The check writing screen is used to print checks for bills that are due. There are two main windows within the Check Writing function. The first window is displayed when you click on Purchases and then Check Writing (Write Checks) or press F10 and then /. This window is basically the Check Writing control panel. From the choices there, you can enter the bill viewing window to view and select bills for payment.
Helps Accessed From the Check Writing (/) Screen
File Help (/)
F5—exits lookup.
F10—goes to the Selection Screen.
Esc—exits one level.
Alt+F4—exits ABC.
Tools Help (/)
Ctrl+G—Gets or jumps to the address of a certain field. When you press Ctrl+G, a message box appears telling you the address of the field your cursor is on. You are also given opportunity to jump to another address. Enter the location number of the field you want to jump to, or enter F and the field number of the field you want to jump to.
Shift+F3—brings up an accountant's* calculator when your press it the first time. The second time you press it, the final calculations showing are entered into the field the cursor was on.
+ adds or totals - subtracts / divides
* multiplies ) clears ( exits calculator
= totals or equals
*If you are not familiar with an accountant’s calculator, you may want to take a little time to familiarize yourself with the differences in usage here. Figures are entered as positive or negative: i.e. 100+50-75= would be entered as 100+; 50+; 75- The answer calculates each time you press the positive or negative sign. The = sign or Enter key seldom need be used unless you are multiplying or dividing.
Choose Option 1, 2, 3, 4 (/.1011)
The software automatically inserts the number of the option you are most likely to use. If, in fact, it is the option you want, press Enter to select it. Otherwise, type the number you want.
Here is an explanation of the four options:
Option 1—Create List of Bills to Pay
If you choose option 1, the program generates a list of vendors with the amount owed to each vendor.
Total amount owed for all bills from all vendors is displayed at the top of the screen.
Amounts are divided between 2 columns—Future Column and Due Column—depending on the Pay-to-Date you chose.
The Future Column lists all open amounts that have Due Dates and Discount Dates after the Pay-to-Date.
The Due Column lists all open amounts that have Due Dates or Discount Dates on or before the Pay-to-Date.
The Disc Column lists the Discounts that are earned if a bill is paid using the current Check Date. A discount is earned if the Check Date is on or before the Discount Claim Date.
To view the individual bills from all vendors, press Alt+T when the cursor is on the top line, TOTAL TO BE PAID. To view one vendor's individual bills, press Alt+T when the cursor is on their line. Pressing Alt+T the second time gives further detail on bills that have been set up to be paid by serial number. Pressing Alt+T a third time or click on detail will return to original.
For information on payments by serial number setup, see help titled “Paying Bills by Serial Number.”
If you press * on the TOTAL TO BE PAID line, all open bills will be selected for payment, whether they are due or not. (Even those with an N in Pay Code.) If you type a * on a line that has a vendor's name, all open bills for that vendor will be selected for payment. If you type a * on a line that has a bill with separate serial # items, all the serial # items on that bill will be selected for payment.
A + sign works the same as a *, except that it only selects open bills that have a Due Date or a Discount Date that is on or prior to the Pay-to-date. In other words, the + sign selects bills that are due or bills that need to be paid by a certain date in order to get a discount. (Bills with an N in the Pay Code will not be selected.)
A / clears bills from the Payment list. If you type a / on the TOTAL TO BE PAID line, you get a message, "Are All Bills to Be Cleared?" Press Y if that is what you want to do. To clear a specific vendor's bills, press / on the line with the vendor's name. To clear a single bill or item, press / on the bill or item line.
To make a partial payment on a bill, type the amount you want to pay in the Payment column.
You can take a discount on an invoice by typing an amount in the DisTaken column.
When you are done with option 2, having selected what payments are to be made, use Esc or F5 to return to the Choose Option field.
NOTE: If you change a bill entry, or if you change any of the dates on the Check Writing (/) screen after Option 1 was chosen, you must choose Option 1 again to update the information on the Check Writing screen.
Option 2—View\Edit Previous Selections
If you have selected bills for payment with Option 1, but you closed out Check Writing without printing checks; the software will default to Option 2 when you return to Check Writing. This allows you to review the choices you had made and make any changes you wish before printing checks.
If you do not wish to review your choices, simply overwrite the 2 in the Option field with a 3.
Reminder: If you change a bill entry, or if you change any of the dates on the Check Writing (/) screen after Option 1 was chosen, you must choose Option 1 again to update the information on the Check Writing screen.
Option 3—Generate Checks
After you press F5 to get out of the Check Writing Selection window, the program defaults to Option 3. Press Enter on this option if you are ready to print checks. A message appears, "Do you have checks in the printer, and are you ready to print?" Press Y for Yes. After one check is printed, there is a message, "Quit print job, Print 1 more, or press Enter to print all?"
If you press Q, the program will Quit printing checks. It will not delete the remaining selection of bills. To print the rest of the checks, choose option 3 again.
If you press 1, one more check will be printed; then you will be asked for further confirmation.
If you press Enter, the rest of the checks will be printed without further questions.
When check printing is completes, the total amount of all the checks printed is displayed.
Option 4—Print reports for checks with full stubs
When a check is used to pay bills or serial number items, those bills or items are listed on the check stub. There is room on the stub to print about 35 bills or items. If there are more bills or items paid with one check than what fit on the stub, you can use Option 4 to print a report listing the bills or items that were paid with the check. (Report # 2-36, BILL/SERIAL# INFO FROM CHECKS, can also be used to print this information.)
When you choose options 1 or 2, you are taken into the Check Writing Selection window to view the purchases pending payments.
Check Writing Selection Window
Selection options:
*—To select open bills for payment, due or not
+—To select open bills for payment, if they are due
/—To clear bills from the payment list
If you click on the *, + or / on the top line, TOTAL TO BE PAID, it will apply to all of the bills on the list. If you click on *, + or / when your cursor is on a line that has a vendor's name, it will apply to all the bills listed for that vendor.
Display options:
Alt+M—Marks the beginning of a list to print.
Ctrl+P—Prints a list of open accounts.
Alt+T—shows the next level of A/P deTail.
Shift+Up arrow—places the cursor on the top line of the screen.
Shift+Down arrow—places the cursor on or below the last line.
This number is preset, as explained below, but must be checked to make sure it matches with the actual number of the first check in the printer. Checks will be numbered sequentially, starting with the number you enter here.
If there is a ledger specified in the Payroll & A/P Ledger # field on the Company Setup (#) screen, both the Accounts Payable and Payroll are paid from this checkbook or ledger. Therefore, the check numbers for paying the bills may not always be sequential, since payroll checks may have been printed since the last time you printed checks to vendors.
If no ledger is specified on the Company Setup (#) screen, the payroll checks are numbered and printed independently of the Accounts Payable checks.
The Discount Claim Date is set to the Check Date by default. It determines when to calculate a discount when paying a vendor's bills.
Enter the date to be printed on the checks. By default, this date is today’s date.
This is the date the program goes by to select which bills are to be paid. A bill is shown in the Due Now column based on the discount date or the due date of that bill. By default, the Pay-to-Date is entered as today’s date. However, you are free to change it to a different date. For instance, if you are going on vacation and want to pay all the bills that would come due within the next 10 days, enter that future date here instead.
A few pointers here will give you an idea of how the program determines whether a bill has come due or not by a certain date.
· Bills with Y or nothing in Pay Code will be selected if the next discount or due date is on or before the pay-to date.
· Bills with P in Pay Code will be selected to be paid whether they are due or not.
· Bills with N in Pay Code will Never be selected for payment, even if they are due.
This field may be set by default from the Company Setup (#) screen. The default ledger for this is typically Ledger 3.
Enter a number from 3 to 7 to indicate which checking account to use. This refers to the bank accounts which are set up in the Company Setup (#) screen. If the one you specify is not set up, an error message will appear.
The account name is displayed and the Starting Check # is set to the next available number in the specified account. If a ledger number is specified in the Payroll & A/P Ledger # field on the Company Setup (#) screen, the program will check which next available number is the highest—the Paycheck Entry (P) screen or the Ledger (L) screen. The program will set the next available check number according to this. If a Payroll & A/P Ledger # is not specified, the program will use the next available number on the Ledger (L) screen.
Applying a Previously Paid Check to a Bill
Sometimes a check is printed before the bill was entered. Follow these steps to apply the check to the bill.
1. On the Check Writing (/) screen, enter the check # that you want to apply to the bill in the Starting Check # field.
2. Press Y when the message comes up saying that the check # is already used and asking if you want to apply it to bills.
3. Choose Option 1 which takes you to the screen listing all open bills.
4. Press Alt+T to display the individual bills.
5. Select the desired bill by placing the cursor on the same line as the bill and pressing *. (If the check is a partial payment of the bill, type the check amount in the Payment column on the same line as the bill and press Enter.)
NOTE: If the bill has been set up to be paid by Serial # and the check is a partial payment of the bill, you need to enter the check amount on one or more of the lines which display the individual items on the bill.
6. Press F5 to return to the screen with the Options listed.
7. Choose Option 3, and press Enter.
8. Press Y when the question "Will apply check # xxxx to selected bills. Okay?" appears. NOTE: No check will be printed.
The check is applied to the bill, making sure that the G/L #s on the check match the G/L #s on the bill. If the G/L #s were different, it changes the check G/L #s. If the check had a remark entered on it, the remark on the first line is preserved, and the other remarks are cleared.
NOTE: A check can be applied to a number of bills from the same vendor. The total applied to bills must agree with the check total.
Using the Check Writing Screen (/)
Here's how to use the Check Writing (/) screen.
1. Click on the Purchases module; then click on Write Checks (or press F10; /) to choose the Check Writing screen.
2. Choose the ledger you want to use for printing checks. Either press Enter to accept the default ledger or type the correct ledger # and press Enter. (The Default Ledger, selected on the Company Setup (#) screen, is the Ledger that is displayed automatically.)
3. Make sure that the Starting Check # agrees with the check in your printer. If it is, press Enter or correct the number and press Enter. (You will obviously not be able to use a check # for a check that has already printed.)
4. Press Enter to accept the Check Date, or type in the date you want to appear on the checks.
5. Enter the Pay-to date if different from the check date. This date determines whether bills are due or not. A bill is due if it has Y or P or nothing in Pay Code and if the Discount Date or Due Date on the Bill is on or before the Pay-to date. (Bills marked with P in Pay Code are paid whether due or not. Bills marked with N in Pay Code are not paid unless specifically chosen for payment. Bills with Y or nothing in Pay Code are paid if due.)
6. The Discount Claim Date is set to the Check Date, but may be changed here. It determines when to calculate a discount when paying a vendor's bills.
7. After the dates are set, choose Option 1 to create a list of open bills.
8. All vendors with open bills are listed. Use Alt+T once, to display the separate bills open for a vendor. Use Alt+T the second time, to display any serial # items on bills that have been set up to pay by serial #.
9. Select all due bills by pressing + on the top line. Select all due bills for a vendor by pressing + on the line with the vendor's name. Select all the serial # items on a bill that is due by pressing + on the line with the bill #. Use * to select all open bills. Bills can also be selected individually by typing the amount to be paid in the Payment column.
10. Exit the bill list by using F5.
11. Choose Option 3 to print checks.
Printing A List of Bills Selected for Payment
On the Check Writing (/) screen, after bills have been selected for payment, you can list just the selected bills by pressing Alt+L. To print the list, press Ctrl+P. Then press P for the default printer or type the printer number.
For more print options, check instructions for printing reports from the report generator.
Printing Checks (/)
Make sure the printer is ready before pressing Y in response to the question, "Are you ready to print checks?".
Position the first check the same way that invoices and statements are positioned.
Selected bills are paid in alphabetical order, based on Vendor Code. Checks will be numbered sequentially, beginning with the Starting Check #, and will be saved in the ledger indicated by the Ledger #. The bank balance will be updated, as well as Payment Date and Check Number on each invoice being paid.
The Discount Amount on an invoice will be taken if the Discount Date on that invoice is on or after the Discount Claim Date on the Check Writing screen.
Invoice numbers, amounts, and serial # items will be printed on the check stubs. If there are too many to fit on a stub, the message, "Plus other invoices not shown" is printed.
Checks with amounts that are negative will be skipped. A check with a zero amount will be processed and an adjustment to G/L will be entered with a decimal (.) reference number after the last previously processed check. This way bills and credits that are equal can then be entered into the General Ledger.
After printing the first check, you will be asked, "(Q)uit, (1) Print one more, or (Enter) print the rest?"
Press Q to Quit printing checks. Your remaining selections will not be deleted, so that you can resume without reselecting. This is explained under "How to Resume A/P Check Writing After Quitting."
Press 1 to print one more check. The above message will display again until all checks are printed.
Press Enter to print the rest of the checks without being asking any more questions.
When check printing is completed, the total of all checks printed will be displayed.
How to Resume Check Writing after Quitting (/)
If you pressed Q to quit printing checks, you can resume printing checks without reselecting the remaining invoices you had chosen to pay. To do this, use the following steps:
1. Press F10 and then forward slash (/).
2. Move your cursor to the Choose Option field.
3. Choose option 3.
4. The program asks if you are ready to print checks.
5. When you press Y, check printing continues.
Voiding an Accounts Payable Check (/)
If an Accounts Payable check has been printed incorrectly, follow these steps to void it and print a new one:
1. Go to the Ledger Selection (-) screen and select the appropriate ledger.
2. In the Check # field, enter the number of the check to void. MAKE SURE the check that appears is the one you wish to void.
3. Press Alt+V to void it, and Y to confirm your action. This reopens the affected bills. You may void more than one check if you need to.
To rerun a check, go to the Check Writing (/) screen and reselect the invoices to pay.