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Register a cheque or a traite
Record an instrument you have taken or issued, and let it become real money only when it clears.
- Steps
- 3 · About 2 min
- Who can do this
- Owner · Manager · Accountant
- Needs the module
- Money
A post-dated cheque is a promise, not money. Treating it as cash on the day you accept it makes your cash position lie for however long it sits in the drawer — and if it bounces, it was never money at all.
The register holds cheques and traites in both directions, and nothing reaches your treasury until the instrument actually clears.
Record what you have taken or issued
Finance → Cheques and traites, then Record a cheque.
What to look at:
Cheque number — as printed on it. This is what you or your bank will quote.
Due date — when it can be presented. This is the field the whole screen exists for: it drives the due-date bands and tells you what is coming.
Covers the invoice — link it to the customer invoice it settles, so the two are connected when it clears. There is an equivalent for supplier bills, and not linked to a document for the rest.
Type — cheque or traite.
Choose Received or Issued above, then fill in the bank, the amount, the issue date and the contact. Press Record.
Nothing has moved. The invoice is still open and your cash is unchanged, which is the honest position: you are holding a piece of paper.
Move it through its life
Each instrument then takes one of four actions, from the register:
Bank it — you have deposited it. Still not cash.
It cleared — the money arrived. This is when the treasury moves and the linked invoice is settled.
It was refused — it bounced. The instrument is closed as refused and the invoice stays open, because it was never paid.
Cancel — it was returned or replaced before anything happened.
Each asks for the account, the date and a reason where one is needed.
Watch what is coming
The banner counts what is past due and what falls due within seven days. For a business taking cheques at ninety days, that count is the cash-flow forecast — and it is worth reading on a Sunday evening rather than discovering on a Wednesday.
Do not record a post-dated cheque as a customer payment. The payment screen means money that has arrived. Recording a promise there inflates your cash position, hides a receivable that is still outstanding, and leaves nothing to chase if the cheque is refused.