What is EFT and trace number?
The electronic deposit a payer sends and the reference number that links it to the matching remittance file.
Definition
Payers deposit funds by electronic funds transfer and send the corresponding remittance separately. The trace number — carried in the TRN segment of the 835 and echoed in the bank deposit description — is what ties the two together.
When trace numbers do not match up, a practice ends up with deposits it cannot post and remittances it cannot fund. Reconciling by trace number rather than by amount is what prevents that, because payers routinely combine multiple claims and occasionally multiple providers into one deposit.
Why it matters
Unreconciled deposits distort every revenue metric you have and are a standard audit finding.
Related terms
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