How our check payment process works
When you schedule a check payment, there are two important dates to understand:
1. Debit date
- This is the date when funds are withdrawn from your account.
- The check will be delivered 5-7 business days after the funds are debited.
- By changing the delivery date, you can choose when the funds will be debited, avoiding surprises from unpredictable vendor deposits.
2. Delivery date
- This is the estimated date when the check is physically received by your vendor.
- Typically, this occurs 5-7 business days after the debit date. Based on standard shipping times with USPS, checks will be delivered 5-7 business days after the funds are debited.
- The vendor receives the check on the delivery date. You'll receive an email when the check has been deposited. You can also track your payment to see whether the check has been deposited.
- Check forgery or alteration is not a problem, as checks don't have your banking details on them.
Why we secure funds in advance
- Securing funds in advance allows us to issue a check on your behalf and reduce your exposure to fraud.
- When you schedule a check payment, funds are debited from your account, and your check is delivered to the vendor 5-7 business days after the funds are debited.
- When setting up a check payment, you can change the delivery and debit dates, avoiding surprises from unpredictable vendor deposits.
- This gives more control over your cash flow.
- Securing funds in advance helps prevent payment failures that could inconvenience you and your business.
Example scenario
- You choose the check delivery date of Dec 16, 2025.
- The funds will be debited on Dec 9, 2025.
- Check delivery by USPS may take 5-7 business days.
Things that may affect payment delivery time
- Federal holidays may lead to potential USPS delivery delays when sending checks. When choosing your check delivery date, federal holiday dates will be blocked on the CashFlow Central calendar. We recommend scheduling payments sooner so they get to your vendor on time during the holidays.
- When submitting a payment to a vendor for the first time, we may need a little extra time to review the payment. Schedule these in advance to avoid any delays.
- We recommend attaching an invoice whenever possible to prevent compliance delays.
Delivery timelines
Below, you can find a comparison of the delivery timelines of checks and ACH bank transfers. Should you need your payment to arrive faster, consider using an ACH bank transfer:
| Payment Method | Delivery Method | Delivery Time | Processing Cutoff |
| Bank Account | Paper Check (USPS) | 5-7 business days | Payments scheduled until 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT are processed that day |
| Fast Check (FedEx) | 3 business days | Payments scheduled until 2 pm ET / 11 am PT are processed that day | |
| ACH Bank Transfer | 3 business days | Payments scheduled until 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT are processed that day | |
|
Same-day ACH Transfer* (Fastest Option) |
Same business day | Any payments submitted before 2 pm ET / 11 am PT are processed that day. | |
| Single-use Virtual card | Up to 3 business days | - | |
| Credit Card | Paper Check (USPS) | 5-7 business days | Payments scheduled until 2 pm ET / 11 am PT are processed that day |
| Fast Check (FedEx) | 3 business days | Payments scheduled until 12:15 pm ET / 09:15 am PT are processed that day | |
| ACH Bank Transfer (Fastest Option) | Same business day | Payments scheduled until 2 pm ET / 11 am PT are processed that day |
* Each payment is subject to eligibility requirements and limitations. If you don’t see these payment options when making a payment, they are unavailable.
Please note that any payments submitted after the processing cutoff time will start processing the following business day. Payments exceeding $100,000 may take additional time to process.
Need to keep track of your payments? Check out our Payment Tracking Guide to learn how to use the payment progress bar and payment summary features. These tools make it easy to monitor your payment status in real time. You can also find out more about our payment delivery timelines here.