Print Vendor Checks

Use the Vendor Checks option to generate vendor checks. The basic steps in the process include:

• Selecting the records to include in the check run.

• Generating and reviewing the Cash Requirements in Check Format report to verify check and voucher amounts and accounting distributions.

• Lining up check stock for the first fund's checks and vouchers.

• Printing checks for the first fund.

• Generating the ACH bank file for EFT payments.

• Repeating the print steps for each subsequent fund.

• Printing and reviewing the Check Register and Fund Totals report.

You can also use the Vendor Checks option to generate a PDF attachment displaying a copy of each printed check and voucher.

The attachment can be accessed through the Transactions or Vendor Transactions option in Fund Accounting's Detailed Displays menu. For details, refer to the Optio Printing section following the procedure.

Menu Path

From the Fund Accounting menu, select Entry & Processing. From the Vendor Checks menu, select Vendor Checks.

Set Period

Versions 20.11 and above.

Use the Set Period option on the action bar to process transactions for a period other than the current one. This may be helpful for bank reconciliation when processing checks at the end of a month with a check date for the following month. For example, if you are processing checks on 6/30/2021 with a check date of 7/2/2021, you can use Set Period to have the check be part of Period 7 reconciliation.

1. Choose Set Period on the action bar to open the Reset Period page.

2. Select the Period and Year, then enter the Transaction Date.

3. Click OK, then proceed with steps to print vendor checks.

Forms Manager

The Print Checks page in Step 9 of the following procedure includes a setting allowing you to generate PDF file attachments of printed vendor checks via the Forms Manager feature. The capability is available if:

• The variable IMAGE_APCHECKS_DIR is set to designate the server directory where the resulting AP check attachments are stored. This variable, if it exists in your environment, is set when you log into the application.
  If these conditions are met, then the Print Checks page includes the Create Attachments? checkbox. To generate the PDF attachments, select the checkbox when printing checks for a disbursement fund. Also, be sure you send the print job to a printer instead of saving it to a file.

• The PDF document displays the vendor check based on the layout set up in your Forms Manager forms.

• You can access the attachment using either the Transactions or Vendor Transactions option from Fund Accounting's Entry & Processing > Detailed Displays menu.
  Using either of these options, search for and list the Accounts Payable transaction, select the transaction, click OK to access it in a detail page, and then click the View Attachments item.

Print Vendor Checks

1. On the Process Payables page, in the Selection Criteria section, enter criteria to identify the payables to include in the check run. For details, refer to the Fields section of this page.

2. In the Controls section, click Next.

3. In the Print window, enter settings for generating the Cash Requirements in Check Format, and then click OK to generate the report. The report's default file name is cashreq.rpt.
   For more information, refer to Cash Requirements in Check Format Report.

4. Review the report to verify the following information:

   • The correct payments were selected.

   • The payments are combined into vendor checks and vouchers properly.

5. In the Vendor Check Verification page, you have one more opportunity to stop the check run:

   • Click Next if you are satisfied with the Cash Requirements in Check Format report and want to continue.

   • Click Cancel to stop the check run.

6. In the Print Checks page, complete the fields, and then click Next. For field descriptions, refer to the Fields section of this page.
   If you need to align your check stock prior to printing, click Print Line Up, and then use the Print window to define the settings for lining up your checks. In this case, you will need to account for the checks used in the line-up process by completing the First Voided Check Number and Last Voided Check number fields.

7. Click Next. The system verifies that the check run will not duplicate any numbers already used for the disbursement fund or bank account.

8. In the confirmation dialog, click Yes to verify the check run information.
   The dialog displays how many checks and vouchers will print for the current disbursement fund or bank account, including the range of check numbers.

9. In the Print window, define the settings for generating the checks.
   The default file name for saving the check run is defined by the disbursement fund, followed by the number 1 and the extension chk. For example, if the disbursement fund is 100, the default file name is 1001.chk. However, if you selected a Payment Type of E - EFT Only, the file extension is vch instead of chk.
   Important
   If you are creating PDF attachments through Optio software, you must select Printer as the destination.

10. Click OK to generate the checks.
    If there are EFT payables or prenote data to process, refer to the procedure below for processing EFT payables and prenote information.

11. If you are printing checks for multiple funds, the Print Checks page refreshes to show the next disbursement fund in the Next Fund is field. As needed, load check stock into your printer for the next disbursement fund.

    Repeat Steps 6-10 to print vendor checks for the next disbursement fund or bank account included in the check run.

12. When you complete checks for the last fund, a confirmation dialog displays.

    • Click Yes, proceed if the checks printed correctly.

    • Click No, reprint if you had a paper jam or printer error. For the procedure to follow, refer to Reprinting Vendor Checks.

13. When you confirm proper check printing for the last disbursement fund or bank account, the Vendor Check Register page displays. Click Finish.

14. In the Print window, enter settings for generating the Check and Voucher Register, which gives details on each check or voucher that printed, and then click OK.
    The report's default file name depends on the Payment Type selected. The system also generates EFT email notifications at this point, as well as PDF file attachments if you chose to create them.

    • All: regist1.rpt

    • EFT Only: vchreg1.rpt

    • Checks Only: chkreg1.rpt

15. A Processing window displays the system's progress in updating the Check Status table. Click OK when processing is complete.

16. In the next Print window, enter settings for generating the Fund Totals report, and then click OK.
    The report's default file name depends on the Payment Type selected:

    1. All or Checks Only: chkreg2.rpt

    2. EFT Only: vchreg2.rpt

If the system encounters errors generating EFT email, a window displays, noting the number of errors and directing you to check the following log files for details: venchk1.log, pdf4eft.log, and servermail.log. These logs are stored in the default log file directory defined on your application server.

If the Create Clearing Entries for AP Interfund option is enabled in the Fund Accounting profile, when vendor checks are printed, a new journal entry is created to reverse the due to/due from entries. This entry clears the due to/due from account balances that were created as part of the vendor check posting and records the transfer of cash from the expense funds to the AP clearing fund. The clearing entries will be created every time vendor checks are printed.

Process EFT Payables and Prenote Information

1. If there are EFT payables and prenote information to process, the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) page displays.

2. Use the EFT Description field to select the file format template your bank requires for generating the Automated Clearing House (ACH) file.

   • If there are several formats set up for the same bank, select the record named for the bank account supplying funds for the vendor payments.

   • For details on this field, refer to the Bank Destination and the ACH File section in Electronic Funds Transfer.

3. In the Date Entries to be Posted field, select the date when your bank may process debits for your account. This date is included in the ACH file.

4. In the File Creation Date field, enter the date to apply to the header record of the vendor check file to indicate when the file was created.

5. Click Next.

6. In the Print window, enter settings for generating the ACH file.
   Make note of the file name and server directory you use for storing the file. The default file name used by the system provides the disbursement fund or bank account associated with the payments, for example, eftfile100.tpe.
   Important
   To avoid the possibility of overwriting your ACH files, you should change the default file name.

7. Click OK to generate the ACH file.

   • The system creates the PDF vouchers at this point. Note that the email notifications are not sent until Step 15 of the Print Vendor Checks procedure.

   • The EFT feature generates the ACH file and stores it on your application server. Your site is then responsible for sending the file to your bank.

8. In the next Print window, enter settings for generating the EFT report, and then click OK.

   • The default file name for the report includes the disbursement fund or bank account associated with the payments, for example, eftrpt100.rpt. To avoid the possibility of overwriting previous reports, you should change the default file name.

   • The report shows the vouchers created, prenote transactions generated, vendors paid, bank accounts credited, and the amounts paid.

9. Continue with Step 11 in the Print Vendor Checks procedure.

Fields and Descriptions

Following are descriptions of the fields in the Process Payables and Print Checks pages.

Process Payables Page

Print Checks Page

Field	Description
Next Fund is	Displays the disbursement fund tied to the checks you are about to print.
Next Bank Account	This field appears if the Print Checks by Bank Account option is selected in the Fund Accounting profile. Enter one or more bank accounts. When multiple banks are specified, the checks are printed by bank account as the primary sort. The Cash Requirements in Check Format and Check Register reports are also sorted by the bank account. The EFT file and Report names use the bank account instead of the disbursement fund.
Enter First Voided Check Number	The number for the first check you used for aligning the printer.
Enter Last Voided Check Number	The number for the last check you used for printer alignment.
Enter Beginning Check Number	If you chose a Payment Type of C - Checks Only or A - All in the Process Payables page, use the Beginning Check Number field to determine the number for the first check or voucher to print for the disbursement fund. If the bank account reference table record designates vendor check options as document types, the Beginning Check Number will be automatically populated.
Enter Beginning Voucher Number	If you chose a Payment Type of E - EFT Only in the Process Payables page, use the Beginning Voucher Number field to determine the number for the first payment voucher to print for the disbursement fund. If the bank account reference table record designates vendor check options as document types, the Beginning Voucher Number will be automatically populated.
Enter Check Date	The date to print on the checks and vouchers. This is the date when the checks can be cashed.
Create Attachments	Checkbox that generates PDF file attachments of the records that print. Select the Create Attachments? checkbox to generate the attachments. This checkbox is only available if the conditions are met as described in the following Optio Printing section. Clear the field if you do not want to create the file attachments.
Send EFT Email to Vendors	Indicate when you want to send email notifications to vendors who will be receiving Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments. Select: Now - to send the email notifications to the vendors during the vendor check process. Later - to use the Send EFT Email Notifications option when you are ready to notify the vendors.
Format Name	Select the format for the vendor checks to be printed as.