I'm trying to post a debit transaction out of our bank account - the only option I get is to assign a cheque #

Hi there!

I appreciate the details you've shared here about what you're trying to accomplish in QuickBooks Online. I know being able to differentiate your transactions is a good way to keep track of the figures in your books and can come in handy when you need to compare what's in the books to what's outside of the program. I can absolutely help you with this.

It sounds to me like you're looking to record an expense incurred by the business. Just like there are many ways to pay for things outside of QuickBooks, there are also several ways to record expenses in QuickBooks. What you can do in this situation is either enter the word "Debit" in the cheque number field on your cheque transaction or you can consider using another transaction type all together.

For example, you could simply create an expense transaction. This transaction type is also numbered, so you can again type "Debit" in the number field if you prefer, but it should overall help you differentiate between cheque transactions. The other option is to use the Memo field on transactions to note that it's a debit transaction.

This article has a helpful explanation of the various expense transaction types in the program: What is the difference between bills, cheques, and expenses?

If you mean to say you're creating the entry right in the account register through the Chart of Accounts, please note there are different transaction types you can pick there and that the reference number fields work the same way as on the transaction forms like I described above.

I hope this has been helpful. I'll be here should you have more questions!