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There are a plethora of excellent software programs for running businesses or for personal finance management. Names like Peachtree, Juris, RealWorld, Great Plains, MYOB, MAS 90, Timberline and Yardi are but a few of the software packages used by businesses for managing account payables, receivables, payrolls, customer sales, sales management and many more business functions. Personal finance systems include the likes of Quicken, Money Management and more. Often just a portion of the software is used either because of vendor supplied specific management systems, lack of understanding or just plain old inertia. That’s OK but not using the full potential of your software will frustrate your CPA and could raise serious eyebrows if the IRS ever glances your way. For most businesses the important element of software is the feature that records and pays what you owe vendors. In order to use this feature to its best advantage you need bank checks that your software will generate from either a continuous, laser or inkjet printer. There are lots of places to find these checks. The software you use will urge you to buy your checks from them and, if you enjoy overspending for inferior products, use the link in the software and go right ahead. You can also find extremely cheap checks on the internet. If you enjoy risking your banking information with a place that might or might not be legitimate but, even if legitimate, has to be hiring the lowest paid and therefore unvetted workers they can find to allow them to sell so cheap, go right ahead. But don’t be surprised when your bank checking account takes a serious and unexpected dip. Your bank is another place where you can order checks for software. It will probably take you several tries for them to get it right, you’ll pay too much, and you’ll need college credits in Negoitiation 1.2 to make them admit that anything is wrong with the check amount appearing in the date box . . . but that’s your choice, go for it. Or you can get smart and just go to www.CheckChecks.com on the internet where hundreds of CPA’s buy checks for their clients and where you will get the right checks at the right prices with guarantees that will make you think you’re in a 1950’s time zone!

The top personal check designs for 2006 all have one thing in common: you can find all of them at a single website! The most ordered check of all for ‘06 was one manufactured by Styles Checks called “Circles”. Styles also had the second most popular named “Magic and Mischief”, a close runner up to “Circles”. The Check Gallery offering, “Island Paridise”, was number three. Styles came back with “Paisley” for number four and Image Checks brought up the rear with “Swirls”. You could find all five of these checks by going to the manufacturers various individual sites - a long and sometimes frustrating process - or you could just go to www.CheckChecks.com , click on their personal checks link and be whisked to a single website with hundreds of personal check designs from the the top personal check designers. You’ll pay no more than at the individual manufacturers’ sites plus you’ll have the convenience of finding everything you could possibly want on one site. You’ll also eliminate the possibility of stumbling into a ripoff personal check website where you may never receive your choice and where your personal credit card information and identity could be at risk. The manufacturers on the www.CheckChecks.com website link are all legitimate and have been in the business for many years.

If you are using a CK-D7 style one write check you may know that it is called an Accounts Payable check. Accounts payable checks are different from other one write checks in that they work with both a disbursements type journal and a purchase journal as well as several accounts payable ledger cards. There are, in fact, at least seven different journals you can purchase to work with this system as well as four different ledgers. But the likelihood is that you are not even using this system to its full potential and only have the CK-D7 check style by default because years ago some grey haired old bookkeeper knew how to use it to run your business. If this is the check you’re using, turn it over. What you may find is that the black carbon stripe only goes partway across the back but does not cover the “check amount” box at the end. The reason for this oddity is that, when used properly, the check is first positioned over a purchase journal, not the disbursemets style journal. If you have this short carbon stripe and are using the check to its full potential then everything is fine. If however you are just using the check with a disbursements journal then you need to find a check vendor who understands your problem and can supply you with this check style with a full carbon stripe. There are few who can do this but here are two: South Shore Business Checks and Systems toll free at 1-888-346-2417 or www.CheckChecks.com toll free at 1-888-771-4831.

Voucher checks, snap-out checks, NCR checks, multiple part checks - all of these names can describe a two, three, four or five part check that - excluding the top stub - measure 8.5 inches wide and usually 7 inches deep with a check at the top and the bottom portion being some type of a voucher. The vouchers vary with the purpose of the check since they are used to record the breakdown of what the payment is for. The number of parts vary too, usually because of the users bookkeeping quirks of habit but sometimes because of legal or by-law requirements. For an accounts payable or disbursements check the voucher would list the invoices being paid while on a payroll check it might show deductions and taxes withheld from a base pay or a list of various types of commissions or other incentives. This type of check is just a bit antiquated because of the power and ease of accounting software but they are still used by many companies that are computerized for specific purposes. There are few places that still offer these unique checks but, if you need them, here are two excellent sources who not only offer them but understand their use. The first is online at www.CheckChecks.com and the second is South Shore Business Checks available toll free at 1-888-346-2417.

Three to a page manual business checks as well as personal checks are available in a variety of styles. The personals have fewer variations but the business size three to a page checks come in about ten or more different styles to suit varied types of business needs. Some have no stub to the left and instead use a separate check register booklet. Others have one or two stubs, some for recording business expenses, some for payroll and a few for both. These business styles are also available with or without duplicate NCR copies. The copies are usefull in case the user neglects to fill out the stub or record in the register. Whatever style of three to a page manual business or personal check you need, two of the best places to find them are at www.CheckChecks.com online or by calling South Shore Business Checks toll free at 1-888-346-2417.

Some laser and inkjet printers, mostly Hewlett Packard models which feed from a tray accessible from the front of the printer, need special collating of business checks in order to feed correctly. There are a few other manufacturers with this quirk as well. Most printers need the check numbers to be sorted, or collated, with the low check number on top with the check facing up. The oddball ones mentioned above need to have them collated in reverse, that is with the low number on top face DOWN. This is called reverse collating and you may have trouble ordering them like this from your check vendor. If you do, you have the wrong check vendor and here are a couple of sources who can do it right for you. The first is online, www.CheckChecks.com and the second is a bricks and mortar version, South Shore Business Checks toll free at 1-888-346-2417. There are a few other ways of collating checks and they can handle those too.

One write checks, sometimes called pegboard checks, have been available since the late forties. Despite the ease of use and relative low cost of today’s bookkeeping software programs, one write checks continue to be used. They are still popular mostly because they are less expensive than a computer, much more portable and, when used to their full potential, nearly as good for bookkeeping. They are an excellent choice for a beginning business with a low budget. In addition to one write systems for paying bills and payroll, there are specialized systems for billing, tracking purchases, receipting money and full accounts payable control. In fact, there are over three hundred systems for a myriad of both personal and business uses utilizing the pegboard concept. In addition to being a good choice for low budget startups, pegboard systems force new entrepreneurs to more fully see what in their particular business model is important to record. In so doing they provide the perfect platform for converting to the correct software program when cashflow allows that type of bookkeeping expansion. Even after going to computer many business still keep a one write check writing system for portability on a job site or just for writing an occasional emergency check when a computer is turned off. But finding the correct system for a particular business model is not always an easy task because there are few checks vendors left who fully understand the many choices. If you are in the market for this type of system, here are a couple of places where you can find both the product and the expertise. The first is online and, while few systems are shown, many more are available. That online company is www.CheckChecks.com and you can also call them toll free at 1-888-771-4831. A second choice is South Shore Business Checks at 1-888-346-2417 - one of the oldest companies still selling one write systems in the USA.

If your business checks do not have some type of a logo on them you are being short-changed. Many people have been led to believe that putting a logo on their checks will cost them money. And, in fact, that is true with some banks as well as unscrupulous check companies. But the truth is, as long as your logo is what’s called “camera ready”, the use of it in black ink on your checks should cost you nothing. Scroll down to the bottom of this and I’ll give you a couple of places where you can get checks with no upcharge for logos. But first, why is a logo important on your check? There are a few reasons. Branding is one; the more consistent you are with your “brand” in the form of a logo, the more your company will be recognized and the more successful you will be. Then there’s the petty reason of getting all that you are paying for; most folks sleep better when they know they have not been taken advantage of. The third reason is the most important - and also will help you sleep better! It involves check fraud! Check fraud is a huge and growing problem and one your banker does not particularly want you to know about. The statistics are well hidden but a little dectective work on the internet perusing the banking association websites should get you most of what you should know to protect yourself. But basically, you need to consider your checks as the keys to your money vault and ask yourself if you want a Schlage key or a skeleton key. The better the key - or check - the safer your money is. And a logo on your check is just one additional security feature you can use to dissuade a thief from knocking off your checks and trying to steal your money. There are lots of other security features and these two check vendors can help you decide which you might need and explain what’s available.

They are: South Shore Business Checks at (toll free) 1-888-346-2417 and www.CheckChecks.com on the internet or toll free at 1-888-771-4831.

Hey, Mary, call up and order a deposit stamp, will ya?

And Mary does - but she doesn’t really know what she’s doing and her only guide might be what she has already that is not working correctly anymore. So she leaves it up to the company she calls and she may or may not get what she really needs.

So what is needed? Well, for starters you probably ought to get a self-inking stamp; they are easier and less messy to use. There are several types and the least expensive is the kind that, when you push it down, flips over to make the impression. They cost less, are easier to position and far easier to re-ink then the kind commonly known as X-Stampers.

The size of the stamp you choose depends on how much verbage you think you need. Here’s all you need: For Deposit Only, your company name, your account number. That’s it! Three lines - possibly four if you are a d/b/a but even then you can get away with just the business name you go under or just the d/b/a name. Believe me, your bank will not care. The only thing they really look for is the account number you are depositing to. The line, For Deposit Only, is standard verbage but does protect you from fraud by an employee who might think about getting creative in the bank lobby.

When Mary calls in the order she should also order the smallest stamp she can because some of the checks you will be stamping for deposit will be either small personal checks or business checks of the one-write variety with the carbon stripe on the back and less room to stamp in as a result.

But Mary has to specify all this stuff or she’ll get back a stamp that includes the three lines above plus your bank name, bank routing number, bank location and sometimes bank phone number. That makes for an big, unwieldy stamp that will cost you almost double what you should pay, be harder to get a good impression from, need re-inking more often, take up more desk or drawer space and give out WAY to much information to anyone who reads it with check fraud on their mind.

And a word about re-inking stamps: always make sure the ink brand matches the stamp brand because many stamp pads will react to the wrong ink by hardening up and becoming unusuable. Therefore, make sure you order from a place where they keep records so you can order ink and know they will send the right kind for the stamp you purchased!

Here are two excellent sources. Online at www.CheckChecks.com or by toll free phone 1-888-771-4831 or from South Shore Business Checks toll free at 1-888-346-2417.

Everyone thinks they know something about check fraud but few business people know how vulnerable they are to this growing problem.

Here’s a horror story that will get your attention. It occured south of the Mason Dixon line to a industrial supplier who thought he had tight control on his financial reins. He watched checks come in and signed checks that went out and made sure that he was paying amounts that he had contracted for. His bookkeeper was a mature woman whom he trusted. He did not know she was deeply in debt and had a troubled personal life. She was on time, neat, answered the phone promptly, never took a sick day - a seemingly perfect employee in every regard. And then one day she didn’t show up and he began fielding calls from vendors asking when to expect their checks. He got another call from his banker saying he was close to being overdrawn.

And here is what he and the police discovered. His bookkeeper had for two months been endorsing the checks from his customers made out to his business and endorsing the checks to his vendors he had signed and had mailed them all with her credit card statement to her credit card company. Her credit card company questioned nothing and credited them all to her account which then showed a huge credit balance. When the calls from vendors reached a peak she took off on a Caribbean vacation for which she paid by credit card. When they caught up with her there was no money left and, in fact, her credit card company lost on the additional charges she had made after the credit balance was used up. It was her first offence and she received a slap on the wrist.

The industrial supplier lost everything.

So, what’s the lesson? Well, obviously the boss was out of touch with the money end of his business. His focus was sales. There were several things he could have done but one of the most important would have been to have all of his bank statements go to his home instead of his business. A glance at his bank statement would have alerted him that something was wrong. In fact, had that proceedure been in place, his bookkeeper probably would never have tried her scam. His second error was not keeping in touch personally with his major vendors. He was allowing too much slack in relationships critically important to his business.

But his biggest error was not doing business with www.CheckChecks.com who had sent out a newsletter several years before warning business people of this very problem and had drawn attention to it several times since in subsequent newsletters. Www.CheckChecks.com has also had several newsletter articles about new check security features and their deterrence in other types of business check fraud. Call them toll free at 1-888-771-4831 if you have check security issues or questions about check fraud.