- The “counterfoil” is the record that remains in the cheque book to remind you what each cheque was for. In some cheque books this is a complete duplicate which is automatically completed as you write out each cheque (often called a “carbonised” cheque book and for which you’ll pay a bit extra), but for most it is a little stub on the left or right of each cheque that you should complete by hand before you write out a cheque. This stub is crucial if you want to balance your cheque book so get into the habit of filling in at least the essentials which are the date, who the cheque was paid to and the amount. If you are trying to budget you may also want to indicate exactly what it was for e.g. food, or clothing.
- Write a cheque out carefully and firmly in ink (so that it can’t be erased or changed by someone else without damaging the cheque’s surface obviously).
- Write the date first .
- In the space marked “Pay” write the name of the person or the company you wish to pay. For instance if you were paying Woolworths you would write “Woolworths (Pty) Ltd”. If you are unsure of the correct company name, ask the cashier. (If you are paying an account, the correct name to use on the cheque usually appears on all company stationery such as invoices, statements etc).
- Instead of using the ATM to draw money, you can use a cheque. To do this you have to go into the bank and to one of the tellers. You then make the cheque out by writing “Cash” on the “Pay” line. The bank charge for drawing money in this way is the normal charge levied on a cheque (i.e. Dependent on the amount the cheque is for) and not the ATM charge.
- Write the amount in words immediately after the words “The sum of making sure not to leave large spaces between the words where anyone could add anything later. If the full amount takes up less than the full two lines provided, draw a horizontal line through the remaining space.
- The amount in figures should be written as close to the “R” in the box on the right hand side and must agree with the amount you have written in words.
- Once you are certain that everything is correct, you sign your name at the bottom. (The “specimen” signature that you give the bank when you open your account is used to compare with this signature so make sure you always sign the same way i.e. choose whether you want to sign with your initials and your surname, or with your full first name, initial and surname, or with just your first name and surname, and then stick to signing that way all the time).
If you make a mistake anywhere on the cheque, you may cross it out and write the correct thing, but you must sign next to the change in exactly the same way as you sign at the bottom. If a change is not signed the bank will reject the cheque.
