Cheque books let you register your company's physical cheque books in SolaBooks, one per bank account, so every cheque you write is tracked by its printed number. Instead of keeping a paper log of "which cheque went to whom", you register the book once and SolaBooks tracks each leaf — which are still available, which have been used on payments, and which were cancelled or bounced.
Cheque books are outgoing only: they are used when you pay bills and expenses by cheque. They are never used for money you receive — when a customer hands you a cheque, you simply record their payment with method "Cheque" and note the cheque's number. See Payments.
When to use it
- Your company pays suppliers or expenses by physical cheque and you want each cheque number accounted for.
- You want SolaBooks to suggest the next cheque number automatically when recording a payment.
- You need a clean record of cancelled (spoiled) and returned (bounced) cheques.
You do not need a cheque book to record a cheque you received from a customer — that's just a payment method on their receipt.
Before you start
- The account the cheque book belongs to must be a bank account in your chart of accounts — cash accounts cannot have cheque books.
- Have the physical book in front of you so you can copy the book number, prefix, and serial range exactly.
Step by step
Register a cheque book
- Open the Accounts panel → Banking → Cheque Books. The page is titled "Cheque Books" with the subtitle "Manage cheque books and cheque numbers per bank account."
- Pick the bank account, then click New Cheque Book.
- Fill in:
- Book No. — the identifier printed on the book (e.g. "BK-014").
- Prefix — any letters printed before the cheque numbers (leave blank if there are none).
- From Number and To Number — the first and last cheque numbers in the book.
- Save. The Serial Range creates one leaf per number — a 50-leaf book from 001251 to 001300 creates 50 tracked cheques.
Read the book page
The cheque book's page shows counters — Total Leaves, Available, Used, Cancelled, Returned, and Next Available — plus the full Cheque Leaves list with each leaf's number and status.
Pay by cheque
- Record a bill payment or expense as usual.
- Choose payment method "Cheque".
- Pick the Cheque Book; the Cheque No. field suggests the next available leaf automatically. You can pick a different available leaf if you wrote a later cheque.
- Post the payment. The leaf is marked used and linked to that payment.
Cancel a spoiled cheque
If a cheque is torn, mis-written, or otherwise unusable, open the book's leaves list and click Cancel Cheque on that leaf. You'll be asked to confirm: "Cancel this cheque? It will be removed from the available pool." The leaf is counted under Cancelled and can never be used on a payment.
Mark a bounced cheque as returned
If a cheque you issued bounces, click Mark Returned on its leaf. You'll be asked to confirm: "Mark this cheque as returned/bounced? This is status-only and does not reverse the payment."
Important: marking a leaf Returned only updates the cheque's status for your records. The payment it was used on is untouched — you must handle the accounting follow-up yourself. Typically that means reversing the original payment (see Payments — Reverse) so the bill shows as owed again, and then recording the re-payment when you settle it another way.
Statuses explained
Cheque book statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | The book has available leaves and can be used on payments. |
| Exhausted | Every leaf has been used, cancelled, or returned — nothing left to issue. Register the next book. |
| Closed | You closed the book deliberately (e.g. lost, or the bank account was closed). Remaining leaves can't be used. |
Individual leaves show as Available, Used, Cancelled, or Returned in the Cheque Leaves list.
Example
Al Noor Trading banks with two accounts. Sara, the accountant, receives a new 50-leaf cheque book for the main current account. She opens Cheque Books, picks the current account, clicks New Cheque Book, and enters Book No. "BK-014", no prefix, From Number 001251, To Number 001300. The book page now shows Total Leaves 50, Available 50, Next Available 001251.
The next day she pays a JOD 480 supplier bill by cheque: on the bill payment she picks method "Cheque", book BK-014, and accepts the suggested Cheque No. 001251. A week later cheque 001252 smudges in the printer, so she clicks Cancel Cheque on it. The book now shows Available 48, Used 1, Cancelled 1, Next Available 001253.
Common problems
- "My bank isn't in the bank list." Only bank-type accounts can hold cheque books. Check that the account exists in your chart of accounts as a bank account (not a cash account) and is active.
- "No cheque numbers available." The book is exhausted — every leaf is used, cancelled, or returned. Register the next physical book with New Cheque Book.
- "I marked a cheque Returned but the bill still shows Paid." That's by design — Mark Returned is status-only. Reverse the payment itself to reopen the bill, then record the replacement payment.
- "The Cheque Book field doesn't appear on my payment." It only appears when the payment method is "Cheque" and the account selected is a bank account with at least one active cheque book.
Related
- Payments — recording bill payments and expenses by cheque; reversing a bounced-cheque payment.
- Banking — bank accounts, statements, and reconciliation.
- Chart of accounts — bank accounts live here.
- Expenses, Bills — the documents you pay by cheque.