What number should your checks start at?

What number should your checks start at?

There is no legal starting number for checks. The check number is your serial number, printed in the top right corner and repeated in the magnetic line so your records and the bank's can be matched. What matters is that each number is used once per account and that the sequence is easy to follow.

On an existing account, start the new order one number after the last check in your current box. If your last box ended at 1399, the next order starts at 1400. On a new account, you choose.

What starting numbers are common?

Printers and banks use a few conventions. They are habits, not rules, and any of them will clear.

Regions Bank, for example, says its first time check orders default to 101 and that the field can be changed. Business checks often start in the thousands instead.

Why do many businesses start at 1001 or higher?

It is mostly about perception. A check numbered 101 or 102 signals a brand new account to anyone who has taken many checks, and some suppliers and merchants are more cautious with new accounts. Starting at 1001, 2001 or 5001 avoids that first impression without any downside.

Do not go to extremes. A new account with check number 90001 does not fool anyone who calls the bank, and a jump can confuse your bookkeeper. Pick a round number that fits your plan for future accounts and stay with it. A higher starting number is not a security feature, though. It does not stop counterfeiting or check washing; security paper, careful mailing and positive pay do that work.

Does the check number affect whether a check clears?

On its own, no. Banks pay checks based on a valid signature, available funds and correct routing and account numbers. The check number is for tracking, and banks generally pay checks written out of order.

It does matter if you use positive pay, a bank fraud service that compares each presented check with a list you upload. Webster Bank, for example, describes validating checks by account number, issue date, check serial number and dollar amount. If two checks share a number, or your software and your paper disagree, legitimate checks can show up as exceptions that you have to review. Read our guide to positive pay for how the service works.

How do you avoid overlapping check ranges?

Overlaps happen when a business runs two formats or two accounts, or reorders without looking at the last box. Plan ranges once, write them down and check them on every proof.

• Give each bank account its own range, such as 1001 for operating and 5001 for payroll
• If one account uses both laser and handwritten checks, give each format its own range
• Record the first and last number of every box when it arrives
• Continue a reorder from the last number used, not the last number printed
• Update the next check number in your accounting software when a new box arrives

Duplicate checks and stubs make ranges easy to audit. The carbon copy or stub carries the same number as the check, so a gap in the copies shows a missing check at a glance, which is exactly what you want to spot before a stolen check clears.

Worked example: a contractor writes about 40 handwritten checks a month from the operating account and runs payroll every two weeks from a separate account on laser checks. The operating book starts at 1001 and a 250 check order lasts about six months, ending at 1250. Payroll laser checks start at 5001. The ranges will not meet for years, and any check number instantly tells the office which account it came from.

How does the starting number work in accounting software?

Accounting software tracks the next check number separately from the paper. In QuickBooks Online, you enter the starting check number in the print screen before printing, matching the first check in the printer tray. If the software thinks the next check is 1045 but the tray starts at 1051, your books will record every check under the wrong number, and reconciliation turns into detective work.

When a new box of laser checks arrives, compare the first number on the paper with the next number in your software and correct whichever is wrong before the first print run. On preprinted laser checks, the number is part of the MICR line, so the paper number is the one the bank sees.

What if you already printed checks with repeated numbers?

Do not use both. Void the duplicate range on paper, record the voided numbers in your register and in your software, and keep the voided checks until your bank statement reconciles. Write VOID in large letters across the face; our guide to voiding a check shows how.

Then reorder with a number that follows the highest number you have used on that account. If you use positive pay, tell your bank about the voided range so the exception list stays clean.

What should you decide before your next check order?

Settle these points once and reuse them. Keep them with the business check order checklist so reorders go quickly.

• The next unused number for each account
• Whether each format on the account gets its own range
• Who records box ranges when checks arrive
• Whether your bank uses positive pay on the account

When you are ready, set a starting number on your next order and confirm it on the proof. On a Voqado order, the number you choose appears on the production proof, which is the moment to compare it with your register one last time. The step by step ordering walkthrough shows where that field sits, and the parts of a check guide shows where the number prints. For the rest of the ordering decisions, see the check printing guide.