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The voided check, and the closing day it quietly delays
A voided check proves which account gets funded and which gets debited. Here is what a closer checks on it, what to send if you have no checks, and what breaks a funding.
A voided check is a blank check from your business account with the word VOID written across it. It is the smallest document in a funding file and it stops more closings on the final day than any other item, because it is the one nobody thinks about until the wire is ready to go.
Its job is narrow and specific. It proves three things at once: that the account exists, that it belongs to the business named on your application, and that the routing and account numbers you gave the funder are the correct ones. Everything else in your file establishes whether you should be funded. This establishes where the money goes and where the payments come from.
Who asks for it and when
Almost every funder asks, and it is requested at closing rather than at application. By the time it comes up, underwriting is done, the offer is accepted, and the only thing standing between you and a wire is banking setup. That timing is exactly why a bad voided check is expensive. It costs you the funding day, not the approval.
It travels alongside a DDA authorization, the form that gives the funder permission to debit your account for repayment. One document identifies the account, the other permits the movement. Some funders now replace both with an instant bank verification through a read only connection, which removes this whole step. If a read only bank connection is offered, take it.
What a closer actually checks on it
- The business name printed on the check. It has to match the legal entity on the application and on the funding contract. Riverside Hauling LLC on the contract and Riverside Hauling Co on the check triggers a name verification step that can take a day, and on a strict funder it triggers a fresh set of documents.
- The routing number, against your statements. The nine digits at the bottom left are compared to the routing number printed on the bank statements you already submitted. A mismatch means either the account changed or the wrong account was sent, and both need explaining before anything moves.
- The account number, against your statements. Same check, different number. If your statements are from account 4471 and the voided check is from account 8820, the funder now has to establish which one carries the revenue they underwrote. Sometimes that is a five minute conversation. Sometimes it is a second underwriting pass.
- The bank name. It should be the same institution as the statements. A different bank on the check tells the closer that the operating account may have moved, which raises a question about whether the deposits they underwrote still land there.
- Whether it is a starter check. Checks with no printed name and a very low check number are common on newly opened accounts. They are frequently rejected outright, not because anything is wrong, but because a blank check proves nothing about who owns the account.
There is a version of this that goes further. On a percentage of sales advance with split funding, the funder does not just debit your bank account, it takes its share from your card settlements before they reach you. In that structure your merchant processing statement matters as much as the voided check, because the processor has to support the split and the deposit account has to be the one receiving the settlements.
How to produce one, including when you have no checkbook
Plenty of businesses have not written a paper check in years. Every funder has an alternative, but they do not all accept the same alternatives, so ask which one before you send something and lose a day.
| What you send | How it usually lands |
|---|---|
| Photo of a paper check with VOID written across it, unsigned | Accepted everywhere, still the fastest path |
| Bank letter on letterhead with the business name, routing, and account number | Accepted almost everywhere, takes a day to obtain |
| Direct deposit or ACH setup form generated inside online banking | Accepted by most, and usually downloadable in two minutes |
| Screenshot of the account details page inside online banking | Accepted by some, refused by others, always ask first |
| Deposit slip | Frequently refused, because the routing number on a deposit slip is often different |
| A check from your personal account | Refused, and it raises a question about whether the business is really operating |
The deposit slip problem deserves the extra sentence. Many banks print a different internal routing number on deposit slips than the one used for ACH transactions. Send one and the funder either catches it and asks again, costing a day, or does not catch it and the first payment attempt fails, which is considerably worse.
Producing a clean one in three minutes
- 01Pull a check you have not used, from the correct account
The correct account is the one your revenue actually deposits into, the one your statements came from, and the one you want debited. If those are three different accounts, resolve that before you send anything.
- 02Write VOID in large letters across the face
Across the middle, in ink, large enough to read in a phone photo. Do not write over the numbers at the bottom, because those are the only part anyone needs.
- 03Do not sign it
A signed check, even voided, is a risk you have no reason to take. The signature adds nothing to what the document proves.
- 04Photograph the whole check, flat, in good light
All four corners in frame, no fingers over the account numbers, no glare. A cropped or blurry image is the second most common reason this document gets sent back.
- 05Say in the email which account it is
One line: this is our primary operating account, the same one the statements came from. That sentence prevents most of the follow up questions this document generates.
It is worth saying plainly why funders care this much about a document that carries no financial information. Wire fraud in small business lending almost always happens at exactly this step, by substituting banking details late in a closing. That is why a funder will call your bank to verify rather than take a photo at face value, and why a last minute account change tends to trigger more scrutiny rather than less.
The mistakes that cost a funding day
- Sending a personal check because it was closer. Business funding goes into a business account. A personal check gets refused and it invites a question about whether the business banks separately at all.
- Sending an account other than the one underwritten. The offer was built on the deposits in a specific account. Funding a different account is not a formality change, it can require a fresh review.
- Sending a photo where the numbers are cut off. The bottom line of a check contains the routing number, account number, and check number in that order. If any of it is out of frame, the document is useless.
- Assuming the funding account and the debit account can be different. Most funders require the same account for both. If you want the money in one place and the payments taken from another, ask up front instead of discovering the policy at closing.
- Ignoring an account change mid deal. If you switch banks between application and closing, say so immediately. Read what to line up before underwriting so this is handled before it becomes urgent.
What we do with this
Exp Capital Solutions is a broker, not a lender. We do not move your money and we do not hold your banking details beyond what a submission requires. What we do is collect the closing items in the right order and check the small ones before they cost you a day, including confirming that the account on your voided check is the same account behind the statements that earned you the offer. The whole point is that funding day should be boring.