How to create a positive pay file from QuickBooks

Updated June 2026 · Works with QuickBooks Online and Desktop

Your bank wants a positive pay (check issue) file every time you print checks, and QuickBooks won't make one. Neither QuickBooks Online nor QuickBooks Desktop has a positive pay export. Intuit's own moderators confirm this in the QuickBooks Community and point users to paid desktop add-ons.

QuickBooks does export your check register, and converting that export into your bank's layout takes about thirty seconds with the free generator. The full workflow is below.

Step 1: Export your checks from QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online (register method)

1. Click Settings (the gear icon), then Chart of accounts.
2. Find your checking account and click View register in the Action column.
3. Click the funnel/filter icon, set Transaction Type to Check, pick your date range, and Apply.
4. Click the Export to Excel icon. You'll get an .xlsx file.

Alternative paths that also work: Expenses → Expenses → Filter → Type: Check → Apply → Export to Excel, or Reports → Check Detail → Customize → Filter: Transaction Type = Check → Run report → Export to Excel.

QuickBooks Desktop

1. Go to Reports → Banking → Check Detail.
2. Click Customize Report → Filters tab, set Transaction Type = Check and your date range.
3. Click the Excel dropdown, then Create New Worksheet, then OK.

If QuickBooks complains the report has too many columns, click Advanced and uncheck "Space between columns."

Step 2: Convert the export to your bank's format

1. Open the positive pay generator and drop the exported file in. It reads .xlsx directly, so don't re-save as CSV first (that can strip leading zeros from check numbers).
2. The tool skips QuickBooks' report-title rows and auto-detects your Num / Date / Name / Amount columns. Confirm the mapping.
3. Enter your bank account number. QuickBooks reports can't include it (the report shows the account name, not the number), so the tool asks once and applies it to every check.
4. Pick your bank's format. Chase, Huntington, First American, Associated and more are preset; anything else takes about five minutes in the custom format builder with the spec sheet from your bank.
5. Review the preview, where the validator flags unreadable dates, duplicate check numbers, and over-length fields, then download.

Everything happens in your browser. Your check data never touches a server. You can even go offline after the page loads.

Step 3: Upload to your bank

In your bank's business or treasury portal, find Positive Pay → Issue File Upload (naming varies: "Submit Issued Check File" on Centrix-based banks). Upload, then confirm the item count and dollar total on screen match the generator's preview.

QuickBooks gotchas to watch for

• Voided checks: QuickBooks keeps voids in the register at $0.00 with "VOID" in the memo. Add a status column (or include the memo column) so the generator can emit your bank's void code. To find voids after the fact, run Reports → Accountant & Taxes → Audit Trail filtered to checks (Desktop).
• EFT/ACH noise: if you record electronic payments with "EFT" or "ACH" in the check-number field, delete those rows. Banks only want real check numbers in an issue file.
• Split lines (Check Detail report): the report shows negative distribution lines under each check. Use the check's total ("Original Amount" on Desktop), not the split lines. The generator skips rows without a check number, which handles most of this automatically.
• Don't round-trip through Excel saves: re-saving as CSV can strip leading zeros from check numbers and reformat dates. Upload the .xlsx straight into the generator.
• Don't re-send old checks: most banks reject or duplicate-flag previously issued items. Export only the date range since your last upload.

Convert your QuickBooks export, free