Expenses & Checks¶
Review what you owe drivers, brokers and other payees, and record the checks you write to pay them.
Overview¶
Expenses and checks are the "money out" side of UTX Freight. Each one has its own page in the left sidebar:
- Expenses -- a list of every expense line entered in the Order Expenses panel of your orders (driver pay, broker fees, other costs). You can filter by payee, order status and payment status, and see which check paid each line.
- Checks -- a list of the checks you issued. Each check records a vendor invoice (amount, number, date) and the payee's name and address.
- Linking -- when your account has check expenses turned on (ask UTX support), you tick expense lines on a check. Saving the check marks those lines as Paid on the Expenses page.
- Printing -- each check has a Print button that opens a printable check layout in a new tab.
- Vendors -- every time you save a check, the payee's name and address are saved as a vendor, so you can pick them again on the next check. There is no separate vendor page.
Expenses are entered on the orders themselves, not on these pages. See Order Rates, Charges & Expenses.
Quick Start¶
Already familiar with the feature? Here is the fastest path to pay a driver or broker:
- Add the expense on the order, in Order Expenses, and complete the order.
- Click Expenses in the left sidebar. Unpaid lines are shown by default.
- Pick the payee in Select a filter and click Search to see what you owe them.
- Click Checks in the left sidebar, then Add a new Check.
- Fill in Issue date, Check Number, the Vendor Invoice Information and the payee under Vendor Information (type a few letters in Search for a vendor to reuse a saved one).
- Under Check Expenses, tick the expense lines this check pays.
- Click Save Changes, then click Print on the check's row.
Access & Permissions¶
| Role | Expenses page | Checks |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Yes | Yes (view, add, edit, delete, print, history) |
| Manager | No sidebar link | Yes, when your edition allows managers to manage checks |
| Accountant | No sidebar link | Yes, when your edition allows accountants to manage checks |
| All other roles | No sidebar link | No |
- The Expenses link appears in the left sidebar for Admin users only.
- The Checks link appears for anyone who can manage checks. For Managers and Accountants this depends on your UTX Freight edition: check management for each of these roles is an option only UTX can turn on. If you are a Manager or Accountant and you do not see Checks, contact UTX support to ask whether it can be enabled for your edition.
- Managers and Accountants only see and manage checks belonging to the offices they are assigned to.
- Expense lines are added on orders by users who can manage rates (Admin, Manager, and Dispatch or Customer Service users with Can manage rates? checked). See Order Rates, Charges & Expenses and User Roles.
Offices¶
| Page | Office behaviour |
|---|---|
| Expenses | Not limited to the current office. It lists expense lines from orders in all offices. |
| Checks list | Shows only the checks of the office you are currently working in. |
| Check Expenses on the check form | Offers only expense lines from orders in the current office. |
If you work with several offices, switch to the right office before creating a check. See Multi-Office.
The Expenses Page¶
Click Expenses in the left sidebar. The page title is Expenses (subtitle Tracking of expenses for brokers). There is no "add" button here: expenses are created from the order forms.
Filters¶
The Filters box at the top has three dropdowns and a Search button. The list refreshes in place when you click Search.
| Filter | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Select a filter | No Filter, or one payee. The list contains all your brokers, drivers and expense types, grouped by kind of payee. | No Filter |
| Order status | All statuses, or one order status (for example Completed). Only statuses that exist on your orders are listed. | All statuses |
| Expense payment status | Paid and Unpaid, Paid Only, Unpaid Only | Unpaid Only |
- Paid Only shows lines that are linked to a check. Unpaid Only shows lines that are not linked to any check.
- When you first open the page, it shows Unpaid Only for all payees and all order statuses.
Columns¶
The list is sorted by order, newest first, and is split into pages.
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Type | Driver, Broker or Expense (one of your Expense Types) |
| Name | The payee's name |
| Category | The charge type picked on the expense line, if any (one of your Charge Types whose Charge Type is Expense, see Charge Types & Taxes) |
| Order | The order reference |
| Order Status | The order's status, shown as an icon. Hover over it to see the status (for example Order Completed). |
| Delivery Date | The order's delivery date |
| Paid | green check when the line is linked to a check; red cross when it is not |
| Check Info | For paid lines, the check's payee name and number (for example Company XYZ #1042). Click it to open the check. |
| Amount | The expense amount (the Rate entered on the order) |
| (button) | View Check on paid lines -- opens the check's edit form |
TOTAL row¶
The last row of the table shows TOTAL, the sum of the Amount column. It adds up the lines shown on the current page of results only, not every page.
Find what you owe one payee
Pick the payee in Select a filter, set Order status to Completed and keep Unpaid Only. The TOTAL row then shows what you still owe them for completed orders (on the current page of results).
The Checks List¶
Click Checks in the left sidebar. The page title is Checks (subtitle Management of Checks). Checks are listed newest first, 50 per page.
Columns¶
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Check # | The check number |
| Vendor Invoice Date | Date of the vendor's invoice |
| Vendor Invoice Number | The vendor's invoice number |
| Vendor Invoice Amount | The invoice amount, shown as currency |
| Vendor | The payee name |
| Issue Date | The date the check was issued |
| Opens the printable check in a new tab. See Printing a Check. | |
| Actions | View History, Edit, Delete |
Search¶
Use the search box at the top right (placeholder Check #, Vendor or Invoice Number) and click Search. It matches any part of the check number, the vendor name or the vendor invoice number, ignoring upper/lower case.
Actions menu¶
| Action | What It Does |
|---|---|
| View History | Opens a History window listing each change to the check: the User who made it, the Changes (field and old/new values) and When. If there is nothing to show, it reads No history found for this item. |
| Edit | Opens the Edit Check form. |
| Delete | Deletes the check after an Are you sure? confirmation. |
Creating or Editing a Check¶
Click Add a new Check at the top right of the Checks list (or Edit in a check's Actions menu). The form opens in a box titled Check Information.
Check fields¶
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Issue date | Yes | Date picker. Printed as the check date. |
| Check Number | No | Free text. Shown in the list and in Check Info on the Expenses page. It is not printed on the check. |
Vendor Invoice Information¶
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor invoice amount | Yes | The amount of the check. This is the amount printed on the check, in figures and in words. |
| Vendor invoice number | No | Printed on the check stubs. |
| Vendor invoice date | No | Date picker. Printed on the check stubs. |
The check amount is not calculated from expenses
Ticking expense lines under Check Expenses does not fill or change Vendor invoice amount. Enter the amount yourself. Use the Expenses page and its TOTAL row to work out what you owe.
Vendor Information¶
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Search for a vendor | No | Type at least 2 letters of a saved vendor's name and pick it from the suggestions. The fields below fill in automatically. See Vendors. |
| Name | Yes | The payee, printed on the check. |
| Address 1 | No | Street address. |
| City | No | |
| State | No | State or province. |
| ZIP/Postal Code | No | |
| Country | No | Canada or United States. |
You can change any of the filled-in fields after picking a vendor.
Fill in the full address before printing
The printed check shows the payee's name, address, city, state, ZIP/postal code and country. Complete these fields before you click Print.
Check Expenses¶
This section appears only when your account has check expenses turned on (ask UTX support). It lists expense lines as checkboxes, each showing the kind of payee (driver, broker or expense type), the payee name, the order reference and the amount.
| Form | Expense lines offered |
|---|---|
| New Check | Unpaid lines (not on any check) from Completed orders in the current office. |
| Edit Check | The same, plus the lines already linked to this check (ticked). |
- Tick a line and save: the line is linked to this check. On the Expenses page it shows the green Paid icon, the check in Check Info and a View Check button.
- Untick a line on an existing check and save: the line is released and shows as unpaid again.
- Expenses on orders that are not Completed are not offered. Complete the order first. See Order Workflow.
Saving¶
Click Save Changes. You return to the Checks list with the message Check was successfully created. (or Check was successfully updated.). Click Cancel to leave without saving.
Step-by-step: Pay a driver by check¶
- Click Expenses in the left sidebar.
- In Select a filter, pick the driver. Set Order status to Completed, keep Unpaid Only, and click Search.
- Note the TOTAL (or add up the lines you are paying).
- Click Checks in the left sidebar, then Add a new Check.
- Enter the Issue date and Check Number.
- Enter the amount in Vendor invoice amount (and the vendor invoice number and date, if any).
- In Search for a vendor, type the driver's name and pick it, or fill in Name and the address by hand.
- Under Check Expenses, tick the driver's lines.
- Click Save Changes.
- Click Print on the check's row and print it from your browser.
Printing a Check¶
Click Print on a check's row in the Checks list. The check opens in a new browser tab, laid out for printing on check stock. Use your browser's print command to print it.
The printed check shows:
| Part | Content |
|---|---|
| Check face | DATE followed by the issue date (MM DD YYYY), the amount in words (written as ... dollars & ... cents), the amount in figures preceded by $, the payee's name, address, city, state and ZIP/postal code in capital letters, and the country |
| Two stubs | The issue date, the payee name, the vendor invoice date, the word Invoice, the vendor invoice number and the amount |
- The amount always comes from Vendor invoice amount.
- The check number is not printed. Your company name and logo are not printed either.
- Anyone who can see the check in the Checks list can print it.
Test your alignment
Print one check on plain paper first and hold it against your check stock to confirm the fields line up with your printer.
Vendors¶
UTX Freight keeps a vendor directory automatically. There is no page to add, edit or delete vendors.
- Saved on every check save. Each time a check is created or updated with a Name, its name and address (Name, Address 1, City, State, ZIP/Postal Code, Country) are added to the vendor directory, linked to the check's office.
- Search for a vendor suggests saved vendors whose name contains what you typed (at least 2 letters, upper/lower case ignored). Suggestions come from the vendors of all offices. Entries with exactly the same name and address are shown only once. Picking one fills Name, Address 1, City, State, ZIP/Postal Code and Country.
- Address changes create a new entry. If you change a vendor's address on a check, the new address is saved as well. The old one stays, so the same name can appear more than once in the suggestions, once per address.
Drivers and brokers are not vendors automatically
Drivers and brokers you pick as payees in Order Expenses are not added to the vendor directory. A payee becomes a vendor the first time you save a check with their name.
FAQ / Troubleshooting¶
I don't see Expenses or Checks in the sidebar¶
Solution
Expenses is shown to Admin users only. Checks is shown to Admins, and to Managers and Accountants only when your edition allows them to manage checks. Ask your administrator, or contact UTX support about your edition's options. See User Roles.
An expense is missing from Check Expenses¶
Solution
The check form only offers expense lines that are (1) on a Completed order, (2) in the office you are currently working in, and (3) not already linked to another check. Complete the order, switch to the right office, or check on the Expenses page whether the line is already Paid (its Check Info shows which check).
There is no Check Expenses section on the check form¶
Solution
Linking expenses to checks is an option that only UTX can turn on for your account. When it is off, checks record the vendor invoice and payee only, and the Expenses page keeps showing every line as unpaid. Contact UTX support if you need it enabled.
The check amount doesn't match the expenses I ticked¶
Solution
The amount on the check is whatever you typed in Vendor invoice amount. It is never calculated from the ticked expenses. Edit the check and correct the amount.
I linked the wrong expense to a check¶
Solution
Open the check (Actions > Edit, or View Check on the Expenses page), untick the line under Check Expenses, and click Save Changes. The line returns to unpaid.
The Expenses page shows lines from another office¶
Solution
By design. The Expenses page is not limited to the current office; it lists expense lines from all offices. Use Select a filter and Order status to narrow it down. The Checks list, by contrast, shows only the current office's checks.
A vendor shows up twice in the search¶
Solution
The search shows one entry per distinct name and address, from all offices. If a vendor's address was typed differently on different checks, each version appears. There is no vendor page to merge or remove entries. Pick the suggestion with the right address, or correct the fields after picking.
Best Practices
- Record driver, broker and other costs in Order Expenses on every order, so the Expenses page is your complete payables list.
- Complete orders promptly -- their expenses can only be linked to a check once the order is Completed.
- Filter the Expenses page by payee with Unpaid Only before writing a check, and tick exactly those lines on the check.
- Use Search for a vendor instead of retyping addresses, to keep the vendor directory clean.
- Keep the Check Number filled in so you can find checks with Search and see them in Check Info.
- Use View History to see who changed a check and when.