What Is A Cheque Counterfoil?

The purpose of check counterfoils, otherwise known as a cheque or check stubs, is to serve as a receipt or reminder of what a cheque, or check, was written out for.

• Tracking a Check

Both check and stub, or counterfoil, carry the same serial number. This ultimately enables a person to track or trace a check made out for a certain amount and paid to a certain person via the corresponding number.

For instance, if Mr Whosit makes out a check with the serial number 123456 for the amount of $57 and sends it to the Whatnot Company, he will write the amount, the date and the payee, the Whatnot Company, onto the stub, or counterfoil in his check book.

If the Whatnot Company then requests payment again a month later, Mr Whosit can give them the date, the serial number and the amount of the check he posted. He may then enquire with his bank if the money has been taken out of his account, while the Whatnot Company can attempt to trace the check within their system.

If the check cannot be traced, the same details can then be used to cancel the check at the bank, stopping unauthorized use of it.

• Keeping Track of Expenses

Check counterfoils are also very useful in keeping track of one's expenses. Rather than having to root through a pile of receipts or spending hours perusing bank statements to figure out where one's money has gone, payments made by check can be quickly found and identified by going through the counterfoils on the check book.

This is also useful when preparing accounts, as receipts can be quickly arranged into the right order by matching them up to the checks particular items were paid with and listing them according to the corresponding dates.

Cheque counterfoil are cheques send by companies to their customer relating to their return on their investment (dividend). These cheques are always cross to avoid negotiation. Counterfoil on it own is the document contains the trading of the business revealing the profit and loss of the company.

Checks are occasionally printed as individual bits of paper but the majority of them are printed in sets of 50 or so, in things called CheckBooks.

Each page of a checkbook consists of a small counterfoil on the left, then a perforation, then the check itself on the right. You write the key info (name, amount,  date, etc.) on both, then you rip off the check  side, give it out and keep the counterfoil for yourself.

NB: Not all countries  or all banks use checkbooks like this. I used to have them when I was in England, but now I'm in America they use carbon copies behind each check instead to save the info.