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Change a direct deposit paycheck to a paper paycheck in QuickBooks Payroll

by Intuit•31• Updated 1 month ago

Learn how to pay a paper paycheck to an employee who’s usually paid via direct deposit in QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

You can switch your employee's direct deposit to a paper check for one payroll only if needed. Your future paychecks will change back to direct deposit.

Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service.

Create a paper check

You can turn off your employee’s direct deposit feature temporarily as you run payroll.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online. Launch side-by-side view Open this link in a new window.

You can switch the employee’s pay method to Paper check as you run payroll.

  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
  2. Select Run payroll.
  3. Select your employee, then select the ▼ dropdown below the employee’s name to change the pay method to Paper check.
  4. Preview and submit your payroll.
  1. Select Employees, then Pay Employees, and select from the check types Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
    • Skip to step 3 if you need to run an unscheduled payroll.
  2. Select the appropriate schedule, and select Start Scheduled Payroll.
  3. Verify the Pay Period Ends date, Check Date, and QuickBooks Bank Account.
  4. Select the employee you want to pay.
  5. You can enter hours using the grid, or if you are using timesheets, you’ll see the hours for the pay period already entered. 
  6. In the Review and Create Paychecks window, select Open Paycheck Detail.
  7. Clear the Use Direct Deposit option.
  8. Select Save & Close.
  9. Select Continue, then Create Paychecks.

Change an existing direct deposit paycheck to paper check

If the direct deposit check has already been processed or sent to Intuit, you need to void the paycheck and create a paper one.

Note: Check your payroll service processing time, to find out when you can void a paycheck.

If the direct deposit check hasn’t been processed or hasn’t been sent to Intuit yet, follow the steps below for your product.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online. Launch side-by-side view Open this link in a new window.

You can try to delete the direct deposit check, then re-create a paper one.

If you’ve already created the direct deposit paycheck but haven't sent it yet, you can edit it to make it printable.

Step 1: Edit the direct deposit paycheck

  1. Go to Employees, then select Edit/Void Paychecks.
  2. Change the date range to the date of the paycheck.
  3. Double-click the paycheck.
  4. Clear the Memo line that states "Direct Deposit”.
  5. Select Paycheck Detail.
  6. Clear the Use Direct Deposit option.
  7. Select OK, then Save & Close.

Step 2: Clear the checkbox on the register

It’ll remove the cleared mark so that the check will show on your reconciliation report.

  1. Go to Banking, then select Use Register. 
  2. Select the account you use for DD from the dropdown ▼.
  3. Select OK.
  4. Find the paycheck and clear the check box next to the amount. Check register_QBDT_US_Ext_090622
  5. Repeat these steps for each employee if applicable.
QuickBooks Online Payroll CoreQuickBooks Online Payroll EliteQuickBooks Online Payroll PremiumQuickBooks Payroll AssistedQuickBooks Payroll BasicQuickBooks Payroll EnhancedQuickBooks Payroll Standard

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