How bookkeepers request a voided check from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
Ask the client for a voided check from the business account that will send vendor payments or fund payroll, or a bank letter showing the routing and account numbers if they have no checks. You need the exact numbers and account name to set up bill pay or a payroll provider. Ask for a scan of a real check with VOID written across it.
Why bookkeepers need a voided check
Setting up vendor payments or a payroll provider means entering the business account’s routing and account numbers, and one wrong digit sends money to the wrong place or bounces the first payroll. A voided check shows the numbers as the bank prints them, next to the account holder’s name, so you can confirm the account belongs to the business and not to the owner personally.
What exactly to ask for
One voided check from the business checking account the payments will come from, or a bank letter on letterhead with the account name, routing number and account number. If the client uses a different account for payroll than for bills, ask for one per account.
What to check when it arrives
- The name printed on the check is the business, not the owner personally.
- Routing and account numbers at the bottom are fully legible under the word VOID.
- It is a check, not a deposit slip, since some banks print a different routing number on deposit slips.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: A voided check to set up payments
Hi [Client name],
To set up your vendor payments and payroll, I need the routing and account numbers of the business account that will pay them.
The simplest way is a voided check: write VOID across a blank check from that account in large letters, without covering the numbers at the bottom, and send me a scan or clear photo. If you do not have checks, your bank can give you a letter with the account details.
Could you send it by [date]? If you are not sure which account to use, let us talk it through first.
Thank you, [Your name]
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a voided check or an unreadable or blurry scan. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.