Check Formats

Menu > Admin > System setup > GL settings > Check formats

Check formats allow you to customize the layout fonts and style of your 3-part payment checks.

Workamajig has set up the three typical styles of Check-Stub-Stub; Stub-Check-Stub; Stub-Stub-Check, for you. You will need to select the correct layout that corresponds to your check stock. If you are using something other than 3-part check stock, please consult with your Workamajig account manager.

Add a check format

• Select one of the pre-set formats or click the icon to add a new check format.
• In the Format name text box, enter a descriptive name for this check format.
• In the Font dropdown box, select the Font that you would like used when printing this check format.
• In the Font size text box, select the size font you would like used when printing. 
• Misc options allows you to set the payment date format. For Canadian users, please check the show date format box to have DD/MM/YYYY printed under the date.
• Check options: allows you to adjust the location for specific fields to print. In each preset, the entries are based on typical QuickBooks check stock. We suggest you photocopy the check stock for test printing purposes. Make minor adjustments to begin with.
  NOTE: All measurements are based upon distance from the top left corner.
• Stub options: this allows you to adjust where each stub section begins and the location of the grid.
• Stub columns: this allows you to set the information provided in the stub.
• Electronic signature: allows you to add a signature jpg that will be added to the signature line of the check. You may also require that a password be used before an electronic signature can be added to the printed check.

Testing your format

To confirm the settings on your check layout:

1. Verify your printer settings. For the initial setup of printing checks, we highly recommend you turn off Auto Sizing / Scaling so that it prints the full page and is not reduced in some way. This will help with the consistency of printing checks.
2. Make a photocopy of your check stock.
3. In Workamajig, create a Payment via Menu > Purchasing > Payments. Select the appropriate layout.
4. Follow the Print check procedure.
5. Close the Print check confirmation screen. DO NOT Confirm printing. However, if you did, simply go to the payment screen and remove the check number from your test check.
6. Adjust your check layout if needed.
7. Repeat steps 3-5, until the layout fits your check stock.
8. Delete test check

Add an electronic signature

1. Create a jpg. of the required signature.
2. Click on Add signature to add the signature file to the system
3. Enter the location of the signature line on your check stock
4. Enter an optional signature password.

Other settings

• Security group: Purchasing > Edit electronic signature on checks - this setting allows the user via Admin > System setup to edit the electronic signature contained on the check format.
• Bank GL account- On the account designated BANK, you can assign a 'default check format' and 'next check number' - The check format will be used whenever the bank account is selected for use on a payment. The next check number should be set here on the GL account, rather than during the print check process to prevent errors or gaps in your check numbering.

Positive Pay Layouts

What is a positive pay system?

"Positive pay systems are a powerful tool for fighting check fraud. As the incidence of counterfeit checks continues to increase, more and more financial institutions are employing such tools to help reduce their losses. In essence, a positive pay system allows a bank to compare checks presented against its commercial customer's account against items the customer indicates it has written. It will uncover instances where the amount has been altered, a counterfeit has been created using a different check number, or the payee name does not match."

Check printing interface and Positive Pay layouts

To use Positive Pay, you create a layout that matches your bank's layout. Workamajig uses a flexible layout screen to define fields and set up the file. If you click the Copy layout from button, you can copy the layout from some of the larger banks' predefined layouts. To generate a positive pay file, you can either do it when printing checks or in larger batches from the Payments screen.

Layout editor

Positive Pay Layouts may be accessed from Admin > System setup > GL settings. Positive Pay information is transmitted to banks in a fixed-width, plain text format known as a "flat file." A bank that accepts Positive Pay data will publish a document specifying the format to use. That document may be used to create an appropriate layout or a pre-defined layout may be used or modified.

Copy layout from

We have default values in place for BMO or BofA. To use one of these, create a new layout and then use Copy layout from button to copy in these defaults.

Manually creating a layout

• In a fixed-width file, each line of data represents a new record, and each data field is a predetermined number of characters. A file of names that had two fields, an 8-character first name field and an 8-character last name field, would look like this:

• Names (e.g. "George") that are fewer than 8 characters still take up 8 spaces. Names over 8 characters (e.g. "Rutherford") are truncated.
• When creating a Positive Pay layout, a unique 'layout name' is required to identify this layout in the areas of Workamajig where it will be used. Typically, there will only be one layout per banking institution, and the name could reflect this.
• Workamajig has preloaded some Positive Pay formats. To use one of these, click the Copy layout from... option in the upper right portion of the screen. This will overwrite any field information that has been input into the layout.
• There are three field sets, 'header fields', 'detail fields', and 'footer fields'. Not all layout specifications use the header or footer field sets. All use the detail fields, as each check is represented as a detailed record.
• If not loaded by using the Copy layout from... feature, each fixed-width column is added (or removed) using the Add and Remove buttons on the left side of the screen.
• Field label is required to refer to the data column (e.g. "Last Name").
• Start character index is a required numeric value specifying where the data field begins. In the above example, the 'last name' field would have a start character Index of "9".
• End character index is a required numeric value specifying where the data field ends. In the above example, the last name field would have an end character Index of "16".
• Use payment data may be checked to specify information from the payment record in the data value field. Otherwise, the information in the data value field will be printed as shown on each record.
• When 'override on void' is checked, voided payments will use the information in the void override value field instead of the data value field.
• The Placeholder character takes up empty data spaces. By default, when the data in a field contains fewer characters than the field definition, spaces are added. In the above example, there are two spaces after the name "George" because the field has 8 characters, and "George" only requires 6. If the Placeholder is defined as "*" for the first name, the data would then print as "George**".
• Check the Required box if the banking institution requires this data. This ensures that an error will be issued if this report is run with required data missing from the payment record rather than transmitting improper data to the banking institution. This is only relevant for fields that have 'use payment data' checked.
• The format value specifies how payment data will be formatted in the report. Layouts will typically need date values, for instance, to be formatted uniformly to be interpreted correctly.
• Alignment is set to "Left" by default. This puts the placeholder character(s) to the right of the data. Some data, typically numeric data, must be preceded by the placeholder(s).
• The Grouping function is found only in the header and footer field sets. This is most often used to "Sum" the payment amount for all detail records. It may also be set to "Count" to reflect the total number of payment records in the detail set.

Sending positive pay from the Payment screen

The Payment listing screen, found in the Menu > Purchasing > Payments menu, is used to create a Positive Pay flat file to transmit voided check information or if you would like to create one file for more than one check run.

You can also generate the file when printing checks and only use this screen when sending a void. To be effective for printing voids, a filter should be added to this listing view for 'voided payment'. When set to yes, the listing will be restricted to only those payments with a corresponding void reversal line.

Payments that are to be included in the flat file should be selected. Selecting the Download Positive Pay file button will prompt for the layout to be used if there is more than one. Otherwise, the file is generated immediately.

Example of the outputted file