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Accounting
Outstanding Check
A check you wrote and recorded but the person hasn't cashed it yet.
Outstanding checks are subtracted from the bank balance during reconciliation because the bank doesn't know about them yet. They explain why the bank shows more cash than your books.It's like sending a thank-you card that the other person hasn't opened yet — you already counted it as sent.
Real world: You mail a $450 check to a supplier on December 28, record it in your books, but the supplier doesn't deposit it until January.
💡 Keep a list of outstanding checks — they can stay outstanding for weeks and mess up your reconciliation if you forget them.