This guide is in English for now. The tool itself works in your language.
Cheques › Post-dated cheques
Post-dated cheques: when to deposit and how to keep track
A post-dated cheque (PDC) carries a date in the future. Customers give PDCs to buy on credit; you may give them to a supplier or a landlord. A PDC is useful only if someone remembers to deposit it on time and the money is there on that day.
The rules in short
- A PDC can be deposited on or after the date written on it, not before. The bank returns a cheque presented early.
- It stays valid for three months from the date written on it, like every cheque. After that it is stale and the bank will not pay it.
- Until it clears it is not money. Your books show the bill as paid by cheque, but the cash and bank balance do not include it.
- If a PDC bounces for lack of funds, the same section 138 rules apply as for any cheque.
Recording PDCs here
In "Cheque received" (or "Cheque given"), put the date written on the cheque in Cheque date. The register marks it Post-dated, counts it in the "Post-dated" tile, and lists it in "Cheques due in the next 7 days" a week before its date. On the day, deposit it and tap Deposited; when the bank credits it, tap Cleared.
An example
A builder buys material worth ₹1,80,000 on 5 November and gives three PDCs of ₹60,000 dated 20 November, 20 December and 20 January. All three are entered on 5 November against the bill. The bill shows as paid by cheques, the balance due is ₹0, and the "Post-dated" tile shows 3. Each cheque appears in the 7-day list before its date. If the December cheque bounces, ₹60,000 of the bill becomes due again.
Giving PDCs
- Note every PDC you give in "Cheque given" the day you hand it over, so its date is in the 7-day list.
- Keep the money in the account from the date on the cheque until it clears; the supplier can present it any day in the three months.
- Payments over ₹10,000 to one person in a day should go by account payee cheque, draft or bank transfer, or the expense may not be allowed in income tax. A bearer cheque counts as cash, so cross your cheques "A/c Payee".