In the ancient days of Rome a check was written in the form of a letter to the seller stating that there were funds enough to pay for goods or services up a certain amount. These can perhaps be considered the very first business checks. The letter contained the name of the business which was to receive the funds and the name of the person ordering the payment. There was also a date and a signature.
The business checks today are no longer long letters from the bank but standard check forms. Some of these check forms are long to make it quick to identify them as business checks. They often come three in a binder and authoritative in their appearance.