PremierCloud+ Documentation

PremierCloud+ provides your organisation with a modern and secure cheque writing solution.
Cloud-based hosting, combined with the most up-to-date security features and a process of continuous improvement, gives the organisation a combination which surpasses any on-premise solution.

PremierCloud Help & Support

For help or information about using the PremierCloud+ application please use the links in the navigation bar on the left hand side.

PremierCloud+ Overview

The daily use of PremierCloud+ falls in to the following main categories:

Authentication

Authentication leverages the expertise of leading cloud authentication provider Auth0, whose clients include News Corporation, Harvard Medical School, Siemens and AMD.
Auth0 monitors the authentication mechanism for suspicious activity such as brute-force or DDoS attacks, and will take appropriate action.
Standard authentication is done with a combination of the user's email address and password. The minimum password strength exceeds OWASP recommendations.
If increased security is required, there is also provision for Two-factor authenication. This will require that a user makes use of an authentication app, typically on a mobile device, that will provide a random one-time code, which must be entered in addition to their password.

Configuration

There is normally a substantial amount of configuration required initially, to mirror the specific business practices of the organisation.
However, once the system is configured, there is normally very little (if anything) more to do, for years to come.

User Management

It is normal for the customer to be in charge of managing their own users, and this will reflect the comings and goings within their organisation.
Different users will have different sets of permissions on the system, though these can be standardised in the form of permissions templates. Permissions can be added or removed from existing users, reflecting changes in responsibility within the organisation.

Importing Data

Using configured mapping templates, data can be imported from a variety of import formats. These include:

• Delimited files, such as comma-separated values (CSV), which might be generated by various generic IT systems, or from desktop software such as Microsoft Excel.
• Print-image text files. These are files which are normally sent directly to a printer, but which can optionally be saved as a text file via a standard Windows printer driver ("Print to File" option). They are normally the output of some established business process, for which there is no practical alternative means of extracting the data required for cheque printing.
• XML.

Imports from either format is very precisely configurable.

When a file is imported, the cheque data is extracted and stored within PremierCloud+ as one or more "batches". Each batch corresponds to a single (payer) bank account, so that if an import file contains data for multiple bank accounts, it will generate the same number of batches.
The generated batches can be viewed in the Batch Headers page.

If an error occurs at any point during the import, then no data is saved from the import, and no batches are generated.

Authorisation

This is an optional step.
If cheque authorisation is required, then one or more designated system users will need to authorise the individual cheque or batch before it can be printed.
Multiple authorisations can be done with a single click, in order to speed up the process.

Authorisation will only be required if both of the following conditions are met:

• The bank account is set up with authorisation rules
• The amount of the cheque falls between the authorisation rule limits

The system users who are able to authorise the cheques is determined by configuration. The users can be organised into groups for this purpose, which makes the management of this process easier.

Printing Cheques

Although all user interaction is carried out through a web browser, PremierCloud+ does not use the browser's intrinsic printing facility.
Instead, it invokes a custom Windows application known as the "Print Client Application" which must be installed on the user's PC.

In order for a user to carry out printing, the user must be using a Windows 10 PC, and must have installed the Print Client application. The Print Client application can be downloaded from the Help & Support page within PremierCloud+ .
The Print Client application also reads information from the PC about printers that are connected to the PC. These are used in the PremierCloud+ configuration to send output to specific printers within the organisation.

Typically, multiple users within a single location will have the same networked printers listed on their PC, with the same names. This means that the printing configuration can be used by all users within that single location.

When a user sends cheques to be printed, the following occurs:

• The data contained in the selected batches or selected cheques is combined with their print template(s), to generate printable content which is targeted at a specific printer.
• The combined data is sent to the Print Client application, which forwards it on to the designated printer(s).

A single cheque or batch may end up being printed on up to 3 different printers - one for the cheque, one for overflow pages and one for copies.
Frequently the cheque printer will have MICR-printing capability (MICR: magnetic ink character recognition), whereas the other printers will not.