Balancivo · Everyday bookkeeping

Write and track checks

Record checks in the register when you write them, see which are outstanding, and add checks the bank already paid.

Who can do this: Owners and bookkeepers.

Write and track checks · 49 sec · shown with a sample organization.

Read the transcript

The Checks page is your check register. Outstanding checks are the ones the bank hasn't paid yet. When you write a check, click Write a check. The next check number is already filled in. Enter the date, who it's to, and the amount. Pick a category now, or leave it on Choose later in Review. Click Record check. It stays outstanding until the bank pays it, then clears all on its own. If the bank paid a check you hadn't written in, it shows down here. Click Add to register. The number and amount come from the bank. Say who it was to, then click Add to register. Switch to Cleared or All to see the checks the bank has paid. Need to cancel a check that never went out? Click Void and confirm, and it comes out of the books.

The check register keeps track of every check you write. Record a check the day you issue it, so your books show what's really left. When the bank pays it, your statement or bank connection clears it automatically. Checks the bank hasn't paid yet are your outstanding checks.

Before you start

You need a checking, savings, cash or other asset account. See Add a bank or card account by hand.

Steps to write a check

Go to Checks in the menu.
Pick the Account if you have more than one bank account.
Click Write a check. The next Check number is filled in for you.
Fill in Date written, Pay to and Amount.
Choose a Category, or leave Choose later in Review and pick it there. Add a Fund and Memo (optional) if you like.
Click Record check. The check is outstanding until the bank pays it. To print it on check stock, click Print it now. See Print checks.

Steps for a check the bank already paid

Look under Checks the bank paid that aren't in the register. These are checks that came in from your statement or bank before you recorded them.
Click Add to register next to the check.
Fill in Pay to, and a Category if you like. The number and amount come from the bank.
Click Add to register.

Good to know

This is a Plus plan feature. On Starter or Standard, the page shows what it does and how to upgrade. Free trials and charter subscribers have it. See Your free trial, plans and usage.
Switch between Outstanding, Cleared and All. The Outstanding button shows how many checks are waiting, with the outstanding total beside it.
Each outstanding check shows how many days it's been out. After six months it's marked stale: follow up with the payee, or void it.
A check clears when the bank line has the same check number and the same amount. It then shows Cleared with the bank's date.
To cancel an outstanding check, click Void and confirm. It comes out of the books but stays in the register marked VOID (see Voided or All), with the date and who voided it, and its number can't be used for another check. Any other owners are emailed. Cleared checks can't be voided, and a check ticked in a reconciliation must be unticked first.
If the bank ever pays a check you voided, it shows under checks the bank paid with a Voided check paid flag. If you voided it only to fix the amount, add the bank's check to the register; otherwise, contact your bank.
If you recorded a check with a different amount than the bank paid, the bank's amount is what left the account: void your entry and add the bank's check to the register.
The check date must be on or after the account's books start date, and each check number can be used once per account.
To divide a check among categories, such as a mortgage payment, record it, then use Split on it in Review. See Split a transaction.
A closed month must be reopened before you add or void a check in it.

← Split a transaction Set up your chart of accounts →