A Check, whether printed by the system or entered as a Manual Check, is a record of the date and amount of payment, the Vendor to which the check was paid, and the checking account on which it was drawn.

Each Check record contains a Type field with one of the following values:

• M – Manual Check
• Q – Quick Check
• R – Check issued against a posted Voucher
• V – Voided check

Selecting Vouchers for Payment

• There are several steps involved in check processing, including selecting Vouchers for payment, printing a Pre-Check Register, and printing the Checks. If necessary, you can also void a Check. Prior to printing checks, you must first select specific vouchers for payment.

To select vouchers for payment:

1. From the button bar, click Action and select Pay Vouchers. The following screen appears.

2.  In the Bank Code field, enter the bank code associated with the bank you are writing checks against or use the down arrow to select from a list of bank codes.

You can enter a code for the bank you are writing checks for or, if you do not know the exact code, use the F8 key or the Look-up button. You can also right-click on the bank in the AP Manager screen and choose “Pay Vouchers” from there.

3. Select the vouchers for payment.

• Use the up and down arrows, Page Up and Page Down keys, or the scroll bar on your mouse to move through the list. To select or deselect an individual voucher for payment, press (toggle) the space bar or click the box in the far-left column.
• To select all or de-select all vouchers, right click, and choose Select all for Payment or Deselect All for Payment.
• If you use accrual-based accounting, you can add and edit a To Pay If you do not want to pay the full amount of the Voucher in this check run, decrease the amount of the To Pay field. You cannot increase the amount of this field to a number greater than the Amount field.
• If you are cash-based accounting, you cannot partially pay a voucher.

Note:   As you are selecting vouchers for payment, notice the “remainder” balance in the top right section of the screen. The “Amount” total is the total of open vouchers for the bank code selected.  The “To Pay” total is the total of the vouchers selected for payment. The Remainder is what your Bank Balance will be after printing checks for the selected vouchers.

Pre-Check Register

Although it is not required by the system, it is strongly recommended that you print a Pre‑Check Register prior to printing the actual checks. 

Steps

1. Select your vouchers for payment.
2. Click Pre-Check Register to generate your report. The following screen appears

3.  Fill in the fields as required.

4.  Click Print to print a hard copy (or Screen to display on screen) of the Pre-Check Register report.

5.  Once the report has printed, review it to make sure you have accurately selected vouchers for payment.

Printing Checks

1. After the Pre-Check Register has been printed and reviewed, you are now ready to print the actual checks.
2. Click Print Checks. The following screen appears.

3.  The system defaults to the current date, period, and system fiscal year. It also defaults to the next available check number as the starting check number. You can change these fields (if necessary).  The ending check number is the last check that should be loaded in the printer (if you use preprinted checks). The choice to “Use Reverse Order Check Numbering” is for printers that pull the checks from the bottom (so you do not have to manually reorder the check flow).

4.  Click Print to print the checks. Once the checks have printed, the following screen appears.

5.  Do one of the following:

• To post the checks and update the appropriate data files, select Checks OK, Update Data Files.
• To return the vouchers to an unpaid status (they remain selected for payment), select Checks Not OK, Void Checks. The system voids the check numbers, and you cannot reuse them.
• To return the vouchers to an unpaid status (they remain selected for payment), select Checks Not OK, Do Not Void Checks. You can reuse the check numbers.
  6. Click OK.

NOTE: If you have preprinted checks and they printed wrong, they cannot be reused.  The only option is Checks Not OK, Void Checks.

Voiding Checks

Voiding a Check is the only means of changing the amount of a Voucher that has been paid in full. Through the Void Check program, you can void the check only or void both the Check and the Voucher(s) that the Check paid. When only the Check is voided, the Check record’s status field is changed to voided and the status of all involved Vouchers is changed to Open. If both the Check and the Voucher(s) paid by the Check are voided, the status of both is changed to Voided.

The Void Check program also offers a utility to change Check Numbers of existing Checks. This comes in handy if the Checks were placed in the printer backwards or an incorrect Check Number was entered on a Manual Check or a Quick Check.

Voiding the Check Only

Unlike voiding a Voucher, voiding only the Check has no effect on the Billing and Accounts Receivable module.

1. From the button bar, click Action and select Void Check. The following
   screen appears:

2.  In the Bank Code field, select the bank code.

3.  In the Check Number field, do one of the following:

• If you know the check number you want to void, enter the code for the bank on which the check was written, or use the F8 Key or the Look-up button for a list of valid bank codes.
• If you do not know the exact check number, use the F8 Key or click the
  Look-up button and the following screen appears.

Voiding the Check and Voucher(s)

Use the same steps as voiding check to void both Check and all Voucher(s) paid by the check. The only difference is you will answer “yes” to the question below instead of “no”.

Note:You cannot void a Voucher containing a TAP that has already appeared on an Invoice generated in the Billing and Accounts Receivable module.

Changing a Check Number

You can change the Check Number of any Check in the system, regardless of whether it has been voided; however, you can never change a Check Number to a number that already exists for the Bank Code under which the Check was originally written.

To change an existing Check Number:

1. Locate the Check for which you want to change the Check Number. For instructions, see "Voiding the Check Only."
2. Click Change Check Number. 
3. Enter a new Check Number, and then click OK.

• If a check with the new number does not already exist, Orion changes the Check Number in all data files.
• If a check using the number specified already exists, Orion notifies you the Check Number is already in use and you cannot reuse it.

Quick Checks

Orion gives you the ability to print a check on the fly without having to go through the process of entering and posting a Voucher. Upon printing the Quick Check, Orion creates an undistributed Voucher that you may then distribute and post at a later date.

To print a Quick Check:

1. From the Button Bar, click Action and select Quick Check.
2. Fill in the fields as required. See "Field Descriptions – Quick Check Screen." 
3. After entering the Vendor Code, notice that Orion displays the Vendor's address information. If you:

• Want to change this information, go to the next step.
• Do not want to change this information, skip the next step, and use the following steps.

Address Change 

1. Click  Change Address and do one of the following: To use the new address only for this Check, click Change for this check only. To change the address permanently for the Vendor, click Change for Vendor.
2. Enter the address to which you want to send the Check and click OK. See "Field Descriptions – Address Screen." 
3. Once you have verified all information entered is correct, click Print and Save.
4. Review the printed Check to make sure it is accurate, and confirm that the check printed correctly.

• If the Check did not print correctly, select NO when the system asks if the Check printed correctly, and tell the system whether to void the Check.
• If you confirm that the Check printed correctly, Orion updates the Bank Reconciliation file and creates an undistributed and unposted Voucher. The only way to remove the Check from the system after this point is to void it after distributing and posting the Voucher

Posting a Quick Check

Posting a Quick Check is the same as posting a Voucher. When you confirm a Quick Check, Orion creates an undistributed/unposted Voucher.

For Quick Check processing to be completed, the system to be completely updated, and General Ledger transactions to be created, you must distribute and then post the Voucher. For instructions on doing this, see the Voucher Processing section.

Saving a Voucher as a Manual Check

Following the same steps for entering a new voucher. Prior to posting the voucher, click on “Manual Check” and enter the “Check Number” and “Check Date” (s/n The system defaults to the invoice date on the voucher…this date can be changed to the date the check was issued.) Save or Save and Post your voucher.

If the voucher has not been saved and you want to remove the check number, click on Manual Check, and set the check number to 0 and click OK.  If the voucher has been saved (not posted), click on “Remove Check”. You will be prompted to “save” the voucher.