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Accounting | How To

How to Write & Print Checks in QuickBooks Online

Tim Yoder

WRITTEN BY: Tim Yoder

Published September 30, 2020

Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.

This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.

Learn More With Our QuickBooks Online Course
Explore the chapters in the guide.
  1. How to Set Up QuickBooks Online
  2. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks
    1. How to Set Up Company Information
    2. How to Customize Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    3. How to Set Up Invoices, Sales Receipts & Estimates
    4. How to Set Up Products and Services
    5. How to Set Up Messages
    6. How to Set Up Statements
    7. How to Set Up Expenses
    8. How to Set Up Advanced Settings
  3. Part 1: Setting Up QuickBooks (Cont.)
    1. How to Import Bank Transactions
    2. How to Import Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Set Up Multiple Users
    4. How to Set Up the Chart of Accounts
    5. How to Set Up the Products and Services List
    6. How to Set Up Customers
    7. How to Set Up Vendors
  4. Part 2: Managing Sales and Income
    1. How to Create Estimates (Quotes or Bids)
    2. How to Create and Send Invoices
    3. How to Receive Payments
    4. How to Create & Send Sales Receipts
  5. Part 3: Managing Bills and Expenses
    1. How to Write & Print Checks
    2. How to Enter Bills
    3. How to Pay Bills
  6. Part 4: Managing Banking Transactions
    1. How to Enter Banking Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Banking Transactions
    3. How to Record Bank Deposits
    4. How to Transfer Funds Between Bank Accounts
    5. How to Handle Bounced Checks From Customers
    6. How to Process Bank Reconciliation
  7. Part 5: Managing Business Credit Card Transactions
    1. How to Enter Business Credit Card Transactions Manually
    2. How to Manage Downloaded Business Credit Card Transactions
    3. How to Enter a Credit Card Refund
    4. How to Reconcile Business Credit Card Accounts
  8. Part 6: Managing Credit Card Sales
    1. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With QuickBooks Payments
    2. How to Manage Credit Card Sales With a Third-party Credit Card Processor
  9. Part 7: Set Up and Manage Payroll
    1. How Set Up and Run Payroll
    2. How to Manage Payroll Tax
    3. How to Add Historical Payroll Data
    4. How to Set Up Automatic Deposits
    5. How to Print Payroll Checks
    6. How to Run Payroll Reports
    7. How to Reconcile Payroll Liabilities
  10. Part 8: Reporting in QuickBooks Online
    1. How to Run a Profit and Loss Statement
    2. How to Run a Balance Sheet Report
    3. How to Run a Statement of Cash Flows
    4. How to Run an A/R Aging Report
    5. How to Run an A/P Aging Report
Quickbooks Online

In this tutorial, you will learn to write and print checks in QuickBooks Online for bills that have not yet been entered. A later tutorial will cover how to pay bills that have already been entered in QuickBooks.

We’re glad you’re completing this free tutorial for QuickBooks Online, our best overall pick for small business accounting software. To get the most benefit from this tutorial, you should follow along in your own QuickBooks account. If you don’t already subscribe to QuickBooks Online, you can choose from a 30-day free trial or 50% off for three months.

Visit QuickBooks Online

This tutorial is one in our series of Free QuickBooks Tutorials. The video below and the step-by-step instructions that follow present the same information.

Why You Should Write and Print Checks in QuickBooks Online

Creating and printing checks in QuickBooks Online generally is better than writing checks by hand for several reasons:

  • Checks created and printed in QuickBooks are entered in the check register automatically and will make your bank reconciliation easier.
  • Your expenses are more up-to-date since your bank register is always current.
  • Printing checks is not only easier than writing them by hand, but also looks more professional.

There are two methods of paying expenses in QuickBooks Online. The first is to wait until the expense payment is due and then write a check, which is the method illustrated in this tutorial. The second method is to enter a bill when an invoice is received and then pay the bill when it is due. The second method is covered in the next two tutorials.

Avoid recording expenses twice: If you create a check as shown in this tutorial for a bill that has already been entered, the expense will be recorded on your books twice, and the bill will still be shown as outstanding.

How to Write and Print Checks in QuickBooks Online

1. Navigate to Write Checks

Click the New button at the top of the left menu bar and then select Check under Vendors in the second column:

Navigate to create checks in QuickBooks Online

Navigate to create checks in QuickBooks Online.

2. Create the Check

QuickBooks Online displays an input screen to create a new check. The exact fields shown on the screen will vary based upon your selections in How to Set Up Advanced Settings:

Create check screen in QuickBooks Online

Create check screen in QuickBooks Online.

A. Payee: Select the vendor you are paying from the drop-down box. If the check is to a new vendor, click Add new at the top of the drop-down list and set up the new vendor as shown in How to Set Up Vendors. After selecting a vendor, the billing address should automatically populate.

B. Bank Account: Select the bank account from which you are writing a check.

C. Payment date: Enter the date the check will be issued.

D. Category: Expenses should be assigned to either a Category or an Item (K). If you wish to assign the expense to a category, select it here. If you select a category, you must complete fields E through J.

E. Description: Provide a description of the payment.

F. Amount: Enter the amount of the payment to assign to this category. By default, QuickBooks will enter the entire payment amount. However, the total check amount can be split between multiple categories and items if you wish.

G. Billable: Place a checkmark here if the amount charged to this category will be billed to a customer. However, the preferred method of recording expenses billable to customers is to use items instead of categories as shown in How to Set Up Products and Services.

H. Markup %: If you wish to charge the customer more for this expense than you are paying, enter the markup percentage here.

I. Tax: Place a checkmark here if you are required to charge the customer sales tax when billing them this expense.

J. Customer/Project: Select the customer and project, if applicable, to which you wish to bill this expense. If it is a new customer or project, click Add new at the top of the drop-down box and add the customer or project as shown in How to Set Up Customers.

K. Product/Service: Choose a product or service item to charge the expense. If you need to create a new product or service item, select Add new at the top of the drop-down box and create the item as shown in How to Set Up Products and Services. Once you select an item, the fields for Rate, Billable, Markup %, Tax, and Class will populate automatically.

Choose category or item: The same expense cannot be charged to both a category (D) and a product or service item. However, the same check can include some expenses charged to categories and some expenses charged to product and service items.

L. Qty: Enter the quantity of the item being purchased. This is especially important for inventory items. Once you enter the quantity, the amount will be calculated as rate times quantity.

M. Customer/Project: Choose the customer and project to bill for this item. This field is required if there is a checkmark in Billable.

3. Print and Save the Check

You have two options for printing the check:

  • Print later: You can choose to print the check later by placing a checkmark in the Print later field located under the check number. Printing later is convenient if you are creating multiple checks.
  • Print now: To print the check immediately, click Print check in the bottom menu bar of the input screen. This will bring up a list of checks to print that will include the current check, plus any other checks you have previously selected to print later. Place a checkmark next to all checks you wish to print and click the green Preview and print button at the bottom of the window.
Select checks to print in QuickBooks Online

Select checks to print in QuickBooks Online.

Print setup: The first time you print checks, QuickBooks Online will guide you through setting up and aligning your printer for your particular style of checks.

When you are finished printing or choosing to print later, click the green Save and close button at the bottom of the create check screen.

Wrap Up

You’ve finished another tutorial in our QuickBooks Online Training Course! You can now write and print checks for expenses that have not been recorded as bills. The next tutorial in our QuickBooks Online Training Course is How to Enter Bills, where you will learn the benefit of entering bills as they are received.

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About the Author

Tim Yoder

Find Timothy OnLinkedIn

Tim Yoder

Tim worked as a tax professional for BKD, LLP before returning to school and receiving his Ph.D. from Penn State. He then taught tax and accounting to undergraduate and graduate students as an assistant professor at both the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Mississippi State University. Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor for both the Online and Desktop products, as well as a CPA with 25 years of experience. He most recently spent two years as the accountant at a commercial roofing company utilizing QuickBooks Desktop to compile financials, job cost, and run payroll.

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