Questions in Archival Practice: Is a Copy of the Supplier Check Necessary?

In the accounts payable management process, the way checks are archived directly affects the efficiency and reliability of audit trails. A financial practitioner named Stewart raised a specific operational question: Should supplier checks be copied for archival purposes?

Stewart described his company's current practice: The company uses three-part checks. Two parts are delivered to the supplier—including the check itself and a stub; the remaining stub is retained by the company. However, because the information on that stub is limited, Stewart has throughout his career required the accounts payable department to make copies of the full check and attach them to the corresponding invoice for filing. This way, auditors can view the full picture of the "original" check when needed.

"This way, auditors can see the 'original' check." — Stewart explained his motivation in the inquiry.

At the end of his question, Stewart clearly stated that he hopes to learn about other organizations' policies and procedures in such situations, in order to benchmark and optimize his own processes.

Industry Perspective: Archival Logic and Compliance Considerations

From an industry practice standpoint, the core goal of check archiving is to ensure transaction traceability and the completeness of supporting documents. Three-part checks are typically designed to provide a record for the payer, the payee, and internal retention, but the stub often contains only basic fields such as the check number, date, and amount, lacking the payee name, endorsement information, or relevant remarks.

Therefore, many companies choose to make full-face copies of issued and cleared checks, especially when the stub information is insufficient to support audits or tax reviews. This practice is not mandatory, but it can significantly reduce the risk of disputes arising from incomplete documentation.

Policy Differences Across Organizations

Different organizations show notable differences in check archiving:

  • Conservative Approach:Retain only the stub, relying on bank statements and electronic records as supplementary evidence, suitable for low-value or high-frequency transactions.
  • Standard Approach:As described by Stewart, copy the full check and attach it to the invoice, creating a "invoice-check" correspondence file for quick access during audits.
  • Digital Approach:Some companies have shifted to electronic payments, where check copies are replaced by scanned images or system-generated payment vouchers, but original image files still need to be retained.

It is worth noting that regardless of the method used, the ultimate purpose of archiving is to serve internal controls and external audits. If the check stub information is insufficient and the company has not retained copies, auditors may request original bank images, which increases time costs.

Stewart's question reflects a common trade-off in practice: how to balance operational convenience with document completeness. His approach—copying the full check and archiving it—is generally viewed as a prudent and transparent control measure in most audit scenarios.

Ultimately, each organization should establish clear check archiving policies based on its own business scale, audit frequency, and regulatory requirements, and ensure that all relevant personnel understand and implement them.