Cheap Check and Signature Control

There are a variety of third party products out that offer enhanced security control for check printing in Microsoft Dynamcis GP. However, the vast majority of it comes bundled with MICR capability which some clients do not need/want for a variety of reasons including the cost of MICR printing and purchasing a third party product. So, what are the options when someone wants to control the printing of checks from Microsoft Dynamics GP?

Enable Batch Posting Control

• Tools>>Setup>>Posting>>Posting: Enable option for batch approvals and enter a password for Series: Purchasing, Origin: Computer Checks
• Batch must now be approved within GP before it can be printed and posted, Transactions>>Purchasing>>Batches.

Additional Considerations for checks on the fly (checks printed directly from Payables Transaction Entry to pay a single invoice "on the fly"):

• If users have access to the windows used to print "checks on the fly", you will need to consider how to handle this process.
• You can opt to take away security to the Print Payables Transaction Check operation, Tools>>Setup>>System>>Security Tasks, Security Roles, User Security
• Or you can enable batch approvals as noted above for the origin: Payables Transaction Entry. With this approach, you will also need to unmark the Allow Transaction Posting option so users are required to use a batch in Payables Transaction Entry. Also, you need to consider that all Payables Transaction batches will now require approval, not just those that contain "checks on the fly". Batches must be approved before they can be posted (although not before the check can be printed).

Once you have your security controls in place, you can add the signature to your check form in Report Writer. It just needs to be a bitmap format, and you must be using a graphical (not text) check form.

• Open the signature bitmap in an editing program (e.g., Paint) and copy to the clipboard (you can do this in paint by going to Edit>>Select All, then Edit>>Copy)
• In Report Writer, open the report layout
• In the report toolbox, click on the picture icon (looks like a landscape picture) then click on the layout where you wish to place the signature
• In the Pictures window, click New
• In the Picture Definition window, enter a name for the signature. Then click in the picture area and use Ctrl-V to paste the signature in to Report Writer.
• Click OK to return to the Pictures window. Make sure your signature picture is selected and click OK to insert it to the report layout.
• You can click on the picture to move it and resize it as needed.

So there you have it :) Feel free to share your tips regarding check control as well as other processes in GP that you control in a similar "low-tech" manner.