Working with external codes

  • 29/09/2025
  • 4 minutes to read

When you process payments in Business Central, you may need to include specific codes so banks and authorities can identify, classify, and approve the transactions. These codes can be required for regulatory reporting, payment purpose classification, or to specify the payment method. Requirements vary by country - for example, in Germany, payments over €50,000 to foreign accounts must be reported to the Bundesbank, while in Sweden and Norway, payments exceeding 150,000 SEK and 100,000 NOK must trigger a warning.

The External Codes page in Continia Banking provides a single location to set up and manage all code types required for payment processing and compliance. External codes are globally available, with the ability to define country-specific rules and descriptions. This flexibility lets you adapt easily to local requirements.

These external codes directly impact the information in the payment files and determine how data is structured and reported.

The External Codes page in Continia Banking page extends Business Central with a single, unified interface for managing all relevant financial codes, including:

  • Regulatory reporting codes – country-specific identifiers required for government or central bank reporting. For example, if your company makes a payment over €50,000 abroad, you must report it to the Bundesbank using the correct regulatory code.
  • Category purpose codes - standardized codes that describe why a payment is being made. Often used in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) and other payment schemes. For example, if you pay a supplier for goods, you might use the SEPA code SUPP to indicate supplier payment. This ensures banks and counterparties understand the purpose and can process it correctly.
  • Local instrument codes – codes that define the specific payment method or instrument being used within a country or banking network. For example, when paying within the SEPA area, you might specify INST for an instant payment or CORE for a standard SEPA Credit Transfer. This tells the bank how to process the payment.

On the External Codes page, each record contains:

  • Code type – identifies the purpose of the code, such as Regulatory reporting, Category purpose, Z4, or Local instrument.
  • Country – specifies the recipient country where the code is used. If left blank, the code applies globally.
  • Code - the external code identifier.
  • Code description – explains the external code usage.
  • Code group – categorizes the code for reporting purposes. Examples include Transit, Service, or Capital trade. Code groups help ensure accurate compliance with German financial regulations.

Tip

Use the filter list to quickly find specific codes. For example, you can filter on code, code type, and country.

Introducing regulatory reporting and external codes
Generating a regulatory report
Introducing Z4 reporting