How to Write a Check—Explained with Examples
How to Write a Check Step-by-Step
Your Quick Guide on How to Write a Check for Any Reason
Learn how to Write a Check in 6 Simple Steps (Image: Mashup Math FP)
Knowing how to write a check is an important life skill that every person should know how to do.
While learning how to write a check can seem complicated, it’s actually a relatively simple process that you can learn in just a few minutes.
This short step-by-step guide on how to write a check will cover the following topics:
You can click on any of the text links above to jump to any topic or section of this guide, or you can read through each section order.
Are you ready to get started?
Why are Checks Useful?
We live in a digital world where online banking and money transfer apps are prevalent, yet knowing how to write a check is still a useful skill and physical checks are still useful for a variety of reasons.
Learn How to Write a Check (Image: Mashup Math MJ)
Since certain payment transactions can not be made using a credit/debit card or online, paying by check is often your safest option.
For example, if a landlord does not accept credit card or online payments for your monthly rent, then submitting a check payment would be your best option. If you pay with cash, you have no proof that you actually made the payment. However, if you pay with check, your bank can verify that the check was cashed and that you indeed made your payment.
In addition to proof of payment, paying by check offers additional security benefits that cash does not provide. Cash can be lost or stolen and, once cash is submitted, the payment can not be cancelled. Checks, on the other hand, can be cancelled.
Additionally, checks are extremely useful anytime you have to send a payment by mail. If your payment gets lost, you can always send a new check with no harm done. However, if you mail cash and the payment is lost, you are out of luck (and money!).
Also, many formal transactions require payment by check. Such transactions include making a down payment on a house, submitting a tax payment by mail, or paying rent to a landlord.
Finally, many older individuals are not comfortable with digital or online banking transactions and they rely on using checks to transfer and receive money or payments. Since checks are a familiar and trusted payment option for such individuals, it is highly beneficial that you are familiar with how to write a check.
So, whenever you can’t make a financial transaction digitally, it is usually safer to pay with a check than it is to use cash.
How to Write a Check: Step-by-Step
How to Write a Check: Start with a blank check that is linked to your personal checking account. (Image: Mashup Math FP)
Now that you know why checks are a safe and useful payment option, especially whenever digital payment options are not available or when you have to submit a payment by mail, it’s time to learn how to write a check.
Note that there are six different sections on a check that you must fill out:
Date
Recipient
Amount as a Number
Amount in Words
Memo
Signature
Below, we will show you how to complete all six sections and how to properly write a check. Note that these steps can be followed whenever you have to write a check for any reason!
For each step below, make sure you use blue or black ink and that you write using clear and legible handwriting.
Step One: Fill Out the Date
The first step to writing a check is to fill in the date section in the upper-right corner of your blank check. Make sure that you include the month, day, and year when you write the date.
In Figure 01 below, the check has been dated for July 4th, 2024.
Figure 01: How to Write Out a Check: Start by filling in the date at the upper-right corner.
Step Two: Write the Name of the Recipient
Next, you will see a blank line next to text that says PAY TO THE ORDER OF.
On this line is where you write the name of the recipient (i.e. the name of the person, business, or organization you are sending money to).
If you are sending money to another person, write their full first and last on this line.
If you are writing a check to a business or organization, write the name of the business or organization on this line. For example, if you are sending a check as a tax payment, you would write your check out to the Internal Revenue Service.
Note that only the person, business, or organization to whom the check is written out to can cash your check. If the check is lost or stolen, another person would not be able to cash the check.
In Figure 02 below, our check is being made out to a landlord named Alexander Johnson.
Figure 02: How to Write a Check The second step is to fill in the name of the person, business, or organization you are writing the check to.
Step Three: Write the Payment Amount as a Number
The third step is to fill in the box directly below the date, where you have to write in the numerical dollar amount that the check is for.
This amount should always include a decimal and the total number of cents. If the dollar amount is a whole number, you can use .00 to indicate that there are no cents (later on, we will show you how to write cents on a check).
In this example, we are writing a check for $900.00, as shown on our check in Figure 03 below.
Figure 03: How to Write a Check: Fill in the numerical dollar amount that the check is for in the box just below the date.
Step Four: Write the Payment Amount in Words
Next, directly below the line where you wrote the name of the recipient, you will see another blank line.
On this line, you will write the numerical payment amount in words.
In this example, our payment amount was $900.00. So, the payment amount in words would be:
$900.00 → Nine Hundred Dollars and Zero Cents
Figure 04 below shows how this fourth step was completed on our sample check.
Figure 04: How to Write Numbers in Words on a Check
Step Five: Write the Payment Amount in Words
Next, in the bottom left-hand corner of our check, you will see a blank line that that serves as the memo section of the check.
The memo section is where you can write a short description for what the check is for. Some examples of memos include:
Rent Payment for July
Happy Birthday or Congratulations! (for a Gift)
First Quarter Tax Payment
Landscaping
Babysitting
While this section is optional, we highly recommend writing something down as a reference for what your check was for the sake of keeping good financial records.
Since our sample check is being made out to our landlord for July’s rent payment, we will write July 2024 Rent in the memo section as shown in Figure 05 below.
Figure 05: How to Write Out a Check: Complete the memo section in the bottom-left corner.
Step Six: Sign the Check
The last thing that we need to do is sign the check on the signature line at the bottom-right corner.
In order for the check to be valid, you must sign your name on this line (the check can not be cashed without a valid signature).
Figure 06 below shows our example check with an authorized signature.
Figure 06: Your check is not valid until you sign it.
Once you have completed these six steps, your check is valid and ready to be used as a payment method.
Note that you must have the dollar amount that your check is written for available in whatever checking account the check is linked to, otherwise the check will bounce when the recipient tries to cash it and you will incur a penalty fee.
Figure 07 shows what our completed sample check to Alexander Johnson for $900.00 or July’s rent payment would look like.
Figure 07: How to Properly Write a Check
Example: How to Write a Check for 1000 Dollars
Now that you know how to properly write a check, let’s go through another example where we have to write 1000.00 on a check for a particular payment .
In this case, we will say that the check is for a quarterly estimated tax payment to the Internal Revenue Service for the first quarter of 2024.
Just as we did in the step-by-step guide to writing a check above, we will have to complete six sections of the check:
Step One: Write the Date
Step Two: Write the Name of the Recipient
Step Three: Write the Payment Amount as a Number
Step Four: Write the Payment Amount in Words
Step Five: Write the Memo
Step Six: Sign the Check
Let’s start off by completing the first two steps: the date and the recipient. For this example, the date will be April 1st, 2024 and the recipient will be the Internal Revenue Service.
Our check after completing steps one and two is shown in Figure 08 below:
Figure 08:How to Write a Check for 1000: The first step is to write the date and the name of the recipient. (Image: Mashup Math FP)
Writing any check, whether it’s for 1000 or 100,000, starts with writing the date in the top-right corner and the name of the recipient on the Pay to the Order Of line.
Next, we are ready to add a dollar amount to our check, which means that we are ready to complete steps three and four.
Start by writing 1,000.00 as a number in the box next to the $ sign on the right side of the check. Then, on the line below where you wrote the name of the recipient, write out $1000.00 in words as one thousand dollars and zero cents, as shown in Figure 09 below.
Figure 09: To write 1000.00 on a check, you have to write the dollar amount both as a number and in words.
Finally, the last two steps are to fill in the memo section and then to make the check valid by signing it in the bottom-right corner.
Since we said that this check was for making an estimated quarterly tax payment, we will put that as our memo and then sign the check, as shown in Figure 10 below.
Figure 10: How to Write 1000.00 on a Check Explained
Example: How to Write with Cents
In this next section, we will take a look at an example of writing a check with cents involved.
In the case of writing a check in cents, the six step process for writing a check described above is exactly the same:
Step One: Write the Date
Step Two: Write the Name of the Recipient
Step Three: Write the Payment Amount as a Number
Step Four: Write the Payment Amount in Words
Step Five: Write the Memo
Step Six: Sign the Check
For this example, we want to pay our dog groomer, Amanda Lee, using a personal check for a total of $78.26.
Notice that, unlike the last two examples, our payment amount does not end in .00. Rather, the payment amount includes cents.
Now, we will learn how to write a check with cents starting with the first two steps: writing the date and the name of the recipient on our check as shown in Figure 11 below.
Figure 11: How to Write Cents on a Check: Start by filling in the date and the name of the recipient. (Image: Mashup Math FP)
Now you are ready to write the amount as a number and in words.
When it comes to writing a check in cents, you have to first write the payment amount (with cents included) in the box next to the $ sign. In this example, our numerical payment amount is $78.26.
Once we have written the payment amount as a number on the check, we have to write it in words on the line directly below where you wrote the name of the recipient as follows:
$78.26 → Seventy-Eighty Dollars and Twenty-Six Cents
Figure 12 below illustrates how we wrote the payment amount in cents both as a number and in words on our check.
Figure 12: How to Write a Check with Cents
Finally, to finish writing a check with cents, you just have to complete the memo (this check is for dog grooming services) and validate the check by signing it.
These final steps are shown in Figure 13 below, which completes this tutorial on how to write a check in cents.
Figure 13: How to Write a Check in Cents Completed
How to Write a Void Check
The last section of this guide on writing checks is about void checks.
A void check is similar to a normal check, except that is has the word “VOID” printed or written boldly across the front of the check. By clearly marking a check as void, it prevents the check from being valid as banks will not allow it to be accepted as a payment or to withdraw money from your account for any reason.
Why would you ever want to write a void check?
Figure 14: How to Write a Void Check
While having to write a void check is uncommon, there are some useful reasons that for writing a void check that include:
Setting up Direct Deposit for Paychecks: Many employers will require you to submit a voided check to set up direct deposit of your paychecks (i.e. your paychecks deposit directly into your desired bank account on pay day). The voided check gives your employer your bank accounts routing information that is needed to set up direct deposit.
Auto-Pay for Recurring Bills: Sometimes recurring service providers (e.g. internet or cell phone contracts) require users to submit a void check in order to set up automatic payments where the amount owed is drawn from directly from your checking account each month.
Account Security and Verification: You may need to provide a void check as a security measure to verify your banking information when you are attempting to complete certain types of financial transactions such as loans.
How to Write a Void Check Explained (Image: Mashup Math FP)
How to Write a Void Check (Step-by-Step):
Get a Blank Check: Start with a blank check that is linked to the checking account that you are dealing with. For example, if you are using a void check to set up direct deposit, make sure that the check is linked to the account that you want your paychecks to direct deposit to.
Write “VOID” Across the Check: In blue or black ink, write out the word “VOID” in large capital letters across the front of the check. The word “VOID” should cover most of the surface of the check and it should be extremely obvious to any observer. Note that you do not need to fill out any sections of a void check.
Identify Important Information: Make sure that the word void is not obscuring any important information that one would need from a void check—namely your name that is printed at the top-left corner of the check and the account numbers and routing information numbers at the very bottom of the check. If these numbers are unreadable, then you will likely have to submit another void check.
Writing the word "VOID" across the front of a blank check is an easy and effective way to give someone a check as a way of sharing important banking details such as your account number and routing number without worrying about any fraudulent or unauthorized access to your checking account.
How to Properly Write a Check (Image: Mashup Math via Getty)
Conclusion: How to Write a Check
While digital online payments and money transfers are extremely commonplace, checks remain a useful and secure option for making payments, especially through the mail or when digital payment options are not available.
In fact, knowing how to write a check remains a necessary life skill that everyone should learn. This guide shared a simple step-by-step process for how to write out a check to a person, company, or organization. We also covered specific examples of writing a check for $1,000.00 and writing a check with cents. Finally, we covered the uses of a void check and how to write a void check if necessary.
By learning how to write a check and how and when you should submit payments using a check, you are building skills that will allow you to make financial transactions that are secure and traceable, thus minimizing risk and giving you peace of mind.
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