Free tool
How to write a check
Updated October 8, 2026
Fill in six parts: the date, who you're paying, the amount in numbers in the box, the same amount in words on the line below, an optional memo, and your signature. Take the most care with the words line, because if the two amounts ever disagree, the words are the ones that count.
Step 1
Type your amount
Replace the example with your own. The check updates as you type.
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
Rules applied to this amount
- Cents go as a fraction over 100: 56/100.
- "And" goes in once, before the cents, never inside the dollars.
- The words need no comma, even though the box has one.
- 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
The six parts, in order
Before you start, pick up a blue or black pen, a gel pen if you have one. In check washing, thieves erase the ink with chemicals and write in a new name or amount. Gel ink resists those chemicals better than ballpoint, though no ink resists them completely.
- Date, top right. Write today's date. If you write a future date, your bank can still pay the check early, unless you've told the bank about that check in advance. If timing matters, hand the check over on the day you mean it.
- Pay to the order of. Write the full name of the person or business you're paying. Avoid writing "Cash". A check made out to cash can be cashed by anyone who holds it.
- The amount in the box. Write the amount in numbers right up against the printed dollar sign, so no digit fits in front of it, with the cents after a decimal point: 1,234.56.
- The amount in words. Start at the far left. Write the dollars in words, then “and”, then the cents as a fraction over 100. Draw a line through the space that is left, up to the printed word DOLLARS. If you make a mistake, write VOID across it and start a new one.
- Memo. Optional. Write what the check is for. Some companies ask for your account number or an invoice number here.
- Signature, bottom right. Sign your name on the line.
Tricky amounts
How to write $1,500, $800 or 75 cents on a check
| Amount | Box | Words line |
|---|---|---|
| Under a dollar | 0.75 | Zero and 75/100 |
| Cents ending in zero | 10.50 | Ten and 50/100 |
| Round amount | 800.00 | Eight hundred and 00/100 |
| Thousands | 1,500.00 | One thousand five hundred and 00/100 |
| Twenty-one to ninety-nine | 44.99 | Forty-four and 99/100 |
| Hundreds and cents | 130.45 | One hundred thirty and 45/100 |
Under a dollar. No law sets the wording. We suggest “Zero and 75/100”; “Only 75/100” works too. Both say there are no whole dollars.
“Fifteen hundred” or “one thousand five hundred”. Both are clear, so in our view both work. The tool uses the thousand form because it works the same way for every amount.
The rule
When the words and the box disagree
In most states the law says that when a check contradicts itself, “words prevail over numbers.” New York's law says the same, with one exception: if the words are unclear, the numbers win.
So the words line is your promise, and the box is there for fast reading. Banks call the words the legal amount and the box the courtesy amount. Because the words set the amount, they're also what a check thief changes. If you're paid with a check whose two amounts disagree, ask for a new one before you deposit it.
After you write it
Mailing it, and what happens next
Mail it at the post office, or in a blue collection box before the last pickup, rather than from your home mailbox, where thieves steal checks to wash them. Before it goes in the envelope, take a photo of it. Until your bank pays the check, that photo is your record of what you wrote and to whom. Once it's paid, the paper itself is often destroyed, and your bank can usually give you an image or a copy instead.
Once a check is more than six months old, the bank can refuse to pay it, though it may still pay. Note the check number in your check register: it's how you'll find the payment on your bank statement. If the check paid rent, the rent receipt generator makes a receipt that carries the check number.
Method
How the tool works
It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or saved. It spells out any amount from 1 cent to $999,999,999.99. If you type more than two decimals, it rounds to the nearest cent.
Sources
- UCC § 3-109, payable to bearer or to order
- UCC § 3-114, contradictory terms
- UCC § 4-401(c), postdated checks
- UCC § 4-404, checks more than six months old
- New York UCC § 3-118(c), words and figures (New York State Senate)
- Check 21 questions and answers (Federal Reserve)
- Check washing (U.S. Postal Inspection Service)
- Check washing experiment: putting gel ink pens to the test (OrboGraph)
- Bankrate: writing a check, step by step
- Capital One: writing a check, step by step
Keep exploring
Related from Granite
- Parts of a checkWhat each part of a check is called, and how long to keep the checks you get back.
- Direct deposit authorization formGet paid without a paper check. Fill in the form for your employer and print it to sign.
- How to organize receiptsA simple system for the receipts and payment records that pile up after you pay.
Find the check you wrote, years from now
Drop in the check image from your bank, the statement it shows up on, or the receipt it paid. Granite reads each one, names the file for you, and keeps the payee, amount, date and check number searchable. Free for your first 25 documents.