Keeping track of cheques and post-dated cheques

Many wholesalers and dealers in Pakistan still run on cheques, and a lot of them are post-dated. The usual system is a bundle of cheques in a drawer and a list in a diary. It works until a cheque is forgotten or bounces and nobody notices for a week.

Recording a cheque

When a customer gives you a cheque, write the bank, number, amount and date on it, even if the date is a month away. Cheques you give to dealers are written the same way.

Nothing changes until it clears

A cheque is not money yet, so the khata does not change when you receive it. When you deposit it, choose the bank account. When it clears, the payment goes into the customer's khata and into the bank. If it bounces, nothing changes and the customer still owes the same amount.

What is due

Each morning the owner is told which cheques are due today, both the ones to deposit and the ones you have given that will be presented. The cheque list can be filtered by received, given, due and bounced.