Free tool
How to write a check
Updated October 1, 2026
Type the amount and see exactly what to write on each line of the check.
Step 1
What the check is for
The check updates as you type. Change the example to your own amount.
Step 2
Copy this onto your check
How to write this check
Made with Granite, an AI document vault. granite.co
The amount in words
One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100 dollars
Rules applied to this amount
- Cents go as a fraction over 100: 56/100.
- No comma or "and" inside the dollars: "and" only goes before the cents.
- Hyphenate twenty-one to ninety-nine: thirty-four, not thirty four.
- Draw a line from the last word to DOLLARS so nothing can be added.
Step by step
How to write a check, line by line
- Date, top right. Write the date you sign the check, like October 1, 2026. A bank does not have to pay a check presented more than six months after this date, though it may.
- Pay to the order of. Write the full name of the person or business you are paying. Write "Cash" only with care: anyone who holds that check can cash it.
- The amount in the box. Write the figure close to the printed dollar sign, with the cents after a decimal point, like 1,234.56.
- The amount in words, then a line to DOLLARS. Start at the far left. Write the dollars in words and the cents as a fraction over 100. Then draw a line through the space that is left, up to the printed word DOLLARS. The words are the legal amount.
- Memo. Optional. Write what the check is for. When you pay a company, it often asks for your account number here.
- Sign. Sign on the line at the bottom right, the same way you signed when you opened the account. Use blue or black ink for the whole check.
Cents
How to write cents on a check
Write the cents as a fraction over 100, after the word “and”. $10.50 becomes “Ten and 50/100”. $130.45 becomes “One hundred thirty and 45/100”, which is Huntington Bank's own example.
A round amount still gets a fraction. Huntington writes $250.00 as “Two hundred fifty and 00/100”, $1,500.00 as “One thousand five hundred and 00/100”, and $2,000.00 as “Two thousand and 00/100”. The 00/100 tells the bank there are no cents, and it fills the space where someone could add some.
Tricky amounts
Amounts people get wrong
| Case | Box | Words line |
|---|---|---|
| Under a dollar | 0.75 | Zero and 75/100 |
| Round amount | 200.00 | Two hundred and 00/100 |
| Thousands | 1,500.00 | One thousand five hundred and 00/100 |
| Millions | 2,000,000.00 | Two million and 00/100 |
| Hyphens | 21.00 | Twenty-one and 00/100 |
| Where "and" goes | 130.45 | One hundred thirty and 45/100 |
Under a dollar. No law fixes the wording. We suggest “Zero and 75/100” on the words line and 0.75 in the box. Some people write “Only 75/100” instead.
Where “and” goes. Only before the cents. Write “One hundred thirty”, not “one hundred and thirty”, and put no commas inside the dollars. Hyphenate twenty-one to ninety-nine.
The rule
Why the words matter more than the numbers
Rules checked October 1, 2026
The Uniform Commercial Code settles a mismatch between the box and the words. Section 3-114 reads: “If an instrument contains contradictory terms, typewritten terms prevail over printed terms, handwritten terms prevail over both, and words prevail over numbers.” Read it at UCC 3-114.
New York kept the older Article 3, so its rule is section 3-118(c): “Words control figures except that if the words are ambiguous figures control.” Read it at NY UCC 3-118.
The date matters too. A bank does not have to pay a check presented more than six months after its date, though it may, under UCC 4-404.
How this tool spells amounts
- It reads the amount as whole cents from the text you type, so no amount drifts by a cent.
- More than two decimals round half up: 1.005 becomes 1.01.
- It hyphenates twenty-one to ninety-nine.
- It puts “and” only before the cents, with the cents as a fraction over 100.
- It spells out amounts up to $999,999,999.99.
- It runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or saved.
Worked example
A $1,234.56 rent check
You owe Riverside Property Management $1,234.56 for October. Here is every line.
- Date
- October 1, 2026
- Pay to the order of
- Riverside Property Management
- Box
- 1,234.56
- Words line
- One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100, then a line to DOLLARS
- Memo
- October rent, unit 4B
- Signature
- Your signature, as on file with your bank
Once it is paid, a receipt closes the loop. The rent receipt generator prints one with the check number on it. To learn every part of a check, including the numbers along the bottom, read our guide. If an employer wants one for payroll, here is how to void a check for direct deposit. And when the check clears, you can find the check on your bank statement by its number.
From the vault
Keep the checks you write and receive
Granite keeps the checks you write and receive with the rest of your paperwork. Drop in a check, or a photo of one, and Granite reads the payee, the amount, the date, and the account it is drawn on. Ask in plain English (“who did I write check 1042 to”) and get the answer with a citation to the check it came from. Granite does not print, send, or deposit checks.
Questions
Writing a check, answered
- How do you write $200.00 on a check?
- Write 200.00 in the box. On the words line, write "Two hundred and 00/100", then draw a line to the word DOLLARS. The 00/100 matters even on a round amount: it shows there are no cents, so no one can add some.
- How do you write 75 cents on a check?
- No law fixes the wording for an amount under a dollar. We suggest "Zero and 75/100" on the words line and 0.75 in the box. Some people write "Only 75/100" instead. Both make clear there are no whole dollars.
- How do you write $10.50 on a check?
- Write 10.50 in the box and "Ten and 50/100" on the words line, then draw a line to DOLLARS. The cents always go as a two-digit fraction over 100.
- Do you write 'and' in the dollar amount?
- No. Use "and" only once, between the dollars and the cents. Write "One hundred thirty and 45/100", not "One hundred and thirty and 45/100". A second "and" makes it unclear where the dollars stop.
- What happens if the numbers and words don't match?
- The words win. Under UCC 3-114, "words prevail over numbers" when an instrument has contradictory terms. New York has the same rule in its section 3-118(c), with one exception: if the words are ambiguous, the figures control.
Keep exploring
Related from Granite
- How to read a checkEvery part of a check, including the routing, account, and check numbers along the bottom.
- How to void a checkMark a check VOID for direct deposit, and what to send instead when you have no checks left.
- How to read a bank statementFind the check you wrote on your statement, and match it to the number in the corner.
- Rent receipt generatorPaid rent by check? Fill in a receipt with the check number and print it.
Who did you write check 1042 to?
Checks, bank statements, receipts, and the bills they paid: Granite reads and files all of it, so the answer is one question away, with a citation to the page it came from. Free for your first 25 documents.