Many business transactions today involve the use of checks, usually as a payment for a product or service. To request for payment when the invoice was never shared or is not yet available, the standard action is to fill up a check request form. You have to back-up this request with documentation that provides details including the amount of the payment, the name of the payee, and the payment reason.

Check Request Form Templates

What is a check request form?

A check request form is an excellent alternative for performing check transactions associated with payments like membership dues, subscriptions, and registrations or honorariums, a reduction of revenues, and so on. These contain all of the information associated with the check transaction including the person issuing the request, the date of issue, and more.

Along with the approval of the concerned person, all of these details in the check request form template should come supported with the original invoice and other required documents, otherwise, the failure of compliance might make your form invalid.

Payment Request Forms

Check request form examples

You can consider a check or payment request form as a type of document. You need this for making an account transaction for the transfer funds of funds for refunds, reduction of revenues, and similar transactions. You can also use it for reimbursing funds due to the expenses that an employee has incurred. Here are the most common types of check request forms:

  • Duplicate Check Request
    This is an important document to protect your account from fraudulent activities. Use it to justify whether or not a person got the check. One noticeable effect because of the introduction of the duplicate request form is that the number of occurrences of lost checks or check frauds has reduced.
  • PTO Activities Request
    You would use this form in monitoring and checking the expenses incurred during any or all PTO-related activities.
  • Check Reimbursement Request
    Use this form for the reimbursement or refunding of the expenses that a company must pay, whether it be a medical expense, travel expense, and more. In the case of travel expenses, this requires a travel request form for the correct reimbursement of costs incurred during travel.
  • Checkbook Request Form
    Completing this form enables you to request a replacement or renewal of your checkbooks when you run out of usable ones or if they got lost or stolen.
  • Check Payment Request Form
    The primary purpose of this form is for the confirmation that the expenses got paid or reimbursed by a company.

These days, there’s a need for the proper paperwork and filing of your business affairs so you can keep track of all your business transactions. While it’s true that technology has improved by leaps and bounds, it’s always noteworthy to possess a hardcopy of your transactions for security and safety purposes.

Money Request Forms

What to include in a check request form?

When you use check request form templates to request payments, you would know that the following information should appear in the form:

  • Date of Request
    This refers to the date you give the request.
  • Department Name
    This refers to the name of the department from which the check comes from.
  • Due Date
    This refers to the due date of the invoice.
  • Direct Pay
    Tick “Y” if you want the requested payment in the invoice to get paid in full or tick “N” if you will accept partial payment.
  • Mail Check
    Tick “Y” if you will mail the tick or “N” if you want it picked up.
  • Mail Attachment
    Tick “Y” if your check includes documentation and attachments or tick “N” if the check doesn’t include such.
  • Payee
    This refers to the payee’s complete name and address.
  • Vendor ID
    This refers to the vendor, employee or student ID number.
  • Purpose
    Make sure to document the official purpose of the payment.
  • P.O. Number
    If the payment has a Purchase Order Number, write it down too.
  • Social Security or Tax ID Number
    Enter the Tax ID Number or Social Security Number for services rendered and include a W9 form.
  • Approvals
    You need to sign the form. Also, the authorized individuals who approve expenses for the budget must sign too.
  • Account Number to Charge
    This is an account number you use to charge all of the business expenses to.
  • Invoice Number
    Include the invoice number getting paid. If there is more than a single invoice, list them separately.
  • Date of Billing
    This refers to the billing date of the invoice.
  • Check Amount
    This refers to the total amount requested in the invoice.

Accounts Payable Forms

Procedures for using a check request form

The processes needed in the completion of check request forms for all of a company’s manual check requests are typically described in a check request procedure. This ensures accurate recordkeeping and efficient processing and the task usually falls on the controller.

Every time an employee needs a manual check issued to use for certain expenses like picking items up or items for cash on delivery, they should complete a check request form template with all the relevant information and required personnel approval.

For cases where you need to mail checks directly to vendors, any applicable documentations like order forms and the like, you should attach these to the form. These are the procedures to follow when using the check request form:

  • Complete the check request form when submitting invoices for services or purchases. Before submitting the request to the Accounting Officer, it should bear all the required authorizing signatures.
  • Use a check or payment request form for advances, reimbursements, and other items that don’t have an invoice.
  • If there is a need for a copy of the invoice with the check, include the extra copy.
  • Should you have multiple invoices for a single vendor, staple each of the invoices with their own attachments. Indicate the total page on top if you have multiple-page invoices. Then you can clip these invoices together.
  • Supply complete information when requesting a check using a check request form template.
  • If the request form is for any kind of service or labor and your supplier is neither a corporation nor an “approved” vendor, there is a need to provide the Social Security Number or the Federal Identification Number, along with the IRS W9 form. Staff members who provide services or labor outside of their regular roles should get paid through Payroll.
  • Any advances need to get accounted for within 60-days as part of the requirements of the IRS. You must submit any receipts or cash totaling the advance amount to the Accounting Office.
  • When a check gets stolen or lost, place stop payment information on the account immediately to prevent any losses. In such a case, an authorized signer of the check may affix their signature on the Bank’s Stop Payment Form, usually within 10 business days. In general, stop payments get placed on the account for about 6 months. Should there be a need to release the stop payment, authorized personnel must call the bank and provide a signed release. But providing such a release allows the check to get paid.

When do check request forms cause issues?

One of the more important functions of a check request form is to accommodate rush requests for checks. These requests are one-time payments made to suppliers or vendors outside the regular process of invoice submission. These situations usually happen when a payment comes late. This can make an angry vendor threaten to put a company’s credit on hold. It can also ruin your relationship with the vendor.

In any case, whether you plan to use the check request form for rush checks or because you have somehow misplaced the invoice and there are no proper documentation attached, the chances of a duplicate payment can skyrocket. Without an invoice to do a 3-way match, the purchase order and receiver or POR remains open on the company’s books. Unfortunately, this can lead to a number of problems including:

  • The most common of these problems is a duplicate payment that you can when the missing invoice finally comes in and gets paid.
  • The second issue is what becomes of the open purchase and receiver orders when financial statements are already prepared. There’s a chance that states may consider open receivers as unclaimed property.
  • The final problem is the possibility of fraud. Sadly, most fraudulent payments happen because of check requests. How does this happen? The most common answer may concern a dishonest employee who fills out a check request form, then either convinces or coerces authorized personnel to sign the form or forges the personnel’s signature himself.

Fraud can also happen in response to an angry vendor who claims nonpayment. Vendors have learned through experience that if they call and become abusive with A/P personnel and threaten them with credit holds, they can get an intimidated controller to sign a check request form that authorizes payment. Checks have always taken the fancy of fraudsters who forge or use it as a tool to harass the other parties, whether in business or in personal matters so you need to keep your eyes open when dealing in checks.

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Tagged:BusinessCheckCheck Request FormsFormsMoney
TemplateLab April 29th, 2021