Cheques › Cheque register format

Cheque register format: what to write for every cheque

A cheque is a promise of money, not money. A cheque register is the list of those promises, in both directions, until each one has cleared or bounced. It stops two common problems: a post-dated cheque forgotten in a drawer, and your own cheque bouncing because the account was short on the day it arrived.

The columns

1. Cheque date: the date written on the cheque. For a post-dated cheque this is later than the day you got it.
2. Cheque no. (six digits) and the bank of the cheque.
3. Party: the customer who gave it, or the supplier you gave it to.
4. Received or given, and the amount.
5. Status: received, not deposited; deposited, not cleared; given, not cleared; cleared (with the date); bounced (with the date).
6. The bills it pays, so the party balance is right.

An example week

Money in the bank from these cheques is only ₹25,000. Gupta Steel's cheque can reach your account any day, so ₹40,000 must be there. Kaur Hardware's bill is due again. Singh Builders' cheque cannot be deposited before 20 November.

Habits that keep it right

• Write it the day the cheque changes hands, not when it clears.
• Keep a photo of each cheque you receive, front side, before you deposit it.
• Mark it cleared only when the bank shows the credit or debit, not when you drop it in the box.
• Check the list every Monday: post-dated cheques to deposit, your cheques still to clear, and any bounce to follow up.
• For your own cheques, write "A/c Payee" and draw lines after the amount, and keep the counterfoil filled in.