How can I have QuickBooks mail a paper check directly to one of my vendors without my having entered a bill first? I don't see that as an option under the "Check" action.

Hi there, @ctmarvin2015. I'll outline the options you can do to achieve your goal.

To mail a paper check to your vendor without entering a bill, you'll need to create it in the Check tab and click Print Checks after entering information in all of the fields.

Then, manually mail it to your vendor since QuickBooks doesn't have the option to do it in that section. 

Here's how:

1. From the Check tab, enter the necessary information.
2. After that, click on Print check below.
3. Select a check transaction by ticking the box beside it.
4. Click Print Setup to check the alignments. You can also go to Order Checks since our system offers a check design to ensure that it fits in. 
5. Click Preview and print.
    
6. Then, select the Print button.
7. Once done, manually mail it to your vendor.

On the other hand, if you have QuickBooks Bill Pay, we can mail your vendor a paper check. However, you'll need to create a Bill and select  Save and Schedule payment. Then, you'll be prompted to choose a payment option, you can select a Paper check and it will be mailed to your vendor in 5-7 business days.

If you're using other third-party payment option, you can reach out to them if they offer a Paper check as type of disbursement option and mail it to your vendor.

If you wish to see all the payments made to your vendors via report, consider checking this article: Run a report with vendor totals in QuickBooks Online.

To further help you in managing your vendor transactions and organizing your scheduled vendor payments for easy tracking, you can reach out to our QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted.

We're one reply away if you have additional questions about vendor transactions and mailing paper checks to them. Have a good one.