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Writing checks
Payments
must be made, in nearly all lines of business. Most payments are made through Pay Bills, Payroll (pay checks and payroll liabilities,) and Pay Sales Tax. A few payments are made directly from the bank account, and checks are about the only way to record them. Online payments XE "payments:online" , ATM withdrawals, XE "ATM withdrawals" and service charges are recorded as checks. The other way to get money out is by general journal entry, but that is less convenient.
When writing checks, there
is some advantage to opening the bank account
register first. Account selection is
automatic, and after the check is written,
you can verify it in the register.
The Check
button (icon,) the Navigator (Checking
) or Activities|Write Checks
(in the menu bar, click Activities
then Write Checks
) will bring up the window.
Ending balance
shows the balance in this account, before entering this check.
To be printed
can set the check up for automatic printing, unless it is checked as an
Online Payment.
Online Payment
checkbox will appear (in QuickBooks 5) if it is enabled for this checking account.
See Chapter 21.
No.
(field) may have a check number, or something else. Bank accounts can track two or three check number
series. (In versions 4 and earlier, memorized checks do not contain any number or
To be printed information,
but can contain text in this field.)
Manual check numbers
may be entered here. These are intended for checks written outside of your office
. After a check is recorded with a manual check number, succeeding numbers will appear on manual checks.
If the wrong numbers are coming up in Pay Bills, it may be necessary to enter a check (same as last number
actually used) overriding the duplicate number warning. Once you record the check, if it is not real, delete it.
To Print
indicates that the the check has been set up for automatic printing, which uses a separate series of
numbers. The next number is displayed in the
Print Checks
dialog box, and may be corrected.
Online
payments use a third series of numbers, tracked within the bank. The default starting number is 5001,
and a phone call, to the bank, is needed to change the number series. When an online check is entered, the
number will be SEND.
Date
will be the date of the check and the date of any expenses recorded. Always
check the date in any
transaction. Online payments force a date four business days after the current date, which appears to be
merely implementing a bank requirement.
Payee
field needs a name, which may be typed in or picked off the list. If typed in, Quickbooks will need to
add it to the list. Each name is designated as one of the four types described in the Chapter 6 (names of type
“Other” can be changed to any of the specific types.)
- Customer
- Vendor
- Employee
- Other name.
Clicking the down-arrow drops a list with a bar for scrolling up and down.
Entering the customer can bring up a surprise. The previous transaction for this customer may pop up, and
you may or may not like that. It is controlled in a
Preference, either General or
Data Entry, with a line that says
Automatically recall last transaction for this name.
$
(amount) may be entered, if you know it. If not, just tab on by, and we will get to it later. (After all, it is only
money.)
Information entered on the face of the check appears in the bank account register, and with the bank account
in reports (except your account number with vendor.) Information entered in the detail section is connected
with those transactions. It will appear with these transactions in reports. If the transactions are transfers to
other balance sheet reports, this information will appear in the account registers.
Expenses
tab is covered here. The Items
tab is covered under Invoicing.
Account
column usually has an expense account or an asset account. Liabilities may also be used, and in some
circumstances, Payables (see Customer:job
, below.) The only account never used XE "never" is the same
bank account that the check is written on.
Amount
takes the amount going to this account. To use this section as an adding machine, just keep entering
money in this column. When the
Expenses section is complete, clicking
Recalc
forces XE "Recalc button"
the total of the Amount
column onto the face of the check.
Memo
column contains any pertinent text. This memo is associated with the transaction in the opposing
account. When a report is generated, this memo may be shown with the transaction in this account. If this is a
balance sheet account, the memo will appear in its register. If the memo runs to several lines, only the first will
be displayed.
More information may be added in the Memo field of checks generated from Payables, or from a refund in
receivables. Text may be typed in here, even with nothing else on the same line. If the display is only
Account, Memo, and Amount,
allow some space on the right. At the end of the line, use the
Tab key a few times to
advance to the next line in the Memo field. Note below, the limitation of sixteen lines.
Customer:job
name may be selected from the list, indicating that this expense is to be passed on to a
customer. An entry here will put a symbol in the Invoice column (next to the right) XE "Invoice column:check
voucher" XE "Expenses tab:checks" indicating that this expense is waiting to be recorded on an invoice
. Note: once the expense is recorded on an invoice, this flag is cleared, and will stay cleared. If the invoice is
deleted, the flag will remain cleared, and invoicing will not again show this expense as ready to be included in
an invoice.
Invoice
(the little square bug) shows a symbol if a customer name is entered, for billing an expense through to
a customer. Clicking will cover it with an X, meaning “Do not bill.” After the expense has been billed, the
invoice symbol becomes gray, and stays gray (even if the invoice is deleted.)
Class
column may be present, and an entry made, if your accounting plan includes classes (chapters 2 and 3.)
Reaching the end of the first detail line,
Tab
(one or more times) will move the action to the beginning of the
second line. Enter the necessary number of detail lines. The first sixteen of them can be printed on the check
voucher. (Sorry, that’s the way it is.) If seventeen or more lines are used, the sixteenth will be the total of those
not shown.
Recalc
button (lower right) XE "Recalc button" will force the correct total onto the check.
Items
tab allows entry of items, which are fully explained under
Enter Bills, Chapter 9.
Next, Prev, OK,
and Cancel
work as described under Deposits.
Print
button prints this one check. (Printing of multiple checks is under
File|Print Forms.) Look at the
number of the next check in the printer.
CAUTION
rinting, from this selection is possible, without recording the check. If the check is printed and used,
OKmust
be selected to record the check. “Esc” or cancel would kill the check, indicating that you should have bought QuickBooks for ... instead of this book.
Enter the number of the next check up in the printer, and click
OK.
A printer setup screen will appear, in QuickBooks 5. Older versions have a box with some of these choices,
but printers can only be set up under
File|Printer Setup.
Print company name and address
can be XE "company name:on checks" selected in this box. Other
selections are described in the chapter on Printing. In earlier versions, this selection can only be made just
before printing.
Options
gives access to setups for the printer listed in
Printer name.
The down-arrow allows selection of
printers that have been set up through the Windows control system (Chapter 23 or 24.)
Check style
allows choice between standard checks, sold three per page, and voucher checks. XE "voucher
checks" .. These add two check-sized sheets below the checks, for a use variously described as vouchers,
skirts, detail sections, or in British usage, remittance advices XE "remittance advice" . Account number may
be printed on the voucher, selected in
File|Preferences|Checking.
A third style, wallet size, is available.
Wallet checks XE "wallet checks" are sold three per sheet, are not often used in business, and the information
on the stub can’t be controlled.
Partial page
tab is used with standard (non-voucher) checks, when one or two checks have been printed
from a sheet. Older versions have the same choices in different form.
Number of copies
is useful for printing additional copies of checks, usually onto blank paper interleaved with
the checks.
Multiple checks may be selected for printing from
File|Print
Forms, as described in the chapter on printing.
Memorized checks
XE "Memorized checks" are handy. The procedure is essentially the same as
memorizing invoices, Chapter 7. Users of versions 4 and earlier should remember that check numbers or
printing status are not memorized.
TIP
“The check is in the mail.” Make sure of it. Check fraud has resulted from envelopes being left out, and not
making it into the mail box. The checks have been acquired by integrity-challenged persons, who have altered
them. Once a check is deposited into a mail box, this is far less likely.
The US Internal Revenue Code requires businesses to report certain payments on form 1099-MISC XE
"1099-MISC" . QuickBooks has a convenient form for that purpose, but this report includes only payments
to payees from the list of vendors. Payments to employees, customers, or “other names” will not be included
on the 1099 report. For more details, see the reports in Chapter 14.
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