what is an outstanding check 
an outstanding check is a check payment that is written by someone but has not been cashed or deposited by the payee the payor is the entity who writes the check while the payee is the person or institution to whom it is written an outstanding check also refers to a check that has been presented to the bank but is still in the bank s check clearing cycle an outstanding check represents a liability for the payor the payor must be sure to keep enough money in the account to cover the amount of the outstanding check until it is cashed which could take weeks or sometimes even months checks that are outstanding for a long period of time are known as stale checks 