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Electronic Remittances

" . . . If the participating depository institution utilizes computerized systems for reporting, then its statements shall be transmitted electronically in a manner acceptable to the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation . . ." [OLAF Rules - Section 120.51-2-01(C)(3)]

What are electronic remittals?

To improve accuracy and speed data entry, OLAF has instituted electronic forms for use in remittal of IOLTA/IOTA earned interest statements.

Templates are provided for download from the OLAF web site that provide a simple means of electronically transmitting individual account information to the Treasurer of State.

Microsoft Access and Excel templates are provided for your use, as well as a plain text format (Comma Separated Values) for fully automated or non-Microsoft solutions. All are simply formatted to simplify data entry and automated processing.

Statement Preparation

The legal or financial institution should download the templates and follow instructions provided to customize them for their use. The templates are provided in a password protected zip file which can be opened using utilities found here. The password used to unlock the zip file is the federal tax identification number assigned to all Ohio IOLTA/IOTA accounts, including the hyphen.

Once the templates are downloaded and customized, a master copy is saved by the institution. Each month, a copy of the master template is completed, compressed, and emailed to OLAF at remittals@olaf.org, as well as, to the Treasurer Of State at iolta@tos.ohio.gov

File Archive Process

To speed transmission and provide an additional level of protection against viruses, it is required that all attachments be zipped into an archive. (Instructions and software are provided here)

The archive file name should be the institutions name, followed by the city in parenthesis, followed by a hyphen and the Month and Year in the format MMYY.

For example - First Bank located in Cleveland would submit September 2002's report in the file:

First Bank (Cleveland)-0902.zip.

(The .zip extension will automatically be created by the zipping program.)

Email process

To complete the submission, the zip file must be included as an attachment to an email addressed to remittals@olaf.org and iolta@tos.ohio.gov

Remittal Statement Formats

Microsoft Excel
This is a very straight-forward format that allows an efficient and visually appealing method of data entry and submission of remittal statements.

One template file is provided. Remittal Template.xls consists of two sheets:

Remittal Summary provides pairs of labels and data for bank and summary data, one pair per row.

Remittal Detail has two or more lines. The first is provided on the template and provides labels for detail data which is then provided on the second and following lines.

Microsoft Access
This is another straight-forward format that allows an efficient and visually appealing method of data entry and submission of remittal statements.

One file is provided. Remittal Template.mdb consists of two tables:

Remittal Summary has exactly one row for bank and summary data.

Summary Info Printout displays all the information entered into the Remittal Summary table in a more printer friendly fashion.

Remittal Detail has one or more lines for detailed account data.

CSV Format (Comma Separated Values)
This format is intended primarily for banks that either choose to fully automate the remittal process or choose not to purchase and install either Access or Excel.

Files Provided
Two files are necessary for the CSV format:

Remittal Summary.csv provides bank information and summary data. This file has exactly two lines. The first is provided on the template and provides labels for bank and summary data which is then provided on the second line. Text may be enclosed in quotes and each data item must be separated by commas.

Remittal Detail.csv provides account detail data. This file has two or more lines. The first is provided on the template and provides labels for bank and summary data which is then provided on the second and following lines. Text may be enclosed in quotes and each data item must be separated by commas.

Data Structure

All three formats provide the same data. Templates are included in this archive for each format.

Remittal Summary

Remittal Detail