A lockbox file is the record Rhythm keeps for a bank upload, not the bank’s original spreadsheet. It includes the settings you chose, such as the bank account, payment batch, and column mapping, along with the file’s status and, after processing, the outcome for each cheque row. You work with lockbox files from Integrations › Rhythm Lockbox.
Files Versus Rows
A lockbox file is the container, and each row inside it represents one cheque from the bank’s file. Rhythm keeps every submitted row with its file, whether the row was matched and paid, credited, or left with no action, so you can review the full import history after processing finishes.
Rows are written only once, at the very end of processing. If an import stops before processing finishes, Rhythm does not store any rows for that file.
Each lockbox file also gets a short, sequential number on the file list, so your team can refer to a specific import without using its longer internal identifier.
What a File's Status Tells You
A lockbox file’s status shows where it is in the upload-to-payment process:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not submitted | The file setup has been started but not completed. |
| In progress | The file has been created and its columns mapped, but payments have not been processed yet. |
| Completed | Processing has run, and the file’s imported and not-imported counts are available. |
Rhythm offers View Results only after a file’s status is completed. A file that is still in progress does not have a results view yet, even if its rows have already been stored.
When you open an existing file to change it, you can redo its setup, mapping, preview, and processing steps no matter what status it has. That means you can process a file again after it already shows as completed, so review the file’s results first to avoid applying the same payments twice.
Imported and Not-Imported Counts
After processing, the results show how many rows were imported and how many were not imported. The results window lists each row’s matched invoice, with a link to that invoice, plus the payment created, the invoice total and status, the payment amount, the row’s import status, the action Rhythm took, and any message explaining the outcome. Actions include Pay Invoice, Pay Invoice/Credit, Credit, and No Action.
See How Imported Lockbox Payments Are Built for what those actions mean, and How Rhythm Finds the Invoice for Each Lockbox Cheque for why a row might not match at all.
Deleting a File Removes Its Results Too
When you delete a lockbox file, Rhythm also deletes the result rows stored with it. You cannot keep a file’s history after removing the file, so review the results before deleting it if you need a record of what the import did.
Warning
Deleting a completed lockbox file permanently removes its results. Deleting the file does not automatically reverse payments the file already created; it only removes the file’s own record of what happened.
Hiding a File Without Deleting It
You can mark a lockbox file inactive to hide it from the file list without deleting the file or its results. The Console does not offer a control for this; only an API caller working directly with your Rhythm account connection can do it.
Marking a file inactive only changes whether it appears in the list. A hidden file’s rows can still be previewed and processed as usual, so hiding a file does not stop it from being used.