When Should You Use A Check Printing Program In Your Business

So you want to start your own business, eh? There are so many pieces in running a business, its hard to know where to start. One of the easier decisions is getting a check printing program. While personal use of checks may be lower than ever, record keeping requirements push business owners into writing checks. There are times when the taxing authorities are just not going to accept that credit card receipt. The ability to pay your bills with a check printing program is one of the first pieces (after business, company, tax licenses, and a bank of course) that you'll decide.

There are a couple of ways to go. This article will give you the pro and cons of each method, along with the prospective costs. You'll make your decision from there.

An outside company can do your check printing for you, or you can do it yourself using software and accounting programs designed for that purpose.

Here are points to consider when making your decision on your business check printing program

How many checks do you write in a month?
How much time do you have to dedicate to check writing?
Are you willing to invest money in specialized equipment?

First, lets talk about the equipment. I've been reading lots of stories about need for this piece of software, or that kind of ink. Researching material for this piece, I've found questionable writing, and just plain and utter BS. Checks you write from your business are not a great deal different than the checks you use in your personal life. The detail you may be required to keep is somewhat higher for tax purposes, but the checks for product purchases are much the same. Payroll checks are different, and that's not an area we are going to cover in this article.

How many checks do you write in a month for purchases? The fewer checks your business produces, the more likely you are to do them yourself. Outside check printing companies are really focused on organizations that write over 100 checks per month. You can get pre printed checks, in a small enough number that your business can use efficiently, until you grow to a larger size.

There is specialized equipment, magnetic inks for example, and MICR font software (those goofy looking numbers on the bottom of the check) that you will need to purchase if you are going to print ALL of your checks (not use pre-printed ones.) Be very aware of these additional costs in paying your bills in house with a check printing program.

Then there is the time invested. You either spend money or time to make your business run. Check printing is probably not going to make our business run better (unless its why we are in business and that's a different story.) Its a necessary process, since keeping the power company happy, keeps your electricity flowing. Carefully weigh how many resources are used in bill paying that could be used in making sales or furthering your business. You'll find the "break-even" point where doing the job yourself becomes much more difficult that using an outside company's check printing program. Hitting that point is a good thing. After all, we are in business to grow our business in the long haul.

Here's my summary. Less than 50 checks a month, do it yourself with pre-printed checks. Most accounting software like Quick Books, or Peachtree will help you get the right checks and get them to the vendors along with keeping the records. More than 50, use an outside company to handle your check printing programs. You'll find a number of these programs and companies with this article. Anybill.com and hovservices.com are a couple of companies who will be more than happy to handle your accounts payable issues. Business.com has a whole directory of these companies at their web site.