To write a check for $900, put 900.00 in the small box to the right of the dollar sign, and write Nine hundred and 00/100 on the long line beneath the payee’s name. Fill in the date, the payee, and your signature, and the check is complete. The two amount fields have to match, because banks compare them and the written words legally control if they don’t.
The Two Dollar Amount Fields
The small box to the right of the printed dollar sign takes the figure in numerals. Write 900.00. Include the decimal and the two zeros even though the amount is round. Writing just “900” leaves room for confusion about whether you meant $900 or $9.00.
The longer line below the payee’s name takes the amount spelled out. Write Nine hundred and 00/100. The “00/100” is the cents portion expressed as a fraction of a dollar; if the amount were $900.50 you would write “Nine hundred and 50/100.” After the fraction, draw a horizontal line all the way across to the printed word “Dollars” at the right edge. That line closes off the empty space so nobody can slip in extra words.
Get the written line right. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, when the words and the numbers on a check disagree, the words win.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-114 – Contradictory Terms of Instrument The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirms the same rule: if the spelled-out amount and the numeric amount differ, the bank goes with the words.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I Received a Check Where the Words and the Numbers for the Amount Are Different. Is This Check Valid and for How Much? A slip in the numeric box is survivable. A slip on the written line is the amount that gets paid.
Filling In the Rest of the Check
In the upper-right corner, write the current date in a standard month/day/year format. On the “Pay to the Order of” line, write the full legal name of the person or business you are paying. For a company, use the official business name, not a nickname or an abbreviation. Start writing at the left edge of the line so there is no gap in front of the name.
The memo line in the lower-left is optional. An invoice number, account number, or short description of what the $900 covers gives you and the recipient a way to match the payment later.
Sign the bottom-right line last, using the signature your bank has on file. The check is not valid until you sign it, and without a signature the bank will reject it. Never sign a blank check. If you sign before filling in the amount, anyone holding the check can write in whatever number they want.
Habits That Prevent Someone Changing the Amount
Check washing, where a thief uses chemicals to strip the ink off a stolen check and rewrite it, is the main risk with any handwritten check. A $900 check written in ordinary ballpoint ink can be lifted and rewritten for a much larger amount to a different payee.
Your pen is the first defense. Use a gel ink pen with black ink. Gel ink pigments soak into the paper fibers and resist chemical removal far better than standard ballpoint ink, which dissolves with common solvents like acetone. Dedicated “check pens” exist, but any gel pen is a meaningful upgrade.
Fill every blank space. Start the payee name at the left edge of the line. Draw the horizontal line after “Nine hundred and 00/100” all the way to “Dollars.” Don’t leave gaps where a character or two could be inserted. None of this is complicated, and together it closes off the easy opportunities for alteration.
Fixing a Mistake Before You Hand It Over
If you misspell the payee or write the wrong amount, don’t try to correct it with cross-outs. An altered-looking check gives the bank a reason to reject it. Void the check and start fresh instead.
Write “VOID” in large capital letters across the front of the check, big enough to cover the main fields. If you have already signed it, write “VOID” over the signature too. Record the voided check number in your register so your records stay straight. Then shred the voided check or tear it into small pieces, paying attention to the bottom strip, which still carries your routing and account numbers.
Canceling a $900 Check You Already Delivered
Once the check is out of your hands, voiding it is no longer available. To cancel the payment before it clears, contact your bank and request a stop payment order. The bank will usually want the check number, the amount, the date, and the payee’s name, and will charge a fee, generally in the $20 to $35 range.
A written stop payment order lasts six months. A verbal one expires after 14 calendar days unless you follow up in writing. You can renew the order in additional six-month increments if the check still hasn’t been presented.3Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-403 – Customer’s Right to Stop Payment; Burden of Proof of Loss Move quickly. Once the bank has already processed the check, a stop payment order can’t pull the money back.
Making Sure the $900 Is Actually There
Confirm your balance covers $900 with room to spare before you write the check. A $900 check against an account that can’t cover it will typically be returned unpaid, with a nonsufficient funds fee in the $25 to $35 range from your bank. The recipient’s bank may charge them a returned-check fee, and the recipient will come back to you for the original $900 plus their costs. Knowingly writing a check you can’t cover can also cross into criminal territory under most state fraud or theft-by-deception statutes, with penalties scaling to the amount.
Timing matters too. Under federal Regulation CC, funds from a deposited check must be made available by the second business day for local checks and up to five business days for nonlocal checks or deposits at ATMs the recipient’s bank doesn’t own.4eCFR. 12 CFR 229.12 – Availability Schedule From your side, the $900 may not come out of your account for several days after you hand over the check. Treat it as spent the moment you sign it, so the balance is still there when the check finally clears.