What Is the Purpose of a Bank Deposit Slip?

A bank deposit slip tells your bank what you want to be done with the money you're handing them and provides you with a record of your transaction.

Understanding what deposit slips are for and how to properly use them will help you make quicker transactions and reduce problems with deposits into your accounts.

When you open a checking or savings account, you might be given a booklet of paper deposit slips. Your deposit slips might be attached to the tear-out book of paper checks you receive. Look under your checks when you receive your checkbook to see if it includes deposit slips. When you open a savings account, you might also be given a set of deposit slips. These deposit slips will have your name, address and account number on them, so keep them secure.

If you go to a bank and want to deposit money but don't have your deposit slips with you, you can use a counter deposit slip. These are similar to the ones you received when you opened your account, but they don't have your account number on them.

​Read More​: How to Read the Account Number on a Deposit Slip

When you hand your cash, checks and deposit slip to a bank teller (or mail them in), the first thing she'll do is to count your cash, total your checks and verify the total amount of your deposit. She will then compare that to the deposit slip you filled out. If there's an error, she'll tell you, or your bank will notify you by mail or electronically that there was an error.

​Read More​: How to Get a Copy of a Deposit Slip

When you use a counter deposit slip at a bank, the teller will either give you a copy of your deposit slip with an acknowledgment that the bank received the funds, or you'll get another type of receipt. Hang on to this for several days until you see that the deposit has been accepted (especially if you're depositing one or more checks).

If you have a business checking or savings account, you might get a booklet of deposit slips with a piece of carbon paper, or a type of booklet that makes a copy of each deposit slip you fill out. This allows you to fill out a deposit slip, then mail one in and keep one copy for your records.

Keeping copies of your deposit slips together in a booklet lets you quickly see all of the deposits you made, when you made them and the amounts, explains the Corporate Finance Institute. You'll get electronic and paper receipts when you make a deposit using an ATM or a check-imaging app, or when you receive your monthly bank statement, but a copy of a deposit slip is an extra layer of protection in the meantime.

​Read More​: How to List Checks on a Bank Deposit Slip

Deposit slips are primarily used for in-person deposits made at your bank, or when you're banking by mail. If you are using deposit slips with your account number on them, enter the amount of cash you are depositing under the "Cash" heading on the slip. Enter the amount of each check you are depositing separately under the "Checks" heading. If you are depositing a combination of cash and checks, you only enter one amount for all your cash, then your check amounts. If you have more checks than lines on the front of your deposit slip, flip the slip over – most slips continue the "Checks" heading and lines on the back.

Enter your name or the business name, the date, your account number and final total where indicated on the slip.

If you want money back, enter the amount of cash back you want where indicated. For example, if you are depositing a ​$500​ check and want ​$100​ in cash back, you'll enter the ​$500​ amount under "Checks" and then write ​$100​ where you see the cash back option. On the "Total Amount of Deposit" line, you'll write ​$400​. Depending on how much money you have in your account, you might not be able to cash a check and take part of a check amount (using a deposit slip).

For example, if you have ​$3,000​ in your account and you are depositing a ​$300​ check, you will probably be allowed to deposit ​$200​ and get ​$100​ in cash because there's enough to cover the ​$100​ the bank gives you if your check bounces. If you have ​$300​ in your account and you're depositing a ​$1,000​ check and want to take ​$500​ of that in cash, you probably won't be able to, since you don't have enough in your account to cover the check bouncing.