The LCR (lettre de change relevé) is a payment instrument widely used in France, close to a bill of exchange: the creditor draws on the debtor, whose bank pays on the due date. If you do business with French customers or suppliers and use Sage Intacct, you will come across it. This article explains how it works and how to automate it.
How an LCR works
The creditor (drawer) creates an LCR for an invoice, with a due date and the debtor's bank details. It is submitted to the creditor's bank for collection, which presents it to the debtor's bank. On the due date, the amount is debited from the debtor and credited to the creditor. Unlike a SEPA direct debit, the LCR relies on an instrument with its own due-date schedule and messages.
Why the manual process is time-consuming
Without automation, an LCR run means generating a file, uploading it in a bank portal, manually tracking due dates and reconciling receipts separately. With many customers, the risk of error rises and the receivables position is reliable only late.
An automated flow
- Creation of LCRs from invoices in Sage Intacct;
- Transmission to the bank through a secure channel such as EBICS or SFTP, depending on the bank;
- Feedback from the bank on acceptance or rejection;
- Reconciliation of receipts from bank statements, with entries posted in Sage Intacct. The formats involved are explained in camt.052, camt.053 and camt.054.
Use cases
- SMEs trading with France: regular LCR collections without manual file creation.
- Groups with French entities: unified tracking across several banks.
- Accounting firms: LCR processes for several clients, see centralizing payments.
Limits
The LCR is a French instrument. The transmission channels and features available are set by each bank, so start by checking with your bank what it offers for LCR.
LCR with Arkaio
Arkaio supports the LCR alongside pain.001, pain.002, pain.008 and camt messages, within the same flow with Sage Intacct. Connection to the bank is through EBICS, Open Banking or SFTP, as described in connecting Sage Intacct to your bank.
Key takeaways
The LCR remains relevant in French business. Automating it saves time on creation, tracking and receipt reconciliation.