To fill out a check, complete six fields: the date in the upper right, the payee’s name on the “Pay to the Order of” line, the amount in numerals in the small box, the same amount spelled out on the line below the payee, an optional memo in the lower left, and your signature in the lower right. Each field has a specific job, and getting any of them wrong can delay or block the payment.
Write the Date
The date line sits in the upper-right corner. Write the current date in a standard format your bank recognizes; month/day/year is the most common. The date matters because a bank is not required to honor a personal check presented more than six months after the date on its face, though it can choose to.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old
Post-dating a check by writing a future date is allowed.2Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-113 – Date of Instrument But a post-dated check can still be cashed early unless you separately notify your bank not to pay it before that date.3Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-401 – When Bank May Charge Customer’s Account If you’re relying on the date to delay payment, call your bank first.
Fill In the Payee
On the “Pay to the Order of” line, write the full legal name of the person, business, or agency you’re paying. Spell it correctly and write legibly. If the bank cannot identify who the check is meant for, it may not clear.
Write the Amount in the Box
The small box to the right of the payee line is for the amount in numerals. Include cents after a decimal point even for round-dollar amounts, so $200 appears as “200.00.” Leaving off the cents creates an opening for someone to alter the figure.
Spell the Amount Out on the Line
The long line below the payee is where you spell out the same amount in words. Write the dollar portion in words and express cents as a fraction over 100. A payment of $75.50 becomes “Seventy-five and 50/100.” When you’re done, draw a horizontal line from the end of your text to the right edge of the field so no one can add words to inflate the amount.
If the number in the box and the words on the line disagree, the written words control.4Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-114 – Contradictory Terms of Instrument Banks treat the spelled-out amount as the legal figure because it’s harder to tamper with than a few digits. That’s why the written line matters more than the box.
Add a Memo (Optional)
The memo line in the lower-left corner is optional but useful. An account number, invoice number, or short description of what the payment covers helps both you and the payee match the check to the right transaction later. For rent, property managers often ask you to include your unit number here. The memo has no legal effect on the payment amount or the bank’s processing.
Sign the Check
Your signature on the line in the lower-right corner is what authorizes the bank to move money out of your account. Without it, the check is not a valid instrument and no one is liable on it.5Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-401 – Signature Sign consistently with the signature your bank has on file. Banks compare signatures as part of their fraud screening, and a mismatch can delay or block payment.
Never sign a blank check. If you need to give someone a check purely for account verification, such as setting up direct deposit, void it instead of signing it.
Use Gel Ink to Prevent Check Washing
Check washing is a form of fraud where someone steals a check from the mail, uses chemicals to dissolve the ink, and rewrites the payee name and amount. The USPS Office of Inspector General reported that investigators uncovered a single check theft ring responsible for stealing more than $24 million worth of checks from the mail in just a few months during a recent enforcement period.
Gel ink uses pigment-based formulas that soak into paper fibers, making the writing far more resistant to chemical removal than standard ballpoint ink. Black gel ink is the safest choice. A one-dollar upgrade to your pen drawer is the easiest fraud prevention step you can take when filling out a check.
How to Void a Check
Sometimes you need to provide your bank account and routing numbers without authorizing a payment. Employers setting up direct deposit and billers setting up autopay often request a voided check for this purpose.
To void a check, write “VOID” in large capital letters across the face of the check in blue or black ink. Make the letters big enough to cover the main fields but not so large that they obscure the routing and account numbers printed along the bottom edge. If you haven’t already signed, leave the signature line blank. Record the voided check number in your register so you don’t later wonder what happened to it.
A voided check cannot be unvoided. Once you’ve handed a completed check to someone, writing “VOID” on your copy does nothing. The only way to stop a check that’s already been delivered is a stop payment order from your bank.
A Quick Check Before You Hand It Over
Look at the completed check and confirm five things: the date is correct, the payee’s name is spelled right, the numeric and written amounts match, the written amount ends with a line drawn to the right edge, and your signature matches the one on file with your bank. If you’re mailing the check, use a security envelope with a patterned interior so account details can’t be read through the paper, and drop it inside the post office rather than leaving it in a residential mailbox with the flag up, which is where thieves commonly look.