Check 21 formatting requirements

There are some very important facts to know regarding the Check 21 formatting requirements.

• The font and size of the date and printed dollar amount must be Arial 10-Regular.
• The font and size of the dollar sign must be OCR B MT 12-Regular. This font is now installed with the Sage 100 Contractor product.
• The dollar sign must have a be a minimum clearance of 0.10 of an inch from both the date and from the printed dollar amount. We recommend one eighth of an inch.

When the bank scans the area on the check containing the amount of the check (the CAR box), it looks for the dollar sign ($), followed by a blank space to locate the printed dollar amount. The asterisk acts as a security device to protect the dollar amount.

The dollar sign and printed dollar amount must be inside of the CAR box. The date is not part of the Check 21 requirements, and is not required to be in the CAR box scan area.

A minimum of 0.10" (1/10") is required from the bottom of the pre-printed word “AMOUNT” to the top of the printed dollar amount.