Printing a stack of cheques from a list on a Mac
You have a list — a vendor run, refunds, a payroll period — and you need each name on it paid with a real cheque. CheckYourself turns that list into a printed stack in one pass on your Mac: drop in a CSV, preview every cheque on screen, and print the whole batch onto blank or pre-printed stock with the MICR line at spec, numbered in sequence, every cheque logged to a register you can reconcile later. A 100-row run stops being an afternoon of re-keying and becomes a ten-minute job.
One honest line first: if your payroll or accounting software already prints cheques, print from there — this is for when your system gives you a list but won't print the cheques.
What the CSV needs
CheckYourself reads a simple list, not a raw accounting export. It needs two columns: a payee column and an amount column. A date and a memo are optional. It auto-detects the headers, so you don't have to rename anything if your file already uses common labels:
| Column | Required | Headers it recognizes |
|---|---|---|
| Payee | Yes | Payee, Pay To, Name, Vendor, Recipient |
| Amount | Yes | Amount, Total, Payment, Sum, Value |
| Date | No | a header like Date (or Cheque_Date, Payment_Date) |
| Memo | No | Memo, Note, Description, Reference |
One row per cheque. Keep amounts as plain numbers (1250.00) — a leading $ or commas are fine, and the app spells out the written-amount line for you. It reads a simple list, not a raw multi-column accounting export. Export your payments to CSV, make sure there's a payee column and an amount column, and you're set. If your export runs one row per line item, collapse it to one row per payee in a spreadsheet first.
Print the batch in five steps
- Pick the account. Choose the account you're drawing on and set the starting cheque number — CheckYourself increments from there across the whole run, so it won't collide with cheques you've already issued. Running two companies or a separate USD account? Give each its own profile.
- Import the CSV. File → Import CSV (
⌘⇧I). It maps the columns and shows you every payee, every amount, the run total, and a flag on any row it couldn't read. - Preview. See the whole stack before anything touches paper — amounts spelled out, numbers incrementing from your start. Fix a stray value on screen, not mid-run.
- Test-print one. Print a single cheque on plain paper and hold it over your blank stock to confirm the layout and MICR band line up. Nudge the offset if needed. Pick the layout that matches your stock: 3-per-page, top-, middle-, or bottom-stub.
- Run it. Load your stock and print the batch. Use proper blank cheque stock (28–32 lb, ~$15–$25 a ream) for anything you'll deposit; plain paper is for testing.
Every printed cheque lands in the register — searchable, with the cheque number, payee, amount, and date. Misprint one? Void that number and reprint under a new one; the sequence stays intact and you keep a clean audit trail.
Blank or pre-printed stock — your call
CheckYourself prints the full cheque, including the E-13B MICR line, onto blank stock — no reordering pre-printed chequebooks, no per-cheque lead time. It prints just as happily onto pre-printed stock if that's what you keep on hand. MICR toner is optional for most users; if your bank asks for it, the app prints to it the same way.
Output complies with the payment standards — ANSI X9.100-20 (US) and CPA Standard 006 (Canada), with USD-on-CAD cheques getting the correct transaction code automatically. Bank policies vary, so print one and confirm it deposits before a big run. (Not legal or banking advice.)
When this isn't the tool
If your payroll or accounting software prints cheques itself, print from there — it already has your payees, amounts, and bank details. CheckYourself is for the gap: your system exports a list but won't print cheques, your other tools don't run on your Mac, or you'd rather print on blank stock than reorder pre-printed books.
A note on volume: batch printing is the right move when you have a list. But you don't need a list — or a crowd of cheques — to use the app. CheckYourself prints a single cheque just as well, so it suits any volume, from one cheque a month to a payroll run of hundreds.
Cost
CheckYourself runs on macOS 14+ and stores your data locally by default (you can relocate it to iCloud Drive or Dropbox); Apple's privacy label reads "Data Not Collected," which matters when the file is full of your team's pay. The free tier prints fully-formed cheques with a VOID watermark and no time limit, so you can dry-run a whole batch before paying a cent. $3.99/month or $39.99/year on the Mac App Store removes the watermark.