Producing Checks in QuickBooks

Paying Selected Bills

When you’re done setting up bills to pay, click the Pay Selected Bills button. When you do, QuickBooks closes the Pay Bills window, displays a Payment Summary dialog box showing the payments you’ve made, and adds those payments to your bank account register. Here are the actions you can take from the Payment Summary dialog box, depending on how you produce checks:

• If you write paper checks for your bills, click Done and your QuickBooks work is complete. But you still have to fill out and mail your paper checks.

• For checks you print in QuickBooks, click Print Checks . If you aren’t ready to print checks just yet, click Done.

• You can create another batch of bill payments (for example, to pay bills using another method) by clicking Pay More Bills in the Payment Summary dialog box.

Note: If you open the Enter Bills window, you’ll see a PAID stamp on bills you’ve paid.

 Producing Checks When you use Check as the payment method for paying bills, your bank account register shows check transactions, but you still have to generate checks to send to your vendors. For companies that produce lots of checks, printing checks in Quick- Books can prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. But for a sole proprietorship that generates a few checks each month, writing checks by hand is easy enough. As this section explains, QuickBooks accepts either approach with equal aplomb.

Writing Checks by Hand

 Handwriting checks doesn’t require any work in QuickBooks, but you still have to keep your company file in sync with your paper checks. Whether you’re writing checks for bills you’ve paid in QuickBooks or scratching out a spur-of-the-moment check to the fortune-teller for this week’s corporate horoscope, you want to make sure that the check numbers in your bank account register match your paper checks. If you already recorded your check transactions in QuickBooks by paying bills or recording a check transaction for an immediate payment ,   chapter 9: paying for expenses  synchronizing check numbers is as easy as writing the paper checks in the same order as you entered them in QuickBooks. Simply open the checking account register window and use the check transactions to guide your paper check writing, as shown in Figure 9-15.

Figure 9-15:╇ To open the checking account register, first press Ctrl+A to open the Chart of Accounts window. Then, double-click the checking account’s row (or right-click the checking account’s row, and then choose Use Register). In a register window, the code CHK in the Type cell indicates a check transaction. The code BILLPMT along with a check number indicates a bill paid by check.

Note: If the next check number in QuickBooks isn’t the one on your next paper check, figure out why they don’t match. The answer might be as simple as a voided check that you forgot to enter in Quick- Books or a check you wrote earlier that was out of sequence. But if someone is walking off with blank checks, you need to take action.

Until you find the reason for the mismatched check number, editing the check numbers that Quick- Books assigns in the checking account register is the easiest way to get checks into the mail. In the register window, simply double-click an incorrect check number, and then type the number that’s on your paper check.

Setting Up QuickBooks to Print Checks

If you have scads of checks to generate, printing on preprinted computer checks is well worth the small amount of setup you have to do. And if you dedicate a printer to check printing and keep it stocked with checks, setup is truly a one-time event.

Tip: Lock up your preprinted checks and any printer stocked with them. Otherwise, you might discover checks missing, which can lead to money disappearing from your bank account.   230   â•‰â•‰â•‰Producing Checks

The first step is telling QuickBooks which printer to print to and the type of checks you use. The program remembers these settings, so you need to go through this process just once. After you’ve specified your check-printing settings, QuickBooks fills them in automatically in the Print dialog box. (You can always change those options before you print.)

 Here’s how you set QuickBooks up to print checks:

1. Open the “Printer setup” dialog box by choosing File➝Printer Setup. In the Form Name drop-down list, select Check/Paycheck.

2. In the “Printer name” drop-down list, choose the printer you want to use. If you choose a printer brand that QuickBooks recognizes (there are only a few it doesn’t), the program automatically fills in the “Printer type” box. If you use a very old or very odd printer, you’ll have to choose the type of printer. “Page oriented (Single sheets)” refers to printers that feed one sheet at a time. Choose Continuous (Perforated Edge) if the printer feeds a roll of paper.

Figure 9-16:╇ The Standard option sets Quick- Books up to print to checks that fit in a #10 business envelope; these checks typically come three to a page. The Voucher option represents one-page forms that include both a check and a detachable stub for payroll or check info. Wallet checks are smaller than business checks. Because they’re narrower than standard business checks, these forms have a perforation on the left for tearing the check off, leaving a stub containing check information that you can file.

4. If the company you buy checks from wants too much money to print your company info and logo on the checks, turn on the “Print company name and address” and “Use logo” checkboxes. Turning on the “Print company name and address” checkbox tells QuickBooks to print the company name and address you filled in when you created the company file. If you turn on the “Use logo” checkbox, the program opens the Logo dialog box. Click File and then, in the Open Logo File dialog box, select the file containing your logo. (QuickBooks can handle BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, and TIFF formats.) If your company info and logo are preprinted on your checks, leave these checkboxes turned off.

5. If you have an image of your signature saved on your computer, you can print it on your checks by turning on the Print Signature Image checkbox. The program opens the Signature dialog box. Click File and then, in the Open Logo File dialog box, locate and double-click the file containing your signature. (One way to create a graphic file of your signature is by signing a piece of paper and scanning it to your computer.)

6. Click OK to save your check-printing settings. The next section tells you how to actually print checks. GEM IN THE ROUGH

Printing Checks

In the Pay Bills window, if you choose the “To be printed” option, QuickBooks adds the checks you’ve selected for payment to a print queue when you click the Pay Selected Bills button. After you confirm that your preprinted checks are in the printer and that the checks are aligned properly, you can print checks by following these steps: 

1. If the Payment Summary dialog box is open, click Print Checks. Otherwise, choose File➝Print Forms➝Checks. QuickBooks opens the “Select Checks to Print” dialog box and selects all the unprinted checks.

Note: If you aren’t ready to print checks, click Done in the Payment Summary dialog box. You can print checks whenever convenient for you by choosing File➝Print Forms➝Checks. (The “Select Checks to Print” dialog box opens and you can continue with the next step.)   

2. If you don’t want to print a check that’s listed, turn off its checkbox. When only the checkmark cells for the checks you want to print are turned on, click OK. QuickBooks opens the Print Checks dialog box, which looks much like the Printer Setup dialog box for checks (Figure 9-16).

3. If the first page of checks in your printer is a partial page, in the “Number of checks on first page” box, type how many checks there are.

 In the Print Checks dialog box, the “Number of checks on first page” box lets you use leftover checks from previous print runs when you have a page-oriented printer. Type the number of leftover checks on the partial page and insert that page into your printer’s envelope feed. After QuickBooks program prints checks to that page, it will begin feeding full sheets of checks from the paper tray.

4. Click Print.

Because of the problems that can happen during printing (paper jams, low toner, or an ill-timed margarita spill), QuickBooks opens the “Print Checks – Confirmation” dialog box after it prints checks.

5. If there was a problem, in the “Print Checks – Confirmation” dialog box, click the Reprint cell for each check that didn’t print correctly. If the whole batch is a loss, click Select All.

6. Click OK to reprint the checks. In addition to printing the checks, QuickBooks also removes the words To Print from those checks in your checking account register, replacing them with the check numbers it used.

 Writing Checks Without Entering Bills

You might enter bills in QuickBooks for the majority of your vendor transactions so you can take advantage of early payment discounts or pay bills just before they’re due. But you’re still likely to handwrite a quick check from time to time to pay for  an expense immediately. For example, when the person who plows your parking lot knocks on the door and asks for payment, he won’t want to wait while you step through the bill entering and paying process in QuickBooks—he just wants his $100.

And if you write only a couple of checks a month, there’s nothing wrong with writing checks to pay your vendors without entering a bill in QuickBooks. When you first use QuickBooks and want some guidance, use the Write Checks dialog box to make sure you enter everything you need. In no time, you’ll grow tired of all the clicking and handholding. At that point, you can switch to recording your checks in the QuickBooks checking account register. This section describes how to do both.

Note: Entering checks in the register is best reserved for paper checks that you write, but you can print checks you enter in the register: First, record the check. Then, right-click it and choose Edit Check to open the Write Checks window and, in the window’s menu bar, click Print.

Using the Write Checks Window

The Write Checks window is like a trimmed-down Enter Bills window. Because you’re paying immediately, there’s no need for fields such as Bill Due or Terms. For a payment without a bill, you have to provide information about the expenses or items you’re paying for, which is why the Write Checks window has the Expenses and Items tabs. QuickBooks fills in a few fields for you, and the rest of the fields are like the ones you’ve met already in the Enter Bills window.

Note: Don’t use the Enter Bills window to write checks for sales tax, payroll, payroll taxes, and liabilities. Chapter 14 explains how you pay employees, payroll taxes, and other payroll liabilities.

To write a check in the Write Checks window, follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+W for fast access to the Write Checks window (or choose Banking➝Write Checks).

You can also click the Write Checks icon on the Home page. As you can see in Figure 9-18, QuickBooks tries to flatten the learning curve by making the first part of the Write Checks window look like a paper check. If you use multiple currencies, QuickBooks lists the currency for your checking account in the Bank Account box, the currency for the vendor on the right side of the “Pay to the Order of ” box, and the currency for the check to the left of the check amount. If you set up regular account preferences, such as the bank account to use when you open the Write Checks window, the program automatically chooses your bank account for you.

 

2. QuickBooks automatically fills in the No. box with the next check number for the selected bank account. If the number that the program fills in doesn’t match the check you’re writing by hand, type in the number on your paper check. If you type a check number that’s already been used, QuickBooks warns you about the duplicate number when you try to save the check. In the warning message box, click Cancel, and then, in the Write Checks window, edit the value in the No. field.

Tip: If you suspect that there’s more than one check number awry, open the checking account register to review multiple checks at the same time. To renumber the checks in the register window, double-click a transaction’s Number cell, type the new number, and then press Enter to save the change. It’s perfectly acceptable to save a duplicate check number, as long as you keep editing check numbers until all the duplicates are gone.

3. In the “Pay to the Order of ” drop-down list, choose who you want to pay. The drop-down list includes customers, vendors, employees, and names from the Other Names list.   •‰â•‰â•‰Writing Checks Without Entering Bills

4. If you want to print the check, turn on the “To be printed” checkbox just above the right end of the Expenses table. When you turn on this checkbox, the words “To Print” appear to the right of the No. label. This setting adds the checks you create to a print queue. When you print those checks, QuickBooks replaces To Print with check numbers. If you’re writing checks by hand, be sure to leave the “To be printed” checkbox turned off.

5. Add entries to the Expenses and Items tabs for the things the check is paying for, just like you do when you enter a bill. QuickBooks calculates the check amount as you add entries on the Expenses and Items tabs. If you fill in the check amount and then start adding expenses and items, you’ll know that the check total and the posted amounts match when no unallocated dollars remain. If you’ve mangled the entries on the Expenses or Items tab, you can start over by clicking the Clear Splits button.

6. Click Save & Close to record the check. To write another check, click Save & New. To throw away any values in the window and start over, click Revert.

Adding Checks to an Account Register In QuickBooks, entering checks in a bank account register is fast, easy, and—for keyboard aficionados—addictive. By combining typing and keyboard shortcuts, such as tabbing from cell to cell, you can make short work of entering checks. Here’s how you create checks in a register window:

1. Press Ctrl+A to open the Chart of Accounts window and then double-click your bank account. If you have only one bank account, you can open your register with one click: On the program’s main icon bar, click Reg to have QuickBooks open the account register window and position the cursor in the Date cell of the first blank transaction.

                                                                       

2. If you want to adjust the check’s date by a few days, press the plus key (+) or minus key (–) until the date is what you want.

3. Press Tab to move to the Number cell. QuickBooks automatically fills in the next check number for that bank account. If the number doesn’t match the paper check you want to write, press + or – until the number is correct or simply type the new number.

4. Press Tab to move to the Payee cell, and then start typing the name of the payee. QuickBooks scans the lists of names in your company file and selects the first one that matches all the letters you’ve typed so far. As soon as QuickBooks selects the one you want, press Tab to move to the Payment cell.

5. In the Payment cell, type the amount of the check. After you fill in the amount, press Tab to jump past the Deposit cell to the Account cell.

6. If the check applies to only one expense account, in the Account drop-down list, choose the account you want. You can also choose an account by typing the account number or the first few letters of the account’s name. As you type, QuickBooks selects the first account that matches what you’ve typed. When the account is correct, press Tab to move to the Memo cell.

If your check covers more than one type of expense, you can allocate the payment among several accounts.

7. To add a reminder about the check, in the Memo cell, type your notes. When you’ve filled in all the fields you need, click Record to save the check. Lather, rinse, repeat.