How to Print Checks From QuickBooks
Alignment is the whole job. Get the grid right once and the next two thousand checks print clean.
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Printing checks from QuickBooks is a two minute job once, and a recurring annoyance forever if the alignment is wrong. Almost every complaint about software printed checks traces back to a grid that was never calibrated, or was calibrated on a different printer.
Confirm You Have the Right Stock First
QuickBooks prints into a template. The template assumes a specific physical layout, and the stock has to match it.
- Voucher checks are one check with two stubs on an 8.5 by 11 sheet. This is the most common business layout.
- Standard checks are three checks per page with no stubs.
- Wallet checks are a narrower format with a stub on the left.
Voqado's laser business checks ship in multi purpose, payroll, and accounts payable templates in assorted layouts, which covers what QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online expect. The software specific pages are QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online.
Set the Check Style in QuickBooks
In QuickBooks Desktop, the setting lives under File, then Printer Setup, then Check or Paycheck. In QuickBooks Online, it is under the gear icon, then Payroll settings or Print checks. In both, you pick the style, voucher, standard, or wallet, and it must match the paper physically in front of you.
- Select the style before printing anything, not after a failed attempt.
- Tell QuickBooks whether your printer is continuous or page oriented. Nearly all modern office printers are page oriented.
- Record which printer you calibrated. This is the single most useful note you can leave for the next person.
Run the Alignment Grid
Both versions of QuickBooks can print an alignment sample, a grid with numbered rows and lettered columns printed onto a blank sheet.
- Print the grid on plain paper first. Never burn check stock on a calibration pass.
- Hold the grid against a real check on a window or a light box, and read off which row and column line up with where the payee line should sit.
- Enter those coordinates into the alignment dialog. QuickBooks shifts the whole template by that offset.
- Repeat once. One correction usually lands it, and the second pass confirms rather than fixes.
Fix Vertical Drift Separately From Horizontal Drift
They have different causes and people conflate them.
- Horizontal drift is almost always a paper guide problem. Snug the tray guides against the stock.
- Vertical drift is a template offset and is what the alignment dialog is for.
- Drift that changes between pages is a feed problem, not an alignment problem. Check for double feeding and static.
Print a Test Run on Voided Stock
Before a real payment run, print one or two checks and write VOID across them in ink, large enough to cross the amount and the signature line.
- Confirm the payee, amount, and date sit inside their fields, not touching a border.
- Confirm the MICR line is untouched. Software should never print over it. If it does, the style setting is wrong.
- Keep the voided samples. They are the reference for the next reorder, which is covered in reordering business checks without errors.
Set the Starting Check Number Deliberately
QuickBooks asks for the first check number in the run and then increments. Getting this wrong creates duplicate check numbers, which is a reconciliation problem that surfaces months later.
- Read the number off the physical sheet on top of the stack, not from what the software suggests.
- If a sheet jams and is destroyed, void that number in QuickBooks. Do not reuse it.
- Reconcile the number range against the run you received when the stock arrived.
Handle Printer Jams Without Creating an Audit Gap
A jammed check is still a check number that existed.
- Void the number in the software immediately, with a note.
- Destroy the physical sheet, ideally by cross cut shredder, not by putting it in a bin.
- Never reprint the same number onto fresh stock. Print the next number.
Payroll Checks Have Extra Requirements
Payroll runs are not just checks with a different template. The stub is carrying legally required information in most states.
- Use a payroll template with a stub that can hold gross, deductions, and net.
- Confirm your state's pay statement requirements rather than assuming the template covers them.
- Direct deposit still needs an advice, printed or delivered electronically.
The detail is in payroll check printing, end to end, and Voqado's payroll checks page covers the stock side.
If You Use Something Other Than QuickBooks
The procedure above is the same shape in every accounting package, only the menu names change. Voqado publishes stock and template pages for Xero, Sage, NetSuite, and Quicken.
Store the Stock Like Cash
Blank check stock with your routing and account numbers printed on it is closer to cash than to paper.
- Locked storage, one named custodian, and a count on restock.
- Never leave stock in the printer tray overnight.
- Log the number range in use, so a gap is noticed in days rather than quarters.
Key Takeaways
- The style setting must match the physical paper. Most printing complaints start here.
- Calibrate on plain paper, never on check stock, and record which printer you calibrated.
- Horizontal drift is a paper guide problem; vertical drift is a template offset. They have different fixes.
- Void destroyed numbers, never reprint them. A reused check number is a reconciliation failure waiting to happen.
- Blank check stock is cash. Lock it, count it, and assign one custodian.
- More reading: the Voqado buyer guides and the chapter's calculators.