# Check for $0.00 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977 "2010-06-04T20:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/1 "2010-06-04T20:32:54Z")
So, I just received a check for $0.00 from a company that I did business with many years ago. Its stated purpose is to make a final adjustment to my account balance (i.e., so they can write off the remaining balance due on our old company’s account with them). I don’t intend to do anything more than file it away, but what would happen if I deposited an otherwise perfectly valid check for $0.00? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/2 "2010-06-04T20:37:07Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > So, I just received a check for $0.00 from a company that I did business with many years ago. Its stated purpose is to make a final adjustment to my account balance (i.e., so they can write off the remaining balance due on our old company’s account with them). > > I don’t intend to do anything more than file it away, but what would happen if I deposited an otherwise perfectly valid check for $0.00? I imagine you’d get a deposit slip showing a check for $0.00. It’d cost the bank something to process so it’s a net money-loser for them. Can you complain to the sender that they delayed payment and are subject to 3% per month financing and request a new check? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/3 "2010-06-04T20:43:34Z")
When I worked in commerical collections we would send small checks out to people, for like $1.10 or whatever and hope they’d be stupid enough to cash them. When they did, we found out what bank they had and then we’d go and attach their bank account. This does sound a bit different though, but just as a word of warning, if you owe people don’t cash small checks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/4 "2010-06-04T20:50:36Z")
I predict that in a year or so you’ll get an automatic letter asking whether you need them to re-issue the check that was never cashed. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/5 "2010-06-04T20:52:06Z")
Thanks for the tip, Markxxx. Not planning to cash it (not even sure I can—the company listed as the Payee no longer exists, though my new company has a similar name). > [@](#): > > Can you complain to the sender that they delayed payment and are subject to 3% per month financing and request a new check? Heh. Hmm… How can I get them to divide something by this $0.00 and give their accounting software an aneurysm? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/6 "2010-06-04T21:16:01Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Heh. Hmm… How can I get them to divide something by this $0.00 and give their accounting software an aneurysm? I would say this check demonstrates that their accounting software already had an aneurysm, and it burst. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/7 "2010-06-04T21:18:13Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Heh. Hmm… How can I get them to divide something by this $0.00 and give their accounting software an aneurysm? Ask them to pay it in monthly installments over the course of three years. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/8 "2010-06-04T21:46:58Z")
I know of a reverse case. Somebody was being billed, repeatedly and with increasing threat levels, for an owed balance of $0.00. It took a check for $0.00 sent with the bill stub to make it stop. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/9 "2010-06-04T21:50:59Z")
Bart Simpson wrote Krusty the Clown a check for $0.01 so he could get back his signature on the endorsement. Make of that what you will… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/10 "2010-06-04T23:02:32Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > So, I just received a check for $0.00 from a company that I did business with many years ago. Its stated purpose is to make a final adjustment to my account balance (i.e., so they can write off the remaining balance due on our old company’s account with them). > > I don’t intend to do anything more than file it away, but what would happen if I deposited an otherwise perfectly valid check for $0.00? God, that’s stupid. If you’re wondering how this happened, they have stupid software (or even stupider people) - I’ve never worked in an accounting department yet that didn’t have realistic cut-offs to prevent this kind of idiocy. I don’t think you should have to do anything except file it away, as you say, but a company stupid enough to send out a $0.00 cheque might be stupid enough to expect to see that cheque number come through their account. I’d be curious to see what would happen if you actually did deposit it. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/11 "2010-06-04T23:12:51Z")
A few years ago, my mom was being harassed by a collection agency for a balance of -$0.23. Yes, negative. Apparently the company owed _her_ money, but somehow this went to collections. It took an absurd amount of phone calls and time to get it sorted out. I’m not sure if anyone really understood how the accounting system let that one through. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/12 "2010-06-05T04:46:31Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > I don’t intend to do anything more than file it away, but what would happen if I deposited an otherwise perfectly valid check for $0.00? We used to get $0.00 paychecks all the time (or at least other people did, only happened to me once :(). We were required to claim 100% of our tips and if someone had a payperiod where they just went gangbusters FICA and withholding would eclipse your entire paycheck. One coworker actually tried to deposit it. He said the teller was confused, but she called someone over and I think they made it happen. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/13 "2010-06-06T00:39:30Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > A few years ago, my mom was being harassed by a collection agency for a balance of -$0.23. Yes, negative. Apparently the company owed _her_ money, but somehow this went to collections. It took an absurd amount of phone calls and time to get it sorted out. I’m not sure if anyone really understood how the accounting system let that one through. I actually didn’t get a college diploma once because I owed the college a negative amount of money. I kept getting threatening letters saying I’d never get my diploma until they paid me. It took months to resolve (I did finally get it). ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/14 "2010-06-06T19:03:44Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Ask them to pay it in monthly installments over the course of three years. No, that would divide zero by 36, which is mathematically fine. Still zero. Asking them to split the payout into equal checks to you and your wife, however, could cause a divide by zero error. With any luck, you’d get a buffer overrun and it would loop around to the largest integer it knows and cut you two checks for 32 billion and change. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/15 "2010-06-06T21:29:31Z")
Or the computer would start to shake and smoke before it self-destructed. Capt. Kirk liked to mess with computers by having them calculate pi to the last decimal place - he should just have tried to structure a yearly payment plan of multiple valueless checks, instead. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/16 "2010-06-06T22:02:57Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > No, that would divide zero by 36, which is mathematically fine. Still zero. Asking them to split the payout into equal checks to you and your wife, however, could cause a divide by zero error. No, that would divide zero by 2. Still zero. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/17 "2010-06-07T00:03:49Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > A few years ago, my mom was being harassed by a collection agency for a balance of -$0.23. Yes, negative. Apparently the company owed _her_ money, but somehow this went to collections. It took an absurd amount of phone calls and time to get it sorted out. I’m not sure if anyone really understood how the accounting system let that one through. I wonder what would have happened if she’d sent in a cheque for -$0.23, with it written out: “Pay to the order of… negative zero dollars and 23/XX”… ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/18 "2010-06-07T15:37:17Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I wonder what would have happened if she’d sent in a cheque for -$0.23, with it written out: “Pay to the order of… negative zero dollars and 23/XX”… I was just going to suggest that! Fight fire with fire… ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/19 "2010-06-07T15:43:36Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I wonder what would have happened if she’d sent in a cheque for -$0.23, with it written out: “Pay to the order of… negative zero dollars and 23/XX”… Weak sauce. That’d be making it to easy on them. Do [what the xkcd guy did](http://hackedgadgets.com/wp-content/verizoncheck-mum-the-weiser.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977/20 "2010-06-07T21:59:10Z")
My understanding was that software that sends out $0.00 checks is generally deciding whether to send a check before rounding. In other words, you have a non-zero balance, meaning you need to receive a check, but the amount is something like $0.0043, and thus is rounded to $0.00 before the check is actually sent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/check-for-0-00/541977.md?page=2)