A check has six fields you fill in on the front: the date, the payee, the dollar amount in numbers, the dollar amount in words, an optional memo, and your signature. Knowing what to put on a check in each of those spots (and what to add to the back if you’re the one depositing it) is the difference between a payment that clears and one that gets held, rejected, or altered by someone else. Here’s how each field works and the details that trip people up.
The Pre-Printed Numbers You Don’t Write Over
Before you put pen to paper, notice what’s already there. Your name and address sit in the upper left. Your bank’s name is printed on the face. Along the bottom, three groups of digits identify the routing number (nine digits, identifying your bank), the account number (identifying your account), and the check number (which should match the number in the upper right corner).
Leave that bottom line alone. Automated scanners read it, and even a smudge across those numbers can cause processing problems. When you hand over a voided check for direct-deposit setup, keep that line clean.
Filling In the Front of the Check
Date
Write today’s date in the upper right corner. Month/day/year is standard (6/15/2026), and writing the month out is fine too. A check without a date is still technically negotiable, but banks and payees often ask you to add one before they’ll accept it.
Post-dating a check to a future date does not, by itself, stop a bank from paying it early. Banks process checks by presentment date, not by the date you wrote. If you need the check held, you have to separately notify your bank about the post-date.
Payee Line
On the line that begins “Pay to the Order of,” write the recipient’s name. For a person, use their full name as it appears on their bank account. For a business, use the official business name, spelled correctly. If the name doesn’t match what the recipient’s bank has on file, the check can be refused or held for verification. When in doubt about the spelling of a company name, ask first. Once you’ve written on the payee line, fixing a mistake usually means voiding the check and starting over.
Numeric Amount Box
In the small box to the right of the payee line, write the dollar amount in digits. Always include cents, even for round amounts: write “$150.00” rather than “$150” so no one can slip extra digits into the empty space. Start your figures as far left in the box as possible. Some people draw a line through any leftover space.
Written Amount Line
Directly below the payee line, spell out the amount in words and write the cents as a fraction over 100. A check for $1,298.24 reads: “One thousand two hundred ninety-eight and 24/100.” Draw a line through any blank space that remains on the line.
One rule worth knowing: if the number in the box and the words on the line disagree, the written words control. That comes from the Uniform Commercial Code, which treats words as the tiebreaker because they’re harder to alter than digits.1Cornell Law School. Uniform Commercial Code 3-114 – Contradictory Terms of Instrument From a fraud-prevention standpoint, the written amount line is the most important field on the check.
Memo Line
The memo line in the lower left is optional but useful. Write whatever will help you or the recipient identify the payment later: an invoice number, an account ID, “June rent.” When you’re paying a bill, the company often asks for your account number on this line so they can match the payment to your records.
Signature
Sign the line in the lower right corner. Without a signature, the check isn’t a valid negotiable instrument and no bank will pay it. Your signature should reasonably match the one your bank has on file. It doesn’t need to be identical every time, but a signature that looks nothing like the one on record can trigger a hold or a rejection.
Signing a Check for a Business
If you write checks on behalf of a company, how you sign affects your personal liability. The safest format is to write the business name and then sign your own name with your title underneath (for example, “Jane Doe, Treasurer”). When the check is drawn on the business’s account and the business name is printed on the face, you’re generally protected even without spelling out your title. But if the business isn’t identified on the check and your signature doesn’t clearly show you’re signing in a representative capacity, you can end up personally on the hook for the amount.2Cornell Law School. Uniform Commercial Code 3-402 – Signature by Representative
What to Put on the Back of a Check
The back is for the person depositing it. There’s an endorsement area at one end, marked with a boundary line and a warning not to write below it. Everything the depositor writes stays above that line. The space below is reserved for bank processing stamps.
Blank Endorsement
The simplest endorsement is your signature and nothing else. It makes the check payable to anyone holding it. That’s convenient at the teller window and risky anywhere else, because a lost check with a blank endorsement can be cashed by whoever finds it.
Restrictive Endorsement
Safer for almost every other situation: write “For Deposit Only” and your account number, then sign below. This restricts the check to your account, so a thief can’t cash it or route it elsewhere.3Regions Bank. How to Endorse a Check – 6 Important Steps Use a restrictive endorsement any time you aren’t handing the check straight to a teller.
Mobile Deposit Endorsement
If you’re depositing through a phone app, most banks want you to write “For Mobile Deposit Only” (some want “For Mobile Deposit at [Bank Name] Only”) above your signature. A restrictive endorsement tied to a specific deposit method protects your bank if the original paper check later shows up somewhere else for payment. Many banks now reject mobile deposit images that don’t include the required language, and the exact wording varies by bank, so check your bank’s app or website.
Signing a Check Over to Someone Else
To endorse a check to a third party, sign your name in the endorsement area, then write “Pay to the Order of [person’s name]” below your signature. The new recipient endorses below that and deposits it. In practice, most banks are cautious about third-party checks and no bank is required to accept one. Before you go through the process, have the new recipient confirm with their bank that they’ll take it.
Fixing Mistakes and Voiding a Check
For a small error (a wrong date, a typo on the memo line), draw a single neat line through the mistake, write the correction above it, and initial next to it. Banks will accept clean corrections but often reject anything with heavy scribbling or white-out. White-out is a fraud red flag and virtually guarantees the check won’t clear. If you’ve made more than one correction, or if the error is on the payee line or the written amount, void the check and write a new one.
To void a check, write “VOID” in large letters across the front in blue or black ink. Make it big and dark enough that no one could fill the check in, but don’t write over the routing and account numbers along the bottom. Employers and billers commonly ask for a voided check to set up direct deposit or automatic payments, because it gives them your banking details in a standardized format. Treat voided checks with the same care as blank ones; they still show your account number and address.
Post-Dating and Stale Checks
Writing a future date on a check does not prevent someone from cashing it before that date. If you want the check held, you have to contact your bank separately and give them notice describing it. That notice runs for the same period as a stop-payment order, typically six months. Without it, the bank can pay the check early with no liability.
On the other end, personal checks don’t have a hard expiration, but banks have no obligation to honor one that’s more than six months old.4Cornell Law School. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old A bank is permitted to refuse a stale check, and it’s also permitted to pay it in good faith and charge your account. If you wrote a check months ago that never cleared, the money isn’t automatically safe. If you want certainty, place a stop-payment order with your bank.