How to prepare checks in Excel and print in Quicken

This tutorial shows how to quickly create transactions or checks to print in Excel, convert to QIF file, import into Quicken and print checks. The tutorial uses the retired app but is applicable to the current app. See the tutorial as a video at https://youtu.be/aZK6UkkbF_g

You can use Excel or your favorite spreadsheet software to quickly enter transactions or checks. So the idea is: you use your spreadsheet application to quickly enter data or you have that data already as CSV. Instead of using Quicken as a data entry point, you use Excel or your favorite spreadsheet application as a data entry point. And we can name it 'Checks'.

What is important: that first line should have the column names, so the converter can figure out how is your file organized. So we can have the Date, Amount, Payee, Memo, and Check number columns.

Check number column supposed 'Print' value for all transactions. The first capital 'P' must be at the word 'Print', and the rest should be lowercase letters.

There are some Dates, Amounts (you can enter amounts as positive numbers, you can easily adjust them in the converter later), Payee names, Memo. Now we have to save a CSV file. If you have Excel, you can save it as Excel, it's fine, the converter can open Excel files or CSV files. So we select 'File' - 'Download as' - 'Comma-separated values'.

Click the 'Save' button.

Then we have this file saved. Now we're going to ProperSoft CSV2QIF converter and then we use that file 'Checks-sample'. Click the 'Open' button.

So we have our amounts. And what we have to say that the charges are positive. Just click on 'Charges/Withdrawals'. It's all withdrawals because it is the check numbers.

Then we check that the Doc number has a 'Print' value for all transactions.

In this example, we use Quicken 2017 which requires QIF files to have the account name. So we have to set the Account Name exactly as you have in Quicken (in this case Checking).

Click the 'Convert' button to create your QIF file and switch to Quicken.

If you are using Quicken 2018 or later, you don't have to set the Account Name and for Quicken 2017 or earlier, you have to use the Account Name. In Quicken click 'File' - 'File Import' - 'QIF File'.

Then click the 'Browse' button.

Look for the 'Checks-sample' file and select it.

For Quicken 2017 we have to select 'All account', for Quicken 2018+ we select Account Name here that we want to import transactions. Click the 'Import' button.

Now data is imported.

Check number set as 'Print'. Click 'Accept All'.

Now we are ready to print. So what Quicken does? Whatever is named as 'Print' will be used to print checks. And Quicken will generate numbers instead of this 'Print' value once it prints.

Click 'File' - 'Print Checks'.

Then we set the Check Number that we want to start. You have your check number, it will not be shown on 'Print' because the check number is on your actual checkbooks, on those templates you have to print. So you are entering some number (for example, 1100) to match what you have on your checks and then click 'OK'.

In this case, we don't have like 'Printer setup' here, so we will just print it to the output file.

What Quicken does: in case if printing directly to a printer or something happens, like paper jam - it allows you to reprint certain pages because this print value will be replaced with actual check numbers. So if you say everything is ok - it means you printed your checks so Quicken will change that print value to an actual number to match what you have on paper.

Let's verify quickly that we do have this printed as gas-company, hundred dollars, date, memo. There are no check numbers, as was mention before, so all this the template already for the template to be printed.

Now we click the 'OK' button.

And then we see the check number is generated and that's it.