Quickbooks 2016

[HCHTech]

I just upgraded to 2016 Premier from 2013 Pro, and stumbled across a change in functionality. In the 2013 version, if you wanted to write a check and have it show on the "Print Checks" window for printing, you would merely enter "To Print" in the check number field. You could do this either in the "Write Checks" window or directly in the check register. Note this is NOT for paying exisiting bills that you have already input. It's for one-off checks.

In the 2016 version, it doesn't work like this. In the "Write Checks" window (which means you can't do this directly in the register) you have to check the little box labeled "Print Later" in the middle of the top icon row. This changes the check number from an editable field with a number in it, to a non-editable "To Print" label. NOW...when you go to the "Print Checks" window, this check is available for printing.

This seems like a no-benefit change to me. It takes more clicks and stops you from writing checks directly in the register. Maybe it results in fewer errors, but still a step backwards, IMO.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'm confused as to which version you upgraded from.....You say 2016 in both spots.

I just upgraded to 2016 Premier,

In the 2016 version,

 

[HCHTech]

Thanks - edited to clarify.

 

[nlinecomputers]

You can't double click on a blank register field and have it pull up the write checks box?

 

[HCHTech]

Nope. There are two ways to write a check. The "preferred way" is to go into the WriteChecks window (click on the icon on the home page). This gives you the most granular control over the process. I suppose this is why they put that checkbox in this window.

However, you can also write a check by just typing it into the check register. You can't control everything this way (for example, you cannot specify Class, which I use to separate my business vs. residential transactions), but it's fast and easy. If you are recording a check you've already written, you just type in the number. But if you are recording a check that hasn't been printed yet, you used to be able to just put in "To Print" in the number field. They have taken this little trick away in the 2016 version.

I don't know when the "To Print" thing started, but I've been using Quickbooks since about 2005 and I've been using it all along - until now, I guess.

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

You can do a lot of things in the various registers, but you shouldn't. Doing direct entries into the registers bypass the various checks and balances that Quickbooks and any other accounting program uses to ensure that everything is properly entered.

I would guess Intuit removed that ability just because of what you are doing. No real idea though

 

[HCHTech]

I suspect you are correct. I have always done my own accounting and have my accountant review quarterly (I have a BA in accounting and spent 20 years doing trust accounting and actuarial analysis before starting my computer business). For many things, like recording a business lunch expense for example, it is just plain easier to plunk it in the register. Choose the right account (meals & entertainment) put in the vendor (Waldorf Astoria) and go. I'm not going to go to the trouble to enter a bill and then make a bill payment for those things.

There are other expenses, like maybe the weekly cleaning bill. I pay these folks weekly by leaving a check for them. Instead of creating a bill and making a bill payment, I just put the check into the register, choose the right account, the amount, and up until recently, entered "To Print" into the check number field. Yes, it is more correct to enter a bill and make a bill payment, but the world doesn't come crashing down because of my shortcut. In fact, my accountant agrees with this procedure. You lose the ability to summarize payments on the vendor screen, but I don't care about that. For most things, I use the preferred procedure, but not everything.

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

But doing it that way you lose all of the benefits of double entry accounting.