Film Accounting Glossary
Check request
What is a check request?
Also called check req, or payment request.
A check request is the internal form that starts a payment: it identifies the payee, the amount, the account code, the supporting documentation, and the approvals.
It exists so that money never leaves the production account without a named person having authorized it against a specific budget line. Requests without a matching purchase order or invoice are the ones that come back at audit.
Example
A location manager needs $3,500 for a two-day parking lot. The request names the payee and amount, codes it to the location account, attaches the signed location agreement, and carries the UPM's approval before it enters Thursday's check run.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
The front end of every payment that is not payroll. Requests with no purchase order or invoice behind them are the ones flagged at audit.
Common mistake
Submitting one with no purchase order or invoice behind it. It may get paid, but it becomes the transaction that cannot be evidenced when the auditor samples it.
Related questions
- What has to be attached to a check request?
- The invoice or signed agreement, the account code, and the approval. Anything that proves the amount was owed and that someone with authority agreed to pay it.
- Who approves a check request on a film?
- Usually the UPM or line producer against the budget line, with a second approval from the studio or financier above an agreed threshold.