When filling out a cheque or a legal contract, many people wonder: How much punctuation is actually required? If you forget a hyphen or a comma, will the bank reject your payment?
While banks are often lenient with minor omissions, following formal standards protects you from ambiguity and potential fraud. Here is the breakdown of when to use commas, dashes, and the word “and.”
1. The Use of the Comma (,)
In long numbers, commas act as “breathing points” for the reader.
- Formal Rule: Use a comma to separate thousands from hundreds.
- Example: $12,345 should be written as Twelve thousand, three hundred…
- Is it required? No. Most banks will process a cheque without the comma as long as the words are legible. However, for amounts over six figures, commas help ensure the bank teller doesn’t misread the amount.
2. The Use of the Dash/Hyphen (-)
This is the most common area for errors.
- Formal Rule: You must hyphenate all compound numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine.
- Example: $45 is “forty-five,” not “forty five.”
- Is it required? Again, a bank will rarely reject a cheque for a missing hyphen. However, in legal contracts, the hyphen is mandatory to maintain professional writing standards.
3. The Use of the Word “And”
The word “and” has a very specific job in financial writing: it acts as the decimal point.
- Formal Rule: Use “and” only before the cents/fractional part of the amount.
- Example: “Twelve thousand three hundred forty-five and 50/100.”
- Common Practice: In British and Commonwealth English (UK, HK, India), it is common to say “Three hundred and forty-five.” In American banking, it is technically more correct to omit that first “and” to avoid confusion with the decimal.
4. Do You Need to Write “Dollars”?
Look closely at your cheque; usually, the word “Dollars” (or the local currency) is already printed at the end of the legal line.
- Standard Practice: If “Dollars” is pre-printed, you do not need to write it again.
- The “Only” Rule: It is a professional standard to end your words with “Only” (e.g., “…Forty-Five Only”). This signals that the amount is complete and prevents anyone from adding more words to the end of the line to increase the value.
Comparison: Formal vs. Acceptable Formats
| Feature | Formal (Best Practice) | Acceptable (Will usually clear) |
|---|---|---|
| Punctuation | Twelve thousand, three hundred… | Twelve thousand three hundred… |
| Hyphens | Forty–five | Forty five |
| Cents | …and 50/100 | …and fifty cents |
| Ending | …Forty-five Only | …Forty five Dollars |