How to use Bank Accounts and write checks

1. Setting up your accounts

1. 1Open Bank Accounts and click Add account.
2. 2Give it a name, the account type, and the balance showing today.
3. 3Repeat for every account — checking, savings, a second business account, a card.
4. 4Click Add petty cash to create a cash drawer, and put in the cash you are starting with.

2. Recording transactions

Scroll to the bottom of the register — the blank line there is where you type.

1. 1First box is the number. Type the check number, or pick ATM, DEP (deposit), EFT, FEE, TRF (transfer) or NEX — NEX fills in your next check number for you.
2. 2Type the first letter and press Enter to accept it and jump to the next box.
3. 3In Payee, start typing a name you have used before — press Tab to finish it and move on. New names are remembered for next time.
4. 4Category is one long list: income choices on top, every expense underneath, and you can type one that is not there. Pick an income category and your amount goes in the Deposit column; pick an expense and it goes in Payment — you cannot put money on the wrong side by accident.
5. 5Keep pressing Enter until you land on the round purple checkmark, then press Enter once more to save. The running balance updates down the right-hand side.
6. 6Anything you record elsewhere — sales, invoice payments, checks, payroll, bills — lands here automatically.

3. Checks and petty cash

1. 1To write a check, click the Write a check button beside the account pills — the old separate Checkbook page is gone, it all lives here now.
2. 2The check number comes up automatically. At the bottom choose Print, Save, or Print and save.
3. 3To fix or delete a check you already wrote, click the pencil on its line in the register, change what you need and press Update check, or press Cancel edit.
4. 4The trash icon beside a check removes it and the matching expense from your books.
5. 5Click Petty cash to open your cash drawer. When it runs low, click Replenish — it moves money from checking and records both sides. The red Remove button closes the drawer.

4. Printing the register

1. 1Click Print register above the lines.
2. 2Choose this month, last month, this year, or your own two dates.
3. 3Narrow it if you like: one category, a payee name ("all payments from Amy"), or only amounts over or under a figure you choose.
4. 4The printout shows the filters used plus totals for payments, deposits and the ending balance.

5. Bringing in history

1. 1Click Import transactions on any account to load a QFX, OFX, QBO, CSV or Quicken QIF file.
2. 2Anything already in your books is skipped, so you cannot double up.
3. 3Then run Auto reconcile each month to tick everything off against the statement.

Want to erase everything and import again from zero? Settings → Start over with a clean company — type WIPE and every business record is erased. Your login, subscription, business name and logo stay.