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How to write a check in 6 easy steps

Yahoo Personal Finance· Getty Images
Updated 7 min read

When it comes to personal finance, almost everything is digital these days — transactions, account management, investing, and everything else.

But in the middle of all that newer technology, some old banking practices haven’t gone away. And one of the more prominent of those practices is using checks.

Checks are written records, signed by you, directing your financial institution to pay a certain amount of money out of your checking account to a payee. You can use checks to pay bills, make purchases, or give money to a friend.

But with everything being primarily digital now, you may need a few pointers on how to write a check. There’s no shame in that, as paper checks are no longer standard practice in 2023.

Before we get into the practical steps, let’s look at some situations when you still might need to write a check.

  • Security. If you’ve had issues with online identity theft or if you’re simply suspicious of a potential data breach, you may feel safer using checks. Since checks require signatures, they are also more difficult to forge.

  • Small businesses. Some small, individually run businesses may accept checks and cash only to avoid credit and debit card processing fees. Checkbooks are also typically useful when paying for services like contracting, lawn care, schools fees, and other similar payments.

  • Gifting money. While cash is always an option, checks are useful when you are giving larger amounts of money. Since a check has the recipient's name on it, it’s also a safer option if it gets lost.

  • Tracking payments. Checks allow you to see when the recipient deposits the check almost immediately if you use your bank’s online services or app. This is useful when you are tracking a large or important payment such as a down payment, IRS bill, or tuition bill.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to write a check. Before you put pen to paper, you need to know what the different parts of a check are for:

  • Name and address: You’ll see this information in the top left corner of your check. This is the account holder who is paying the money and writing the check.

  • Check number: This appears in the top right corner of the check, and at the bottom, at the end of a string of numbers. This identifies the specific check being used.

  • Routing number and account number: These two numbers start at the bottom left of the check. The account number identifies the check holder’s bank account — where the money is coming from. The routing number identifies the bank.

  • “Pay to the order of” line: This identifies the payee — the person or entity receiving the money.

  • Written amount of check: Under the “Pay to the order of” line, this line is for writing out the dollar amount of the check in words.

  • Dollar amount box: On the right side of the check, this box is where you write the numerical amount of the check.

  • Memo line: In the lower-left corner, this is an optional line for details about the purpose of the check — such as “tuition payment.”

  • Signature line: On the bottom right of the check, this line shows the payment is approved by the check holder.

Now for the steps to filling out a blank check:

This helps the bank and the recipient know the date the check originated. You can spell it out or write it numerically, like 12/07/2023. You’ll almost always write the current date.

But occasionally, you may put a future date — called a “post date” — on a check. Maybe you’re writing a check to a friend and don’t yet have the money in your account. But you’ll have it three days later, so you write the date on the check.

However, it’s important to know that a check recipient has no obligation to hold off on depositing a postdated check because once it’s signed, it becomes legal tender.

On the “Pay to the order of” line, you’ll write the full name of the person or company who is receiving the money.

On the right side of the check, you’ll see a small box with a $ sign. Here, you’ll write out the numerical amount you are paying, such as “$309.17.”

Under the “Pay to the order of” section, there’s a blank line that ends with the word “dollars.” This is where you’ll spell out the amount. So for “$309.17,” you would write “Three hundred nine and 17/100.” The “17/100” fraction represents the amount of cents in the payment. Double check that what you write in words matches the numerical amount.

You don’t have to write anything on the memo line, but it might help you remember what the payment was for when you’re looking at your transactions online or on your bank statement. Memo examples would be “tuition,” “house payment,” or even “Happy Birthday!”

You’ll sign the check in the bottom right-hand corner. Don’t forget this step, because without a signature the bank will not process the check.

We covered this in step 3 above, but we wanted to spell it out one more time because it’s a bit unusual. Most of us aren’t used to spelling out numbers on financial documents.

We’ll use a longer example with this one. Let’s say you are writing a check for your mortgage payment — which is $1,078.82.

Writing that in word form on the check would look like this: “One thousand seventy-eight and 82/100.” You’re simply writing out the whole number and using the fraction at the end (X/100) to represent the cents in the payment amount.

Read more: Where are the routing and account numbers on a check?

Checkbooks will come with a check register in the back. This is the old-school method of keeping track of every check number, recipient, and check amount in order to track the funds coming out of your account.

Most banks and credit unions now have online banking websites and apps that allow you to track checks and other transactions as well. Many will even show a photo of the check so you can see all the specific details.

If you’re only writing a few checks a year, the register method is a backup way to stay on top of your account balance and avoid any overdrafts. It also helps you remember what you spent your money on. You could write “rent check” in the register to reassure yourself your rent has been paid.

Read more: What is a voided check?

To write a check to yourself, fill out the check as normal — see our 6-step process above — then write your name on the “Pay to the order of” line.

Why would you need to write yourself a check? This is the old-school way of transferring money between your bank accounts or getting cash from your account. You might choose to do this when you are closing one account and opening another or want to move money between two open accounts.

This is a way of pulling cash out of your bank account.

To do this, you fill out the check as normal, writing “Cash” in the “Pay to the order of” section.

The risk of this is that someone else could use the check to pull money out of your account if you lost it. Because of that, make sure you don’t write the check until you are at the bank and ready to withdraw funds. On that note, always be careful when carrying around blank checks. If lost, someone else could fill it out, forge your signature, and potentially make withdrawals of your money.

If your recipient’s bank allows this — which is called a “third-party check” — you’ll need to sign the back of the check and then write the recipient’s name in the format “Pay to the order of: (Their Name.)”

You might want to do this in a situation where you have a check and want to pay another person the same amount of money. Instead of depositing your check and writing another, you may find it easier to sign the check over to that other person.