8 Occasions When Checks Are the Preferred Business Payment

Payment options are abundant these days, many thanks to digital banking, mobile POS devices, and cloud-based software. There is no shortage of ways to pay your vendors and receive payment from your clients. While your business might use multiple methods to send and receive payments, checks are still a popular and preferred option in certain instances. Eight occasions when checks are the preferred option:

1. When you want a paper trail

Checks are a safer bet when you want a payment that is traceable and can be canceled, if needed. Paper checks act as their own receipt to prove payment amounts and dates for later account reconciling or tax filing. If you are making a charitable donation, checks allow the organization to keep the full amount donated, and they act as your receipt at tax time. The larger the payment amount, the more important it is to create a verifiable paper trail to prevent disputes later.

2. When you want to hold onto the money for a bit

Unlike payments that are debited immediately, checks can take a few days to clear. You can keep your money in your account a little longer for more interest and better short-term cash flow management.

3. When you don’t want to pay convenience fees

Despite the name, there is nothing convenient about having to absorb credit card processing fees. Businesses that accept credit cards have to pay a percentage on each purchase, and some companies are permitted to pass that fee onto the customer. Convenience fees can be avoided by accepting or issuing paper checks.

4. When you want to customize

Checks can be marketing tools as well as financial documents. Online check-printing services allow you to design your own business check and customize it with your company’s color logo for a more memorable and professional transaction.

5. When you pay freelancers

Direct deposit is not a typical option for freelancers and short-term contract workers that your company has to pay. Checks remain a preferred method of payment for your one-time or occasional paychecks.

6. When you work with a company that doesn’t take credit cards

Smaller, independent businesses are often not equipped to accept credit cards. Checks are a good backup because they are much safer and more traceable than cash, which virtually no one carries much of anymore. And unlike other payment forms, checks you write and send to other businesses can include the invoice details, leading to better record keeping and account management.

7. When you need help budgeting

If you make a lot of purchases or submit a lot of payments in a short period, it is easy to lose track and overextend yourself. Balancing a checking account gives you a real-time glimpse into your spending and tells you how much cash you have on hand after each transaction so that you don’t become overdrawn or end up with unwieldy debt.

8. When you want convenience

Checks are convenient to issue and to receive, and cloud-based check services have made the process of issuing checks even faster and simpler. An online check-printing service not only allows you to print and mail your checks from anywhere with just a couple of clicks, but it also syncs your transactions with your accounting platform in real-time, updating your accounts across multiple channels and streamlining your bookkeeping.

In spite of the rise in epayment options, billions of checks are still written every year. Checks have been around for a long time and remain a familiar, comfortable way to submit and receive payment. Online check services harness the advances in cloud technology to adapt the check-creating process to an increasingly digital age. Checkeeper is a leader in online check-printing services, following the highest banking security standards, managing checks from multiple accounts, and integrating with widely-used accounting and payroll services so that your business bookkeeping stays organized and secure. And taking advantage of Checkeeper’s mailing option, which is included with every account, is an affordable way to make mailing the checks as convenient as creating them.