Exhibit 31.2

                         RULE 13a-14(a) CERTIFICATION IN
                           ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 302
                        OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Charles B. Carden, Chief Financial Officer of John H. Harland Company (the
"Company"), certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of the Company;

2.      Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
        statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
        necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
        under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
        to the period covered by this report;

3.      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
        information included in this report, fairly present in all material
        respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
        of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
        for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
        (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
        control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
        13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

        a)       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                 such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                 our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                 to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                 made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this report is being prepared;

        b)       Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                 caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                 designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
                 regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
                 preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
                 accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

        c)       Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                 conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                 and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                 report based on such evaluation; and

        d)       Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                 the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
                 affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
                 registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
        based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
        reporting, to the registrant's auditors and to the audit committee
        of the registrant's board of directors:

        a)       All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                 design or operation of internal control over financial
                 reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                 registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                 financial information; and

        b)       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                 or other employees who have a significant role in the
                 registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date:  May 11, 2005
                                                 /s/ Charles B. Carden
                                                 _______________________
                                                 Charles B. Carden
                                                 Senior Vice President and
                                                 Chief Financial Officer