Voiding a check helps ensure others can’t cash or deposit money from your account. Because checks have important bank information on them, be sure to void them correctly when you don’t want to use them. You might need to know how to send a voided check to start https://goodmenproject.com/business-ethics-2/navigating-law-firm-bookkeeping-exploring-industry-specific-insights/ a direct deposit with your employer or set up autopay for a bill. By clicking on the link, you will leave our website and enter a site not owned by the bank. The site you will enter may be less secure and may have a privacy statement that differs from the bank.

Ultimately, voided checks can come in handy in many situations. Knowing the right method to void a check, as well as the security steps to protect yourself, can help make payment  — both as a recipient and as a payee — more efficient. No two accounts at the same bank will have the same account number. The city and state of the bank is not the address of the branch you go to. Depending upon your bank, you can find this information online, on your bank statements, on your checks (if you have them), or you can go to a teller and ask for this information. A voided check has the word ‘void’ written across the check which is used to make it easier for providing banking information to someone and can be used for recordkeeping purposes.

How to Balance a Checkbook

Even though voided checks are still a thing, not everyone has blank checkbooks lying around in 2023. But make sure you do it correctly before you hand your account info over to anyone. But you can contact your bank to have a stop payment placed on it. In order to do this, you’ll need to have some info handy for your bank, like the check number, payee, and amount. That way, even if it’s deposited or cashed, the money won’t be deducted from your account. Often, banks will provide instructions on how you can set up a direct deposit without a voided check.

Make a note of “VOID check” to make sure you know why that check is skipped when you’re balancing your checkbook. The most purpose in pretty much every case is to provide critical banking information to an individual or an organization so they can establish a direct link to that account. The committee discloses the voided check on the same line the check was originally reported, in this case, on Schedule B, supporting Line 17. It includes the vendor’s address, date that the void is made, amount voided as a negative entry, and a clear purpose of disbursement, “Voided Payment – check not cashed.” FinanceBuzz has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. FinanceBuzz and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Select direct deposit amount

Signing up is free and easy, and you can wave goodbye to those checks. The only way to give yourself peace of mind is to void the check and then throw it out or shred it. By clicking on some of the links above, you will leave the Chime website and be directed to a third-party website. The privacy practices of those third parties may differ from those of Chime.

From my experience in working with the American Payroll Association (APA), it is pretty common for HR to ask for a voided check. Because payroll credits are critical to both the employee and employer, payroll managers do everything to ensure that they don’t set up the Direct Deposit incorrectly. As many have pointed out, many younger employees don’t understand the reason they are being asked for this. The APA has an Electronic Payments Committee which tries to help educate the payroll industry on ACH and paycards so that employers can stop writing paychecks. We are making progress but I think it is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Common questions answered

Although you can sometimes deposit a voided check in an ATM, this type of error is likely to be spotted when human tellers review the machine’s deposits. Any erroneously-cleared funds Navigating Law Firm Bookkeeping: Exploring Industry-Specific Insights will then be removed from the recipient’s bank account and returned to the original owner. If a voided check clears, customers can file a claim when they receive their statement.

Frequently, employers require you to submit a voided check in order to record your account information and set up direct deposit for your paychecks. Setting up personal financial transactions such as online bill pay, paycheck direct deposits, or automated clearing house (ACH) transfers often require the use of a voided check. A voided check requires the word “VOID” written across it, indicating that it cannot be used for payment. A voided check contains the word ‘VOID’ across the front end of the check. The word void indicates that the check cannot be accepted for the payment purpose.

Alternatives to voided checks

You’ll need to provide information for any accounts you’d like to use for direct deposit. This can include your account number and the bank’s mailing address and routing number (sometimes called an ABA number, after the American Bankers Association). Employers usually provide a direct deposit authorization form upon request. Some employers may even provide one as part of your onboarding paperwork. You may be able to complete the form directly on the bank’s website, but you can also download and fill it out later.

• Before giving an employer a voided check, it can make sense to first make a copy of the check, so that you know how the check was used.
• In a variety of situations, providing a voided check enables you to share your checking account information without allowing anyone to use the check.
• Make a copy of the voided check to send to your employer or whoever else needs the voided check.
• The offers for financial products you see on our platform come from companies who pay us.
• To void a check, you just have to write the word ‘void’ across the front of the check.
• If you want to be extra careful, you might write “Void” across the payee line, as well as on the signature line and in the payment box.

From writing checks to pay for something, to voiding a check for various uses, here is everything you need to know. If you have a checking account that doesn’t offer checks, you can try these options for setting up direct deposit or electronic payments. A voided check cannot be used to cash out or deposit the money. Thus it feels like a useless check but it is a very important document for passing the banking information to another party.