Quick Answer
- Use the business name exactly as the account is held, not a shortened trading version.
- Enter cash as one total, then list every check on its own line.
- Use the identification column for the customer or invoice, not just the check number. That is what makes reconciliation work.
- Subtotal is cash plus all checks. Total deposit is subtotal minus any cash back.
- Sign only if you are taking cash back. Otherwise leave both the less cash line and the signature blank.
- Keep your copy and file it with the day's records, so a bank credit traces back to specific customer payments.
- You cannot usefully print your own slips at home. The MICR line is the reason.
Filling out a business deposit slip is the same mechanical task as a personal one, with one difference that matters enormously: a business slip has to survive reconciliation weeks later.
A personal deposit just needs to land in the right account. A business deposit needs to be traceable back to which customer paid what, when someone opens the books at month end.
Here is the whole thing, line by line, plus the habits that make the difference.
What a business deposit slip has to do
A deposit slip, sometimes called a deposit ticket, tells the bank which account the money goes into and what the money consists of.
Cash and checks are handled differently and may be subject to different availability timing, so itemizing them is not bureaucracy. It is how the bank knows what it received.
For a business, the slip does a second job. It is the bridge between a single bank credit and the individual payments that made it up. Your bank statement will show one deposit figure. Your books need to know it was four customers paying four invoices.
That is why what you write in the identification column matters more for a business than it ever does for an individual.
How to fill out a business deposit slip, line by line
Layouts vary slightly between banks, but the fields are consistent.
| Field | What a business should put in it |
|---|---|
| Date | The date of the deposit, not the date payments were received |
| Business name | Exactly as the account is held, not a shortened version |
| Account number | Preprinted on your own slips. Confirm it if you hold several accounts |
| Cash | Total of all bills and coins as one figure |
| Checks, one per line | Each amount, identified by customer or invoice where space allows |
| Subtotal | Cash plus every check |
| Less cash received | Usually blank for a business. See the note below |
| Total deposit | Subtotal minus less cash |
| Signature | Required only if taking cash back |
Step 1: Date and business name
Use the deposit date rather than the date you received the payments. If a check arrived Friday and you bank it Monday, the slip says Monday.
Write the business name as the account is held. If your account is under a legal entity name but you trade under something shorter, use the legal name on the slip.
Our guide to business checks vs personal checks covers why keeping business and personal banking separate matters in the first place.
Step 2: Confirm the account number
On slips printed for your account this is already there. Confirm it looks right, especially if you run more than one account.
Businesses with multiple accounts should keep slips physically separated, ideally in different folders or drawers. Mixing them is one of the most common causes of a deposit landing in the wrong place.
Step 3: The cash line
Enter the total of all bills and coins as a single figure. You do not itemize denominations.
If you take cash sales, count it twice before writing. A cash discrepancy discovered at the teller window is awkward. One discovered three weeks later during reconciliation is worse.
If you have no cash, leave the line blank rather than writing zero.
Step 4: List every check separately
This is the step that determines whether your month end is smooth or painful.
Every check gets its own line and its own amount. Most slips have a narrow identification column on the left.
Most people write the check number there. For a business, write the customer or invoice instead.
The check number tells you nothing useful later. "Harding Ltd" or "INV-2214" tells your bookkeeper exactly which receivable just cleared. If the column is narrow, an abbreviation still beats a check number.
Before anything else, make sure each check is endorsed. Our guide to how to endorse a check covers the wording and where to sign.
Step 5: Subtotal
Add the cash line and every check line together.
If you have more checks than lines, most slips have a reverse side. Fill it in, total it, and carry that total to the front. Do not put two checks on one line.
Step 6: Less cash received
For most businesses this stays blank, and that is the right default.
Taking cash out of a deposit breaks the clean link between what you received and what went into the account. If the business needs cash, a separate withdrawal keeps the records tidier.
If you do use the line, you must sign the slip, and the person signing should be someone authorized on the account. See who signs a business check.
Step 7: Total deposit
Subtotal minus less cash. Check the arithmetic before you hand it over.
A slip whose totals do not match the contents gets corrected by the teller, and the corrected figure is what appears on your statement. That mismatch is exactly what causes an unexplained variance later.
A worked example
Say you are banking a day's takings: some cash from counter sales, plus three customer checks.
| Line | Identification | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Counter sales | 240.00 |
| Check 1 | Harding Ltd, INV-2214 | 1,150.00 |
| Check 2 | Brookfield, INV-2209 | 475.50 |
| Check 3 | M. Oyelaran, INV-2218 | 320.00 |
| Subtotal | 2,185.50 | |
| Less cash received | None | Blank |
| Total deposit | 2,185.50 |
No signature needed here, because no cash is being taken back.
Now change one thing. Suppose you want 100.00 back in cash for petty cash:
- Subtotal stays 2,185.50. It does not change
- Less cash received becomes 100.00
- Total deposit becomes 2,085.50
- You now sign the slip
That is the entire subtotal-versus-total distinction. Subtotal is what you brought. Total is what stays in the account.
Notice the identification column in the example. Three weeks later, that slip still tells you exactly which three invoices were settled. A slip listing three check numbers would not.
Setting up a deposit routine that holds up
The slip is one step in a process. These habits are what make the process reliable.
Bank on a fixed schedule
Pick set days and stick to them rather than banking when checks pile up. A predictable rhythm means fewer checks sitting in a drawer, and it makes the pattern on your statement readable.
Checks sitting uncashed also have a shelf life. See how long a business check is good for.
Separate who prepares from who banks
Where you have the staff, the person who prepares the deposit should not be the only person who takes it to the bank. Someone else checking the slip against the contents is a straightforward internal control.
In a very small business that is not always possible. A reasonable substitute is having a second person review deposit slips against statements monthly.
File the slip with the day's records
Keep your copy with the paperwork for that day, not loose in a drawer. That gives your bookkeeper a direct trail from a bank credit back to specific customer payments.
If you want a carbon copy without writing twice, multi-part slips are available through accessories.
Record the deposit the same day
Enter it in your register on the day you bank it, using the total deposit figure rather than the subtotal if you took cash back.
Our guide to the check register covers how to record deposits alongside checks, and there is a free printable register if you prefer paper.
Photograph the slip and the checks
Thirty seconds, and it settles almost any dispute about what was handed over. Particularly worth doing for night drop deposits or anything going in without a teller present.
Before you hand it over
- Every check is endorsed, ideally restrictively
- Amounts on the slip match the checks, digit for digit
- The number of checks listed matches the number in your hand
- Identification column filled with something useful for reconciliation
- Arithmetic checked
- Signed only if taking cash back
- Your copy kept or photographed
Can you make your own deposit slips?
This comes up constantly, and the answer has a technical reason behind it that almost nobody explains.
You can write out a deposit using a blank counter slip from the branch, and that works for a one-off. What you generally cannot do is print your own slips and expect them to process normally.
The MICR line is why
Look along the bottom edge of a printed deposit slip. That row of stylized numbers is the MICR line, which stands for magnetic ink character recognition. It is the same technology used on checks.
It is printed with magnetic ink in a specific typeface, at a specific size, in a specific position. Bank processing equipment reads it magnetically rather than optically, which is what lets your deposit route to the right account automatically, in bulk, without a human touching it.
An ordinary printer cannot reproduce this. Standard toner is not magnetic. Even a visually perfect copy will not be read by the equipment, because the machine is not looking at the shapes, it is sensing the magnetism.
A slip without a valid MICR line has to be handled manually. That means slower processing, more chance of keying errors, and at some banks, refusal.
This is exactly the same reason you cannot print usable checks on ordinary paper. See business check formats for how printed check stock works.
What about deposit slip templates?
Templates you find online are useful for one thing: understanding the layout before you fill out a real slip.
They are not a substitute. A template printed at home will not carry a valid MICR line, and most banks will not accept one as a machine-readable deposit.
If you are running low, order properly printed slips for your account through accessories, printed with your business details so deposits process cleanly.
What to do if you run out
- Use a counter slip at the branch as a short-term fix, writing in your account number
- Order replacements before you are completely out
- Add slips to your next check order so it is one cycle rather than two
Our guide to ordering business checks covers what to have ready.
Do banks still use deposit slips?
Yes, and for businesses more than for consumers.
Mobile and ATM deposits have absorbed a lot of everyday personal deposits. Business banking is different, and slips remain standard for:
- Cash deposits, which cannot be made by mobile app
- Multiple checks at once, where itemizing beats photographing each one
- Any deposit needing a paper record for bookkeeping
- Deposits with cash back, which need a teller and a signature
- Night drop deposits, where the slip is the only accompanying record
| Deposit slip | Mobile deposit | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Yes | No |
| Many checks at once | Efficient | Slow, one at a time |
| Cash back | Possible with a teller | No |
| Reconciliation trail | Strong | Weaker |
| Best for | Business volume, cash | One or two checks |
Do deposit slips expire?
Not by date. A slip with correct account details stays usable indefinitely.
What makes them obsolete is a change on your side:
- You change banks or open a different account
- Your account number changes, for example after a fraud incident
- Your bank merges and account numbers are reissued
- Your business name or address changes
Shred obsolete slips rather than binning them, since they carry your account details. The same applies to old check stock. See do blank checks expire.
Common business deposit slip mistakes
We print and ship checks and deposit slips for U.S. businesses every business day, and the same errors come up repeatedly.
Check numbers in the identification column. Technically correct and practically useless. A customer name or invoice reference turns a slip into a reconciliation tool.
Checks combined onto one line. Two checks totaled into a single entry is the single most common error, and it forces manual correction at the counter.
Cash taken out of deposits casually. It breaks the link between receipts and the bank credit, and it is the most common source of unexplained variances.
Slips for multiple accounts stored together. Deposits land in the wrong account, and nobody notices until reconciliation.
The copy never gets filed. The slip is the only evidence of what was handed over, and it usually ends up loose in a drawer.
Getting business deposits right
Filling out a business deposit slip is a short task where a few details do all the work. Itemize every check, use the identification column for something your bookkeeper can use, get the subtotal and total right, and sign only if you are taking cash back.
Then keep your copy, record the deposit the same day, and bank on a schedule rather than when checks pile up.
Bank slip layouts and policies vary, so if your slip differs from the fields described here, follow what your slip actually says.
If you need deposit slips printed for your account, see accessories. For checks, browse business checks or payroll checks, or contact us and we will help you order the right format.