Cheque Books - Accounting and banking

The cheque books you hold for each bank account. For each book it records which leaf numbers it runs from and to, how the number is printed, and whether the book is still in use.

When to use it

The bank has issued you a new cheque book and you want the system to know its numbers.
An old book is finished and should stop being offered.

Before you start

The bank account must already exist as an account in your books.
You need the payments or cheque right.

Where to find it

Entry > Payments > Cheque > Cheque Books.

The fields on this screen

Field (on screen)	What to enter	Required
Bank Account	The bank account this cheque book belongs to. Only bank ledgers are listed.	No
Book No.	The book's serial / label	No
Start Leaf No.	First cheque number in this book. The next free number is suggested from this range.	No
End Leaf No.	Last cheque number in this book. Once every leaf is used, nothing more is suggested from it.	No
Leaf No. Width	Zero-pad width, for example 6 prints leaf 125 as 000125	No
Active	Only an active book is used to suggest the next cheque number. Untick a book that is finished or lost.	No

How it works

Once a book is recorded and ticked Active, the system suggests the next unused leaf when you post a payment by cheque on that bank account:

It suggests the lowest leaf in the book that no cheque already carries. Leaves used on a posted cheque and leaves used on a cheque issued by memo are both skipped, so a number is never offered twice.
Leaf No. Width decides how the number is written. With a width of 6, leaf 125 is offered as 000125.
The suggestion fills the box only if you have not typed anything. You can always type a different number over it.
Books on the same bank account are used in leaf-number order, so the lower book is finished first.

Untick Active when a book is used up or cancelled. Its leaves stop being offered and the next active book takes over. Recording a book posts nothing to the accounts. It is a register of stationery, not a transaction.

Tips and common mistakes

Enter the range exactly as printed on the book. A wrong Start or End shifts every later suggestion, and an End that is too low makes the book run out early.
If no number is suggested when you post a cheque, either there is no book for that bank account or the book is not ticked Active.
Record each physical book separately, rather than one long range across several books.

Cheque Issuance (recording and printing the cheque itself), Payment Voucher, Reconciliation.