Cheque Design (Purchase Ledger) (Excluding Compact) - Document Design Manager

To design a cheque layout for the purchase ledger select ‘Purchase Statements’ from the Document Design menu and then select Cheque Layout. The system then asks for the pathname for the cheque document – usually DATA\???-CHQ.DEF (where ??? is the current company id). Confirm as required and the cheque layout will be opened.

The cheque design is configured as in the statement / remittance design above – confirming the page set-up and adding/amending print items as required.

Page Set-up

In addition to the options discussed above with regards to page set-up are two options with regards to multiple documents per page. Pre-printed cheque stationery may have 2/3 actual cheques per A4 (or similar) page and these options allow this.

Documents across Page

Documents down Page

Set the number of cheques across the page (usually 1 but allows up to 9) and the number of cheques down (usually 2/3 but again allows up to 9) the page.

Adding Data Items

The categories available in the cheque layout are:

Cheque Details - Allows print of the cheque parameters – the date, the amount, the amount in words and the cheque number.

Account Details - Allows print of up to ten items from the supplier record.

In addition to the print categories there are various parameter screens, six in all, which can be used to configure the printed output and the processing of the document.These parameter options are as followed:

Screen 1 – General Cheque Parameters

Number of Lines down on Cheque

Reports take the ‘page size’ settings from the print profile or the printer; however these settings are defined separately for the document. Note that although you can size the document to a maximum of 132 lines to match the page length of the stationery you are using, you can only configure the print of details up to 66 lines.

Width of Each Line (max 128)

Key in the number of characters of the document width – max is 136 characters although you can only design up to 128 characters. If using direct windows print then the more characters across the page the smaller the print (in essence other print methods follow the same guideline but require ASCII codes to set the font size as well).

Single Sheet Stationery (pause each time)

Selecting this option causes the printer to stop at the end of each page to give the operator time to insert another sheet of paper. Leaving blank assumes automatic feeding.

Print the date on which line

Column on full date

Column for DD

Column for MM

Column for YY (YYYY)

These prompts control where and how the cheque date is printed. Usually set from the Cheque Details category on the mask these options allow you to set the line/column for print of the date either as one item or split into its component parts.

Print the Cheque Number on Line/Column

These prompts control where and how the cheque number is printed (if not pre-set on the layout).Alternatively you can position the cheque number print item from the mask via the ‘Cheque Details’ category.

ASCII Code for Currency Sign (e.g. £)

ASCII Code for Leading Zeroes in Value

These prompts control when printing the amount whether it is prefixed with the currency sign, or leading zeroes. Enter the appropriate ASCII code for these characters if required.

Line Number for Amount in Words

This prompt controls the line number on which the cheque narrative is printed. Alternatively you can position the narrative from the mask.

Transaction Item Number for Value (else Amount)

The system will use the AMOUNT field from the purchase transaction as the cheque value unless you nominate another item here.

Only Include Payments marked P-to-Pay

If processing payments via the automatic generation routines and via manual/Cashbook input and you only want to print a cheque for the automatic payment routines then set this option – otherwise all payments with a blank reference have a cheque printed.

Print Cheques in Account Code Sequence

Cheques are usually printed in the order they were printed. If combining with a separate remittance advice that is produced as part of the automatic payment routines it can be easier to produce the cheques in account code order (the same as the statement/remittance)

Screen 2 – General Cheque Parameters 2

First Part of Name Printed – Line / Column / Size

Second Part of Name Printed – Line / Column / Size

These prompts ask for printing position of the payee name, usually set via the document mask although the size must be set here. The item used for the payee name is set within the ‘Account Items to be Printed’ parameter screen.

Cheque Amount Printed on Line / Column

These prompts ask for the printing position of the cheque amount, usually set via the document mask although it can also be set here.

Amount in Words 10,000,000 Column

Amount in Words 1,000,000, Column

Amount in Words 100,000 Column

Amount in Words 10,000 Column

Amount in Words 1,000 Column

Amount in Words 100 Column

Amount in Words 10 Column

If your cheque layout has boxes into which you update a number into – for example if writing a cheque for £357 pounds you update THREE into the hundreds box, FIVE into the tens box, and SEVEN into the singles box, then these parameters allow you to specify the column number to print at. If setting manually, and not via the mask, you also need to update the line number on the first parameter screen.

Number of Pence Printed in Column

Similar to the above this asks for the column to update the number of pence into, however this updates as a value ‘57’.

Screen 3 – Cheque Printing in Words

Amount in Words (First) – Line / Column / Size

Amount in Words (Second) – Line / Column / Size

If the cheque layout has a narrative for updating the cheque value into – for example, if writing a cheque for £357.52 then you write Three Hundred Fifty Seven Pounds and Fifty-Two pence, then these parameters allows you to specify the line, column and size to print the narrative at. If setting the print position via the mask you must set the size manually first.

Screen 4 – Account Items to be Printed

Data Item Number for Account Name

This prompt asks for the data item number on the supplier database that contains the PAYEE name for a cheque. Usually set as the account name you can nominate an alternative item if required.

The remainder of this screen allows you to specify a further ten items from the accounts file to print on the cheque. You can, of course, position these data items from the document mask.

Screen 5 – Special Print Options

Print Dates in DD/MM/YYYY

This option allows the cheque date to be printed with a four-digit year. Set if required.

Screen 6 – Customised Features

This screen is reserved for those occasions when a user has a special requirement that Datafile Software has programmed specifically. Any parameter settings required for this special option are defined here, and your reseller will advise.