What Is an Outstanding Check? Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

outstanding check definition

This period can range from 60 days to six months.Sometimes a payee forgets about the check or loses it without Accounting For Architects notifying the payor. The payor has no control over when the payee will cash or deposit the check. The only thing the payor can do, for a fee, is stop payment on the check.

  • But sometimes, people don’t make a beeline for the bank or use their banking app right away.
  • The Greenlight card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank, member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International.
  • Then, regularly review your bank statements and reconcile the balance, deposits, and withdrawals with your records.
  • Failure to properly manage outstanding checks can result in overdrafts, inaccurate financial reporting, and potential fees or penalties.
  • An outstanding check refers to a check that has not yet been deposited or cashed by the recipient.

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Any mishandling that businesses do in terms of their accounting and checks can be in violation of the law. An outstanding check refers to a check that has already been issued to the recipient. With this in mind, it can take as long as six months to get an outstanding check withdrawn from your account. This is because most banks will cash checks up to six months after they have been cashed. An outstanding check refers to a check that has not yet been deposited or cashed by the recipient. An outstanding check remains a liability of the payer until such time as the payee presents the check for payment, which then eliminates the liability.

outstanding check definition

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This is one of the reasons why knowing what to do if a check bounces is important. •   Reach out to the bank to confirm its policy on old or expired checks. This content is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the bank advertiser, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. This site may be compensated through the bank advertiser Affiliate Program.

outstanding check definition

Q: Could outstanding checks affect my credit score?

Outstanding checks may cause issues for both the payor and the payee. On the payor side, it creates the need to carefully track uncashed checks so that money doesn’t get spent on other things. However, if your budget is handled bookkeeping and payroll services appropriately and all checks are marked as pending, you’ll know not to spend that money. We answer your questions about this financial term and what to do when managing an outstanding check. •   Track the value of outstanding checks in your account register. Additionally, you can also ask your payee to sign a document not to deposit both checks.

outstanding check definition

How Outstanding Checks Work

outstanding check definition

Though it won’t necessarily stop them from depositing the extra check, it adds a reminder and paper trail that will be useful. Your first monthly fee will be billed to your parent wallet seven days after successful registration. To receive a refund of your first monthly fee, you must request to close your account on or before the day immediately preceding your first Monthly Billing Date. See the ‘Account’ tab of Settings by tapping the gear icon on the Greenlight app home page to confirm when your risk-free trial ends. The check may also be delayed if the issuing entity puts off mailing the check for any reason. If a check is destroyed or never deposited, the money remains in the payer’s account.

  • According to the unclaimed property laws, after a long while, outstanding checks must be remitted to the state as unclaimed property, also known as unclaimed assets.
  • A bank reconciliation is the process of comparing a company’s or individual’s internal records of their bank account balance with the balance reported by the bank on their monthly statement.
  • If that money is spent on something else, you may not have enough money in the bank account to cover all your promises to pay.
  • On the payor side, it creates the need to carefully track uncashed checks so that money doesn’t get spent on other things.
  • As a result, your bank account balance may fall below $0 and incur overdraft fees.

Outstanding Checks Issued to You

There are actually some benefits to have checks outstanding as well, though. Writing checks makes it possible for organizations and individuals to make payments without requiring instantaneous cash or electronic transactions to be completed. Checks that linger only buy the company more time to gather up enough resources for payment to clear if more time is needed.