    • Combine Payments: if checked yes, we will send a single payment for multiple bills
    • Auto-Pay Bills: Allows you to set rules to automatically pay bills from this vendor. Note: Auto-Pay is only available if you are paying the vendor in USD. You cannot use foreign currencies with auto pay.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

  • My international vendor has a bank account in the US. Can I pay them through Paychex Bill Pay? 
    • Yes, absolutely. We’ll walk you through the international payment process when you add your vendor, however payment will not be sent via wire, it will be sent via ACH ePayment. Paychex Bill Pay does not process domestic wires.
  • If I invite my vendor, does that mean they get a Paychex Bill Pay account?
    • In most cases, no. Inviting your vendor only adds their payment information to Paychex Bill Pay.
    • You can, however, invite vendors in the UK and Canada to sign up for a subscription-free BILL account. See the resouces section below for the help article.  
  • What happens if I invited my vendor, but they gave me their bank info?
    • If your vendor gives you their bank info, you can enter it manually. No need to cancel the invitation—it automatically expires after 14 days. 
  • What additional information do I need to pay my vendor?
    • The information needed to pay an international vendor varies by country. When you set up a vendor or schedule a payment, we ask you for the necessary details.
  • Do you send test transactions to confirm international bank accounts?
    • Paychex Bill Pay doesn’t send test transactions. However, you can send a small payment through Paychex Bill Pay ($3 minimum) to verify the bank account yourself.
  • Can I use recurring bills or auto pay with international vendors?
    • Only if you are paying the vendor in USD. You cannot use foreign currencies with recurring bills setup or auto pay
  • Can I add international vendors on the mobile app?
    • You must create international vendors on the desktop version of Paychex Bill Pay. Once the vendor is created, you can make international payments within the mobile app
  • Can I make payments from an international bank account to my vendors?
    • You can only make payments from your USD bank accounts. If you pay in foreign currency, the current exchange rate will be shown to you at the time of payment. Your account will be debited in USD.
  • Can I merge duplicate international vendors?
    • If you’d like to merge vendors with different currencies, reach out to Customer Support.
  • What is the difference between Payment Currency and Invoice Currency? 
    • The payment currency is the currency that is received by your vendor. The invoice currency is the currency for the payment being sent. 

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