About typing MICR characters

To create the proper magnetic stripe, the MICR fonts contain numbers, space, and separator symbols. In Sage 100 Contractor, the separators are created using A, B, C, and D and are compatible with current MICR font standard.

The data printed at the bottom of a check contains two different sets of symbols:

• Separators, which start and end a data zone; and
• Numbers, which contain routing, bank account, and check numbers.

Each separator has a special meaning for the magnetic or optical reader just as quotes, brackets, and parentheses have for regular text.

• Transit. The data between two transit symbols indicate the institution from which the funds are drawn.
• Amount. What is between these separators is the amount of the check. This is usually used internally by banks upon processing, and this field should not be used by customers under normal circumstances.
• On-Us. This symbol tells the reader that the following digits represent the account number and other important information.
• Dash. This is sometimes used to separate items in the account number and routing information. Some banks replace it by a simple space.

Numbers (digits) have the same meaning as usual, occupy their normal place in the ASCII table, and can be typed directly from the keyboard.

MICR Example

The following is an example of the data that you might enter in a plain font and how it would appear to you.

012045078A1102 C120D0120450C

What you typed should appear on your check looking very similar to this example.