Frequently asked questions

Zefty is a Canadian web application that turns the approved vendor bills in your Zoho Books account into an EFT 1464 payment file built to Payments Canada Standard 005 (CPA 005). You select the bills, download the file, upload it to your bank, and Zefty records every payment back in Zoho Books. No spreadsheets, no retyping, no rejected uploads.

Canadian businesses, controllers, bookkeepers and accounting firms that manage payables in Zoho Books and pay vendors by electronic funds transfer through a Canadian bank. If you type payment details into a bank portal today or build payment files by hand, Zefty replaces that work. You do not need a developer or an IT team.

Yes. Zefty reads your vendors and unpaid bills from Zoho Books and records vendor payments back to it, so an active Zoho Books organization is required. Zefty does not replace your accounting system; it sits beside it and handles the bank file.

Zefty works with both Zoho regions (zoho.com and zohocloud.ca); you pick yours during setup. Your Zoho Books plan must allow connected applications like Zefty, which most paid plans do. If you are unsure, write to us at [email protected] before subscribing and we will confirm.

Nine institutions: BMO, CIBC, Desjardins, HSBC Canada, Laurentian Bank, National Bank of Canada, RBC Royal Bank, Scotiabank and TD Canada Trust. You choose your bank during setup and Zefty builds every file the way that bank expects. Your bank must have enabled EFT origination on your business account; see our bank guides for each institution.

There is no free trial, but there is no long-term contract either. Plans are billed monthly in Canadian dollars and you can cancel any time from your billing page. Once subscribed, turn on test mode to validate files with your bank; nothing is recorded in Zoho Books until you switch to live files.

Plan for under an hour the first time. Creating your account and subscription takes a few minutes, bank setup a few more if you already have your originator ID, and authorizing Zoho Books takes a few clicks from your Zoho account. Our onboarding guide walks you through every step with screenshots.

It is the identifier your bank assigns when it enables EFT origination on your business account; banks call it originator ID, client number or company number. Zefty asks for it once, along with your business name as registered with the bank and your account details. If you do not have one, ask your business banking representative to activate EFT file services.

The transit number identifies your branch and the institution number identifies your bank; both appear on a cheque next to the account number. Zefty asks for yours once during setup. For your vendors, the same details come straight from Zoho Books, so you never retype them.

Yes. With test mode on, every file you generate is marked as a test and nothing is recorded in Zoho Books, so you can validate your originator ID, business name and account details with your bank before sending a live file. Turn it off once your bank confirms the test file is accepted.

It happens, and it takes two minutes to redo. The help centre walks you through it, and our support team can do it with you by email in English or French.

Yes. Your bank, business name, originator ID and account details can be updated from your settings at any time. To work with a different Zoho Books account, add a new organization from your organization menu; the help centre explains how.

Zefty reads your vendors, their banking details and your unpaid bills. It writes one thing back: a vendor payment for each bill included in a generated file, so your books stay current without manual entry. The access you grant is limited to those operations, and you can revoke it from your Zoho account at any time.

Every night and on demand. Your vendors and bills refresh automatically overnight, and you can start a sync yourself whenever you need the latest data. Your dashboard shows when the last sync ran.

Yes. Enter the amount you want to pay now on any bill and your selected total updates in real time. The payment file carries the partial amount, the payment recorded in Zoho Books matches it, and the balance stays open on the bill for a later run.

Yes. Point Zefty to a Zoho Books view, for example approved bills only, and only the bills in that view can be selected for payment. It is an easy way to make sure nothing is paid before it is approved, and the help centre shows how to set it up.

From Zoho Books. Zefty reads the bank account recorded on each vendor, or the fields your team already uses for that information. The numbers stay in Zoho Books and you never retype them, which is how transposed digits and wrong payees disappear.

It means the vendor's account details in Zoho Books are incomplete, so Zefty blocks its bills before any file exists. Complete the vendor's bank account in Zoho Books and run a sync; the bills become payable right away. The help centre has the details.

It is the payment file format Canadian banks accept for batches of electronic funds transfers, defined by Payments Canada Standard 005 (CPA 005). Banks are strict about it: one wrong detail and the upload is rejected. Zefty builds each file to the standard and to your bank's requirements, so it is accepted the first time.

It is rare, and it is usually a setup detail on the bank side, such as EFT origination not yet active or an originator ID that differs from the one your bank issued. Open the readable report for that file to compare what was sent with what your bank gave you. If anything is unclear, send us the file number and the bank's message and we will sort it out with you.

Download the file and upload it through your bank's business banking portal, in the section for EFT or payment files. Our bank guides show where that is for each of the nine supported institutions. Zefty never transmits the file, holds your bank credentials or moves your funds; approval and release stay in your bank portal.

For every file, Zefty keeps a readable report that shows exactly what was sent, in plain language rather than raw bank format. Use it to confirm a payment run, answer an auditor or a board member, or resolve a question with your bank. It sits beside the file in your payment history.

Yes. Every file is kept with its report, number, total, creation date and payment date, and you can download either at any time. Paid bills also appear in your payment history with a link to the payment in Zoho Books, so you can trace a payment from the bank file back to the bill.

Three monthly plans, priced in Canadian dollars, taxes extra: Starter at $29 for one user with email support; Team at $43 with additional users at $14 each per month, multi-organization and email support; and Premium at $299 with unlimited users, unlimited EFT transactions, priority phone and email support and custom training. Full details are on the pricing page.

Every subscription includes one user. On the Team plan, add or remove users any time at $14 per additional user per month; the charge is shown before you confirm. Premium includes unlimited users at no extra charge.

No, prices are shown before tax. GST, HST or QST is calculated from your province and added at checkout, and it appears as a separate line on every invoice. Your subscription is billed monthly in Canadian dollars.

On your billing page, which you reach from the user menu in Zefty. Download every invoice, update your card and review upcoming charges there. Billing is handled by Stripe, and your card details never touch Zefty.

Cancel any time from your billing page; there is no minimum term. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period. Download any files or reports you want to keep before then, and write to us if you need help with your data.

Yes, with the Team or Premium plan. Add a company from your organization menu; each organization has its own Zoho Books connection, bank details, subscription and users, and you switch between them from the same login. This suits accounting firms and groups with several legal entities.

Yes. Vendor banking details are encrypted at rest, and every connection uses HTTPS. Access to your files and reports requires your login and, if you enable it, your second factor.

No. You authorize the connection from your Zoho account in a few clicks, and Zefty never sees or stores your Zoho password. The access is limited to what Zefty needs, and you can revoke it from your Zoho account at any time.

Yes. Enable an authenticator app as a second factor when you create your account or later from your profile. We recommend it for every user who can generate payment files.

Zefty runs on secure managed cloud hosting with automated backups. Zefty is a Canadian company, and your Zoho Books data stays in the Zoho region you already use. If your organization has specific data residency requirements, write to [email protected] and we will confirm the details for your account.

Cancel your subscription from your billing page, then write to [email protected] from the email address on the account and ask for deletion. We remove your organization, its vendor banking data and its payment history, and we disconnect Zoho Books. You can also revoke Zefty's access from your Zoho account at any time.

Yes. Zefty, its help centre and its support are available in English and French, and our Canadian team answers by email Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. Write to [email protected] or open a request from inside the app; Premium subscribers also get priority phone and email support.