Print Payroll and Bill Checks
DynaTax AI prints paper checks on standard laser check stock — for employees paid by check and for bills you pay by check. This guide covers which checks to buy, what to put on the order, the one-time setup, and how to line up your printer before the first real check.
What You Can Print
- Payroll checks — one check per employee who has no bank account on file for direct deposit, with a pay stub showing earnings, taxes, deductions and year-to-date gross.
- Bill checks — one check per bill payment you record with the payment method Check, with a stub showing the bill number, bill date, reference and amount paid.
Every check prints on one letter-size page: the check on top and two stubs below — one for the person you pay and one for your records.
Buy the Right Check Stock
Buy laser voucher checks with the check on top: letter size (8.5" × 11"), one check and two perforated stubs per sheet. They are commonly sold as "QuickBooks-compatible voucher checks", which is the layout DynaTax AI prints to. You can order them from your bank, from a check printing company, or from an office supply store.
What to put on the order
Have the checks pre-printed with everything that identifies your account. DynaTax AI prints only the payment details — the date, payee, amount, amount in words, mailing address and memo. If your checks don't have the company name and address printed on them, turn them on in Print setup.
- Your business's legal name and address
- Your bank's name
- The MICR line — your bank routing number, account number and check number in magnetic ink along the bottom. Banks read this line to process the check.
- A starting check number that doesn't overlap checks you already write from the same account
- A signature line (standard on voucher checks)
Security features such as microprinting or a warning band are optional; ask the check printer what they offer. Prices vary by supplier and quantity.
One-Time Setup
Set the company name and address
Open Print setup on any check screen. Under Company on the check, the name and address start from your business profile (legal name, or DBA if there is no legal name). Change them there if your checks should show something else, or fill them in if your profile doesn't have them yet — the change applies to checks only.
The name and address print on the check only when Print company name and address on the check is on. Leave it off for checks that already have them printed, so they don't print twice. The stubs show the company name either way.
Add mailing addresses
The payee's address prints where a standard double-window envelope shows it. For payroll, fill in each employee's address on their profile — the print screen lists anyone who is missing one. For bills, add the address on the vendor, or use Add vendor address on the print screen — put the street and the city/state/ZIP on separate lines.
Decide who is paid by check
In payroll, an employee with no bank account on file is paid by paper check. Add a bank account to switch them to direct deposit.
Print Setup & Alignment
Checks are positioned to the fraction of an inch, so the print dialog must not resize the page. In your browser's print dialog:
- Paper size: Letter
- Scale: 100% (or "Actual size") — turn off "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit"
- Margins: None or Default
- Headers and footers: off
Line up your printer once
Every printer feeds paper a little differently. Print setup — on the payroll and the bill check screens — lets you correct for yours once. The setting is saved for your business and used for every check after that.
- Choose Print setup, then Print test page, with plain paper in the printer. The test page shows every label and line of a check.
- Hold the test page over one of your checks against a window or a light. The date, payee, amount and memo should sit on the check's lines.
- If they don't, use Left / Right and Up / Down to move the print (each click moves it 0.02"), and print the test page again.
- When it lines up, enter the next check number — the number on the next blank check in your printer — and choose Save setup.
Print Payroll Checks
- Approve the payroll run.
- Choose Print Checks. On a run where some employees are paid by direct deposit, the button reads Print N checks and covers only the employees paid by check.
- Check the first check number. It starts at your next check number from Print setup; change it if the checks in your printer start somewhere else.
- Check the preview, then choose Print.
- When the print dialog closes, DynaTax AI asks whether every check printed correctly. Choose Yes, record numbers to save each check number on the payroll run and move your next check number on. Choose No, I'll reprint if one jammed.
- Sign the checks and hand them out. On a run paid only by check, finish it with Mark Checks as Distributed.
Print a Check for a Bill
- Open the bill and choose Record a Payment.
- Set the payment method to Check. The Check # is filled in with your next check number; change it if the check in your printer has a different number. Recording the payment moves your next check number on.
- Choose Record and print check. The payment is recorded and the print screen opens.
To print a check for a payment you already recorded, open the bill and choose Print check next to the payment in its payment history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I print checks on plain or blank paper?
Only for the alignment test. DynaTax AI doesn't print the MICR line, so a real check needs stock with your bank details already printed on it.
The fields are slightly off. What should I change?
First check the print dialog: the scale must be 100% and nothing set to fit the page. If it is still off by the same amount every time, open Print setup, move the print and save — it applies to every check from then on.
A check jammed or printed wrong. What now?
Write "VOID" across the damaged check and keep it with your records. Put the next check in the printer and print again — for payroll, choose "No, I'll reprint" and enter that check's number as the first check number.
Why does my business name show the wrong name?
The payer name comes from Entity Info: the legal name, or the DBA when no legal name is set. Update it there and reprint.