Printing A/P Checks

Regardless of how a Bill got into the Bills Browse, checks for these Bills are printed in the same manner using 4 basic steps:

1. Tagging the invoices for payment

2. Printing a Pre-Check report to make certain all your Bills are properly tagged for payment

3. Printing the checks

4. Confirming the Check Run.

Procedure

Step #1:  TAGGING INVOICES FOR PAYMENT

1. Tag the Bills you wish to pay on this check run by selecting the invoice and pressing <Ctrl+Spacebar> or double clicking in the far-left column beside the invoice.

2. In the Enter Amount to Pay window, enter the amount to pay and any discount. This defaults to the entire invoice balance with the discount information being based on the Terms ID associated with this invoice. Any of this can be overridden. The GL Account for the discount can also be changed.

3. Click [OK]. This invoice is now selected for payment.

Step #2:  PRINTING A PRE-CHECK REPORT

This step is optional, but highly recommended!

1. Click on [Print].

2. Select [Reports] and then [Pre-Check].

3. Choose an existing Query or insert one of your own, then press [Select].

4. In the Print Options box, verify your settings and then press [Print].

5. The printed report will show you the invoices you’ve selected to pay. Review and make any necessary changes before proceeding with the Check Run.

Step #3  PRINTING THE CHECKS (THE CHECK RUN)

1. Click on [Print] and select [Checks].

2. Select [Tagged Items] in the Printer Options box. Review the rest of your printer information. You should also check the [Untag After Printing] box. Click [Print].

3. Enter your BANK ACCOUNT, starting CHECK#, and PAYMENT DATE then click [OK].

 Normally you will enter the current date as the PAYMENT DATE. However, you may enter another date, which allows you to print checks ahead of time if you need to. For example, when your Accounts Payable clerk is going to be out for vacation, this feature can be used to print checks for the time she will be out. The checks will be dated appropriately and can be mailed out by someone else.

1. Review the Pre-Print Summary information that appears.

2. Click on [PRINT CHECKS NOW].

Step #4  CONFIRMING THE CHECK RUN (SUPER IMPORTANT!)

 Always answer ‘Yes’ if the problem was a printer failure. In this case, most if not all checks are unspoiled. They are printed as far as Simple Accounting is concerned however (meaning that they have check numbers.) You can easily commit these to paper as discussed in the Check Register.topic.

Voids

Checks may be voided directly from the A/P Bills Browse or from the Check Register. Voiding a check from the A/P Bills Browse re-opens all Bills linked with it.

Reprinting Checks

You may reprint a single check from the Bills Browse as many times as you like by pressing [Print], then Checks, then selecting ‘Current Only’ from the Print Options Window.

However, the invoices indicated for payment on a check may not be edited once the check has been printed. It is assumed that once a check has been printed, with a unique check number, that it has been examined and found to be accurate.

You can also re-print multiple checks in a batch from the Check Register.

Other Types of Checks

There are two other kinds of checks you may need to print:

• Customer refunds. You can easily print checks for customer refunds from the Sales Order Browse by pressing the [Apply Credit] button.

• Miscellaneous checks not related to accounts payable. Go directly to the Check Register and press the [Insert] to create a new check directly.

You should enter checks directly from the check register only for transactions that do not involve accounts payable or accounts receivable.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON CHECK PRINTING 1. You may enter partial payments, by simply entering only the amount to be paid when marking the invoice for check printing. 2. You enter Purchase Discounts when tagging a bill for payment. 3. Printing a check creates an entry into the check register, assigns it a unique and sequential check number, and then prints the check in its proper numerical sequence. No transactions are posted to your General Ledger until the checks you have printed are OK’d. Therefore you should always run a report of checks printed and double-check your work before printing. 4. Once a Check is printed, you may not edit the transaction, but you may re-print the check, either from this browse or from the Check Register. You may however, void the check, and re-enter the transaction to be printed on the next available Check Number. Again, the check can be voided either in this browse or from the Check Register. 5. You should never attempt to reprint if your checks have pre-printed check numbers. In this case you must void any improperly printed checks and then reprint them.