Are Physical Company Checks Necessary

Many companies keep physical company checks on hand for their business. However, with payment options like ACH, wires and online bill pay through your financial institution and a variety of other electronic payment options, is it necessary to have physical company checks?

One of the reasons not to have physical company checks would be cost … that is, the cost to order checks (printing and shipping – it’s not cheap!), mail checks (envelopes & postage) and replace checks if lost in transit (stop payment fee, envelopes & postage fee).

While the costs may not be astronomical, they do add up; and for startups and small businesses, any additional costs will impact your bottom line. Obviously, when you’re a startup or small business in its infancy, the last thing you need are more costs and expenses.

Granted, some financial institutions may provide a starter pack of checks when you open a business bank account to get you going until you order your own checks but that’s not always the case and most business bank accounts don’t cover your first order of checks with few exceptions.

So, do you need to have physical company checks?

The answer really depends on your business and its business transactions. But it’s still a good idea to keep a small supply of physical company checks on hand just in case you need them. You don’t necessarily need computer checks or business executive-size checks. Personal size business checks are more than adequate in these situations. However, if your handwriting isn’t great or you have a bookkeeper or other financial professional cutting your checks, then computer checks may be the better way to go.

There are reasons why businesses and business owners choose to keep physical company checks on hand and these reasons vary from business to business. Some owners may prefer to review and sign every check that goes out the door as an added level of financial control, management, and security. In addition, there may be times where you will need to write or issue a physical company check because it requires sending it along with a payment stub or other documents. Keep in mind that online bill pay through your financial institution does not allow you to include any payment stubs or other documents so if you need to include those stubs or documents, you need to write a company check.

Of course, there are workarounds like getting a cashier’s check from your financial institution or a money order but often there will be a fee associated with these as well and either you or someone authorized by you/your company will need to go get the cashier’s check or money order … one more thing to do in your already business day!

And while ACH and wire payments are convenient and much faster to post than issuing physical company checks, some financial institutions still operate online banking platforms that aren’t as user-friendly to navigate plus you need to be very careful, patient, and attentive to detail when keying in the information for the banking transaction as once you authorize the release of those funds, it’s practically a done deal!