As a business owner, if you intend to employ more than one person, you’ll likely need to understand the check printing process. Business owners who have never worked payroll often find that learning how the printing process works can be somewhat overwhelming. To simplify the process, we’ve created a comprehensive guide on check printing online. The resources below outline everything a business owner needs to know regarding this unintentionally mysterious process.
What Do You Need to Print Checks?
Business owners can print their own checks, assuming they have the right equipment and programs available. However, it’s important to note that in order to print a check successfully, companies may need to make quite a large investment. Therefore, it’s important that business owners carefully review the costs of supplies to print in-house checks versus ordering checks through a payroll company or check issuing entity.
Typically, to print these checks, businesses will need to have the following on hand:
- Check-formatting software
- A high-quality, industrial printer
- Magnetic ink
- Check paper (Usually, this is paper that includes built-in security features that prove the validity of the check.)
- Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) (This prints the numbers alongside the bottom of the checks.)
Printing on checks, therefore, requires some time and consideration. Additionally, business owners will also need to design their own checks and customize each check with each employee’s specific pay. Moreover, businesses must also reflect on how many checks they’ll be printing and at what intervals. These practices allow business owners to determine how frequently they’ll need to replenish supplies and how much time departments should allot to preparing checks.
If you’re running a business, you should begin by installing check printing software, such as QuickBooks. Using this software, you can streamline printing checks while also stylizing and designing your checks as the company sees fit. Additionally, the program can help you track payments made, keeping an accurate log of printed checks for the business.
When you use the correct software and printing accessories, you can process and print checks in-house in a relatively straightforward manner. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t have the time or the resources to restock and print checks routinely. Printing on checks takes quite a bit of time to set up and involves relatively high maintenance fees for medium to large companies.
Are There Services for Check Printing Online?
There are many ways businesses can choose to have their checks printed online. Organizations have options – they can choose to print their own checks online, adding in the necessary information, such as routing number, contact information and payable-to information. Alternatively, they can choose to outsource this part of the payroll process.
If, after having read the above information, you feel that as a business owner, printing your own checks is not a viable long-term option, that’s perfectly understandable. Unless your business has an internal payroll team, it’s likely that you simply don’t have the time. However, this doesn’t mean that printing checks is impossible.
Several services offer low-cost online check services. Organizations, such as ours, specialize in printing on checks and ensure each document meets all of the legal requirements to clear in the payee’s bank account successfully. Additionally, we also have internal processes that make requesting new checks and setting up the printing process relatively simple.
Why Should a Company Invest in Printing Checks Online?
There are several reasons that your business may look to outsource the printing process. As we’ve previously discussed, quite a lot of time, effort and resources go into creating each individual check. Once you create the check, you must ensure the check information is accurate and complete. Then, you must ensure you have the correct paper, ink and fonts necessary for the checks to meet legal requirements.
Since this process is often more expensive than outsourcing the printing, many employers may choose to use a printing service. Having checks pre-printed and ready for the company to mail to employees saves time, money and energy long-term.
Additionally, using one of the many online check services ensures that each check meets the legal requirements. While business owners often understand a check’s components, it’s very easy to omit important information unintentionally. Ultimately, this can result in frustrated employees and cause a business to receive fines from their banking institutions.
Therefore, it makes sense that, as an extra layer of legal protection, many employers choose to outsource the task of printing paper checks. In doing so, the company ensures the timely delivery of valid, legal checks regularly, without worry about errors or other legal actions.
When Should You Consider Outsourcing Check Printing Online?
When determining what method of check distribution your business should use, there are several factors you should consider. First and foremost, your company must allot a specific budget to the printing of paper checks. This first step ensures that businesses understand how much they can afford to spend on an annual or monthly basis.
Once your company determines this number, you’ll need to evaluate how much in-house printing will cost the organization. Many factors go into this determination, including:
- The overall size of the company
- The frequency of the pay periods
- The up-front cost for purchasing the correct printing equipment
- Maintenance costs, including purchasing new ink, check cardstock and other supplies
- Employer experience with checks and printing
At this point, your company should have a rough idea of how much in-house printing will cost. You should then research how to print checks online, finding outsourcing companies that provide printing services. Typically, businesses can request a quote from us to see how much it would cost to handle the printing process. You can then decide which method is more cost-effective for long-term services.
Conclusion
Ultimately, having paper checks printed on a regular basis does come with some up-front costs. Businesses must approve check designs for outsourced companies. Additionally, they must ensure all company and employee information listed on the checks is correct. For companies choosing to print their own checks, this process takes a bit longer, as the organization themselves will hold the responsibility of the check design and layout.
For companies looking to streamline the printing process, outsourcing the paper check process might make more sense. For smaller organizations that have only a few employees, these individuals may find that printing and mailing checks in-house is just as efficient.
Overall, you should take the time to research your options and perform a cost comparison to make the most informed decision. Deciding to outsource checks may make some employers uneasy, but most organizations can find a reliable service with proper research.
Was this information useful? If you’d like more information on what goes into printing paper checks or a price quote, we encourage you to reach out to Checkissuing.com for more information and to find the answers to your questions.
References
[1] https://www.smartpayables.com/how-to-print-checks/
[2] https://www.thebalance.com/before-you-print-your-own-checks-315315
