Free Check Requisition Templates

A check requisition — or cheque requisition — is the internal form used to ask your organization’s finance department to issue a payment. Staff at universities, nonprofits, schools, and companies use it for the payments that fall outside the normal purchasing route: reimbursements, honoraria, refunds, grant disbursements, membership dues, deposits, and one-off supplier payments. The free templates below are editable MS Word forms, and beneath them you’ll find a filled-in example and the details that determine whether finance processes your request or sends it back.

Why the Form Exists

The short answer is segregation of duties: the person who requests a payment should not be the person who issues it. That principle sits behind almost every control in an accounts payable function, and the requisition is how it works in practice — you document what you need paid and why, someone with budget authority approves it, and finance acts on an approved instruction rather than a conversation.

That explains every field on the form. The payee details are there so finance can pay the right party. The account code is there so the cost lands in the right budget. The supporting documentation is there so someone reviewing the transaction a year later can see what it was for. And the approval signature is there so that the person who spent the money isn’t the person who released it.

Understanding this makes the form much easier to complete properly, because you can tell which fields are administrative and which are the ones an auditor will look at.

What Goes on a Check Requisition

• Requisition number and date — sequential, so requests can be tracked and chased.
• Requester details — name, department, employee or staff number, phone, and email. Finance needs to reach you quickly if anything is missing.
• Payee name, exactly as it should appear on the cheque — and exactly as it appears on any tax form or vendor record you hold. “J. Smith Consulting” and “Jane Smith” are different payees.
• Payee’s full mailing address. Cheques get posted; an incomplete address is one of the most common reasons a requisition is returned.
• Amount, in figures and in words.
• Purpose of payment — a specific description, not a category. “Guest lecture honorarium, Prof. A. Nair, 14 October” tells a reviewer everything; “professional services” tells them nothing.
• Account code, cost centre, or GL code to be charged, and the project or grant reference where applicable.
• Invoice or reference number, if the payment relates to one.
• Supporting documentation attached — usually a tick-list: invoice, receipt, contract or letter of agreement, tax form. See below; this is the field that causes most rejections.
• Date required, and the reason if it’s urgent.
• Delivery instruction — mail directly to the payee, return to the requester, hold for collection, or send with an enclosure.
• Requester’s signature and date.
• Approval signatures — budget holder or department head, plus a second approver above whatever threshold your organization sets.
• Finance use only — cheque number, date issued, processed by. Leave this blank; it’s completed at the other end.

Check Requisition Sample

NORTHFIELD UNIVERSITY — FINANCE OFFICE CHEQUE REQUISITION FORM Requisition No: CR-2026-0417  |  Date: 10 September 2026
Requested by A. Bello, Department of Sociology Staff no. 44182  |  ext. 2214 a.bello@northfield.example		Pay to Prof. Anjali Nair 17 Rosewood Terrace Kingsbridge, KB4 9TP
Amount: £450.00   (Four hundred and fifty pounds only)
Purpose: Honorarium — guest lecture, “Urban Migration Patterns”, MSc Sociology, delivered 14 October 2026. Agreed by letter dated 22 August 2026.
Account code SOC-4420-TEACH	Project / grant —	Date required 25 October 2026	Delivery Mail to payee
Documentation attached:   ? Letter of agreement    ? Payee tax form    ? Invoice    ? Receipt
Requested by: ____________________ A. Bello  |  Date: __________		Approved by: ____________________ Head of Department  |  Date: __________
FINANCE USE ONLY    Cheque no: __________    Date issued: __________    Processed by: __________

The two fields doing the most work here are the purpose and the documentation tick-list. A purpose line that names the lecture, the date, and the agreement it rests on means nobody has to ask what the payment was for — not the approver this week, and not an auditor in two years.

Free Check Requisition Templates in MS Word

Each template below is editable in Word. Add your organization’s name, account code format, and approval thresholds once, then use it as your standard form.

Standard Check Requisition Form

The layout shown above — requester and payee blocks, amount in figures and words, purpose, account code, documentation checklist, and dual signature lines.

 

Check Requisition with Account Coding Grid

Includes a multi-line coding grid for splitting a payment across several budget codes or cost centres — for departments charging shared costs.

 

 

Requisition, Purchase Order, or Expense Claim?

Three ways money leaves an organization, and most finance offices are specific about which route applies:

• A purchase order is used when buying goods or services from a supplier. It commits the organization before delivery, and the supplier’s invoice is matched against it. This is the default route for anything procurement-related.
• A check requisition is used for payments that don’t fit that model — honoraria, refunds to individuals, grant and prize payments, deposits, subscriptions, regulatory fees. There’s often no supplier and no purchase order to match against.
• An expense claim is used when an employee has already paid personally and is being reimbursed.

One caution worth knowing before you submit: most organizations restrict what may be paid by requisition precisely to stop it being used as a shortcut around procurement. If you’re paying a supplier for goods or services that should have gone through a purchase order, expect the requisition to be returned — check your own finance policy rather than assuming.

Getting It Approved First Time

• Attach the documentation. This is the single biggest cause of returned requisitions. Finance cannot issue a payment against a description alone — there needs to be an invoice, receipt, signed agreement, or award letter behind it.
• Get the payee name exactly right. It must match the bank account or tax record, or the cheque may be unbankable. Ask the payee how they want to be paid rather than guessing.
• Include the full mailing address, including postal code. Missing addresses stall more payments than wrong amounts do.
• Write a purpose a stranger could follow. Name what, who, and when. If someone outside your department can’t tell what was bought, rewrite it.
• Know your approval thresholds. Above a certain amount most organizations require a second signature — submitting with one guarantees a delay.
• Allow for the cheque run. Finance offices typically issue cheques on a schedule — weekly or twice monthly — so a requisition submitted the day before it’s needed usually won’t make the cut. Find out your organization’s cut-off and work back from it.
• Keep a copy with the supporting documents. When the payee asks where their cheque is, your copy is what lets you answer.

A Note on Bank Chequebook Requisitions

If you arrived looking for a cheque requisition slip from a bank — the form used to order a new chequebook on your account — that’s a different document, and it isn’t one you can prepare from a template. Chequebook requests are made on the bank’s own pre-printed slip, usually bound into the back of your current chequebook, or through internet or mobile banking. The templates on this page are internal organizational forms for requesting that a payment be issued.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a check requisition?

An internal form used to request that your organization’s finance department issue a cheque to a named payee. It records who is being paid, how much, what for, which budget it’s charged to, and who approved it.

What is the difference between a check requisition and a purchase order?

A purchase order commits the organization to buy goods or services from a supplier before delivery, and the supplier’s invoice is matched against it. A check requisition requests a payment that falls outside that route — honoraria, refunds, grants, deposits, fees — where there’s no purchase order to match.

What documents do I need to attach?

Whatever evidences the payment: an invoice, a receipt, a signed agreement or contract, an award or offer letter, or the payee’s tax form where your organization requires one. Missing documentation is the most common reason requisitions are sent back.

Who has to approve a check requisition?

At minimum the budget holder or department head. Most organizations require a second approver above a set amount, and some require additional sign-off for grant or restricted funds. Check your own delegation of authority before submitting.

How long does a check requisition take to process?

It depends on your finance office’s cheque run — weekly and twice-monthly schedules are both common — plus approval time and postage. Assume one to three weeks unless your organization publishes something faster, and submit well before the date the payee needs the money.

Can I use a check requisition to pay a supplier invoice?

Sometimes, but many organizations restrict it — supplier purchases are supposed to go through the purchase order process, and requisitions exist for payments that don’t fit that model. Using one as a workaround is the fastest way to have it rejected. Check your finance policy.

What is a cheque requisition slip at a bank?

A request to your bank for a new chequebook, usually made on a pre-printed slip in the back of your existing book or through online banking. It’s unrelated to the internal payment request forms on this page.