About Paper Checks
Paper checks are printed once a week and disbursed through the U.S. postal mail. Due to the complexities of cashing checks in foreign countries, checks are not issued to addresses outside the United States.
Replacing a Lost or Stale-dated Check
Please note the instructions here only apply to checks issued through Accounts Payable (primarily supplier invoices, student financial aid, and reimbursements).
If a lost check was issued within the past six months, please complete a Check Cancellation/Stop Payment Request form. The form will be automatically submitted to Accounts Payable upon completion. Accounts Payable will place a stop payment with the bank. The payee is encouraged to authorize EFT or to submit wire transfer instructions before a reissued payment is processed.
If a check is not cashed within six months from the issue date, the check is considered stale-dated and will not be honored by the bank. If the payee requests a replacement of a stale-dated check, please complete a Check Cancellation/Stop Payment Request form. The form will be automatically submitted to Accounts Payable upon completion. Departments should not resubmit the invoice or initiate a new payment or reimbursement request.
Accounting for Stale-dated Checks
On a regular basis, Accounts Payable will identify uncashed checks that are older than six months and cancel (escheat) the payment in BFS. Funds for checks canceled or escheated prior to January 2022 were returned to the original chartstring. To better align with accounting guidelines starting January 2022, funds for checks canceled or escheated will be held in a central liability account on the general ledger for four years. After four years, the funds will be returned to the original expense account.
- If the check was charged to a Contract and Grant fund, the check amount will be returned to the fund, but a corresponding transaction will be charged to the associated DeptID using fund 69900
- After four years, or after the payment is reissued, this charge will be reversed
- Special procedures are followed for payments issued to students from Campus Solutions
Viewing the Status of a Check
Campus employees can view payment information, including the check number, issue date, and status (i.e, paid, stopped, canceled, escheated) in BearBuy by following the steps on the View Payment Status (PDF) job aid. Instructions for finding payment information in BFS, including whether or not a check has cleared our bank account, are in the Find Vouchers and Payment Information (PDF) job aid. Please email Accounts Payable at disburse@berkeley.edu for assistance with stale-dated checks.