QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Writing Checks without Entering Bills

You might enter bills for the majority of your vendor transactions, but you're still likely to write a quick check from time to time. 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 entering and paying bills in QuickBooks—he just wants his $50. 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.

Note

Entering checks in the register is best reserved for paper checks you write. But you can print a check you enter in the register. First, record the check. Then, right-click it and choose Edit Check to open the Write Checks dialog box. Then, in the dialog box menu bar, click Print.

Using the Write Checks Dialog Box

The Write Checks dialog box is like a trimmed down Enter Bills dialog box. There's no need for fields such as Bill Due or Terms, because you are paying immediately. But bills in QuickBooks take care of allocating costs to expense and inventory accounts. So for a payment without a bill, you have to provide that information, which is why the Write Checks dialog ...