Better Ways to Deposit Checks

Many service businesses are paid in checks, especially if it is an invoice-then-pay type of system. Even in a small business, sometimes the volume of checks received require multiple trips to the bank each week- sometimes daily. It’s not as if you have plenty of spare time to be trotting off to the bank to stand in line- not to mention the gas and traffic.

Surely the trips to the bank have become such a part of doing business that you never think about it. What if you didn’t have to? What if you could make your deposits whenever you feel like it?

First, if you are a Bank of America customer- and as a small business owner in Maine, you probably are, hopefully you have checked out their awesome ATM deposit feature. At the Market Street and Forrest Ave. ATMs in Portland and Main Street in Westbrook, the have what is called “multi-check deposit ATMs.” You insert your ATM card, enter your pin, and put in your stack of checks. No envelope required! The machine scans each check and you confirm the amounts. Your receipt includes a scan of each check. You can make your deposits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can find more multi-check ATM locations at Bank of America.

What if you don’t even want to go to an ATM? Yes, there are now options available to scan your checks at home and make your deposits online. Chase Bank is now offering this service for a monthly fee and a free scanner. You insert your checks in the scanner using their system, and you deposits are recorded. After 14 days, you can shred the checks.

If you are not a Chase Bank account holder, you can still take advantage of online deposits using a third party called DepositNow. This service works with any bank and deposits your money according to federal regulations and is perfectly safe. You pay them 39.95 per month, and they give you a free scanner. You make deposits whenever you feel like. What makes this the best option is that it syncs with QuickBooks, totally eliminating double entry. Scan the checks- it looks for QuickBooks invoices to match and records the payment and subsequent deposit. While 39.95 sounds like a lot if you just have a few checks, it sounds like a great deal if you normally spend time entering multiple payments in QuickBooks, making copies of the checks, filling out a deposit form, running to the bank, standing in line, and making your deposit. All this is accomplished with the click of a button.

You should frequently examine every process in your business. That includes even the most mundane processes like bank deposits. You never know when technology, costs, and other factors have changed enough to change the way you do business.