What Is An Outstanding Check? Definition Meaning Explanation

Your first step should be to use an accounting system that deducts any uncashed checks from your available funds. After that, there are a few more steps you can take to track down an old check. When you pay someone by check,your payeemust deposit or cash the check to collect the payment. The payee’s bank will request money from your bank, and the transaction concludes when what does outstanding check mean your bank sends funds to the payee’s bank. Alternatively, if you both use the same bank or credit union, the transaction will conclude when the money is transferred from your account into the payee’s account. If that doesn’t work, send a letter informing payees the check has not been presented and officially request they notify you if they have not received the payment.

Each month the bank furnishes the University with a printout of outstanding checks on the payroll account. Outstanding checks frequently result in bank overdrafts due to insufficient funds, also known as not sufficient funds or NSFs. To do this, the company will need to make changes to their bank statement’s final cash balance, also known as their “balance per bank”.

What are Outstanding Checks?

Consider online payment if you want to avoid Outstanding Checks altogether. With online payment, the bank deducts funds from your checking account when the check is printed. As a safety precaution, your funds will return to your account if the payee does not deposit the check with a certain period of time, usually within six months. When you need a copy of a canceled check, contact your bank or credit union.

You can create a contract where the payee agrees to void the original check and then ask them to sign it. Though only a deterrent rather than a guarantee, it will provide a paper trail that could prove useful if the payee deposits both checks. Before sending a new https://www.bookstime.com/ check, it’s advisable to request the return of the old check before issuing a new one. Once a check is issued, the payee must take it to a bank to cash or deposit it. Some payees do this right away, while others may take their checks to the bank in batches.

Where are outstanding checks on a bank statement?

Fortunately, banks are not required by law to honor checks written more than six months ago. Outstanding checks that remain unpaid for an extended length of time are referred to as stale checks. A cashier’s check is guaranteed by the banking institution and signed by a bank cashier, which means the bank is responsible for the funds.

• Ask the payee to return the old check before sending the new one to prevent the potential of both checks being deposited, either intentionally or unintentionally.
• An outstanding check is a check that has been written but not yet cashed or deposited, while a cleared check is a check that has been recognized by the bank and deducted from the account balance.
• Your first step should be to use an accounting system that deducts any uncashed checks from your available funds.
• Additionally, banks typically charge fees when a stop order is issued, so before taking this action it’s important to confirm the related fees.
• An outstanding payment is a check that has been written and issued but has yet to clear the bank account from which it was drawn.
• They represent pending transactions where the funds have not yet been deducted from the issuer's account.

You can cancel a check yourself by voiding it or requesting a stop payment from your bank. To get a copy of a check that has been canceled, you'll usually need to request it from your bank directly or access it via your mobile banking account. There are a few reasons a check can be marked as returned for which the most common is insufficient funds in the payor's account. Outstanding checks, on the other hand, are documented in your check register.

Outstanding Check FAQs

Outstanding checks are dealt with by professional accountants and bookkeepers during reconciliation when they are balancing their ledgers as they prepare to close the books for the month. Before sending one, ask the payee to return the old check to eliminate the possibility of both checks being deposited, either intentionally or unintentionally. Anthony Nguyen, founder of Bankcheckingsavings.com, has a passion for finding the best deals, bank promotions, credit card offers, cash back, points & miles, and everything in between. After reading this post about outstanding checks, we hope you gained valuable information. Applying the information you’ve gained from this post, you should be able to avoid having outstanding checks and what to do with them if you have them.

If you want a basic checking account with no monthly maintenance fee, or an interest-earning checking account, we've got the options that are right for you. If a check remains outstanding for an extended period, it may become stale-dated, and the bank may refuse to honor it. The payee should contact the issuer to request a new check if this occurs. The printout lists each outstanding check in check number order and will include the date the check was issued, the amount of the check, and the payee.