Creating a Budget for 2012

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is coming to a close. Christmas is already over, but if you overspent this year, you might be paying for your Christmas purchases for months to come.
That’s not a great way to start the new year, but you can get your finances on the right track by creating a budget for 2012 and sticking to it. But first, let’s talk about that credit card bill.

Experts recommend laying out everything you owe. Gather up all of your credit cards, for example, and write down the balance on each. What is your minimum payment for each card and which card do you owe the most on? Concentrate on paying more on the higher-balance card until it’s paid off. Then continue this process until all of your cards have a zero balance. Ask yourself if you really need more than one credit card. If you don’t, cut up everything you don’t need so you won’t be tempted to use it.

Now for the budget. Create a simple worksheet in Excel and write down every bill you receive each month along with the amount due. Total up your bills then subtract that total from the income you bring in each month. What’s left over represents how much extra money you have to spend. Once you know exactly what you have to operate on, you can better organize your finances and know what you can and cannot afford to buy. Don’t forget to include things like groceries, gas, child care, and money to put into savings when creating your monthly budget.

Some people may be shocked at how much money they don’t have left over each month. What can you get rid of? Maybe you can you lower your cable bill by selecting a different plan, or cut coupons and stick to a strict grocery list each week.

Make 2012 a year of good financial decisions. A little discipline can go a long way.

Happy 2012!

How to keep a clean checkbook

How organized is your checkbook? Do you know your balance, know your budget, and know what you can’t afford to buy?

Some people are careless when it comes to their checkbook, but that’s one area of our lives we should work hard to organize. For personal use and especially for business, being meticulous here will pay off—and save you money in overdraft fees from the bank. Here are a few tips when it comes to keeping a clean and accurate checkbook.

• This might seem obvious, but don’t forget to write down all receipts. Few people carry cash these days, so you could have five receipts or more in one day from small purchases like stops to the gas station, the drive-thru at lunch, or a mid-day coffee run. Even though these small amounts aren’t likely to overdraw your account, if you fail to write them down, your book will be out of balance, making it hard for you to know exactly what you have to spend.
• Fraudulent activity is commonplace, and you’re especially vulnerable if you purchase a lot of items online. For this reason, be sure to log into your bank account online and balance your checkbook. I would suggest doing this at least twice a week to see what debits have cleared and which are still outstanding. Then, make sure your book balances to what the bank says you have available. Make sure nothing has come through on your account that you didn’t buy. If it has, contact your bank to get more information on that transaction.
• If you have automatic debits set up on your account for certain bills or fees each month, don’t forget to write those down, especially if they’re for large amounts. Try to remember when these come out each month so you can plan accordingly and make sure the funds are in your account before the debit is scheduled to come out.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the bank teller for help. That’s what they’re there for. If your account is out of balance and you can’t find the culprit, go to your bank and ask the teller to balance it for you. She might be able to find an error that you’ve overlooked and can look up your account in much more detail than what’s available to you online.

CheckCare employees celebrate Christmas!

We write so much about business on our blog, that we thought it would be nice to share some pictures of our employees enjoying themselves at our office Christmas party.
We appreciate your business and work hard to serve our customers each and every day.

Here are some of the hardworking employees at CheckCare!

Managing cash flow for your small business

Being on top of your small business means being in complete control of its cash flow. What goes into the cash register at the end of the day is the lifeblood of a small business and needs to be properly handled.
Losing money is only one problem when it comes to mishandling cash. Without proper controls and procedures in place, valuable information about your business is lost, too. Ideally, a good small business cash flow plan will achieve the following:

• Daily, weekly and even hourly sales reports
• Customized reports to identify the least and most profitable products or services
• Month-end sales reports to be used in determining business and occupation taxes and other local taxes and fees
• In retail environments, the point of sale system should also directly aid in creating purchase orders and invoices
• Track checks, cash, and credit card sales and reconcile with actual deposits

For small businesses, bad checks can lead to hours spent trying to recover the funds and reconcile the accounting. Banks often charge the merchant a returned check fee as well. Accepting checks without proper protections in place is a risk for your business.

Partnering with a company like CheckCare can reduce the risks involved with accepting checks. With services such as check verification and check guarantees, credit and debit card processing, and online payment systems, your business will be protected. And as a small business owner, that’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about.

Having a small business cash flow system like the one listed above will help to keep your business running smoothly.

Protect yourself when accepting payments

While people today may think that something like credit card and check fraud is a thing of the past, actually the opposite is true. With more and more users and more and more opportunities for breeches of the system, consumers are more vulnerable now than ever before in history. Because of the prevalence of electronic funds transfers and because paper money has fast become a thing of the past, we need to stay more vigilant than ever.

Check verification transactions are one of the safest ways for businesses to avoid fraud that accompanies electronic processing. Making sure that funds are available before the charge goes through is easy for businesses to do, especially with the technology that’s available today.

CheckCare offers check verification, Visa and Mastercard processing, online payment processing, and more. Learn more by visiting our website.

A secure way to accept checks and other payments online

If your business accepts checks online, it is wise to use an online payment processing service so you can feel safe and know that the check is guaranteed.

Check verification transactions help reduce and eliminate check fraud. They serve as a buffer to safeguard a business that is vulnerable to this happening when they accepts checks as a form of payment.

All businesses that accept payments online need to have an active and successful form of online bill payment service in place to verify the payment. Check verification transactions not only make sure everything is working fine from a payment standpoint, but they also provide safety from fraudulent types of transactions taking place within a company.

At CheckCare, we genuinely care about you and we make these transactions and payment processes easy to set up and easy to use. When you put your trust in CheckCare, you won’t have to worry about about fraudulent activity or wondering if a check will clear the bank.

We encourage you to learn more about our check verification services and contact us if you have any questions.

Merry Christmas from CheckCare

CheckCare would like to take a minute to show our appreciation to our customers. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!
We value your relationship and are grateful for your business. We’re glad you decided to put your trust in us for your online payment processing, check verification, and check processing needs.

We look forward to servicing you throughout 2012 and beyond.

If you’re looking for more information on one of the services listed above, we encourage you to check out our website. You’ll find detailed information on all of our services as well as opportunities to contact us for more information.

We hope you have a great holiday season and a successful 2012.

Is accepting checks worth the risk? Ways you can prevent check fraud

Payment options for businesses run the gamut, from cash to credit cards and paper checks. Because of this kind of payment diversity, businesses use online bill payment services to manage and verify their payment accounting systems.

While cash is still a popular form of payment, customers generally prefer credit cards or checks for the extra safeguards and record tracking that they provide. Vendors usually opt to accept checks that are either mailed in or submitted electronically through an online bill payment company. There are, however, some considerations for business owners when it comes to accepting checks as a form of payment.

Check Payment Statistics

According to the Federal Reserve, most check transactions do not exceed much over one thousand dollars. In Federal Reserve non-cash payment studies, the volume of check payments has steadily declined. In 2006, for example, only 31% of U.S. transactions were paid using checks.

In contrast, online bill payment through check e-payment services has risen on average by approximately 18.7% annually over the last four years. The average check payment was at approximately $1,366 in 2007. It is estimated that in 2009, over 17.9 billion check payment transactions were completed.

Avoiding Check Fraud

Companies that decide to include check payment as an option for customers should consider the following safety measures to prevent fraudulent transactions from occurring.

• Post your company’s check acceptance policy visibly at the checkout location. Use clear language to describe whether they are not accepted, or that a form of photo ID and signature verification is required.

• Evaluate checks carefully and examine them for watermarks, text, and smudges and torn sides—all of which can be a red flag. Always compare check information with the customer ID, including the signature. If you suspect any form unauthenticity, you can politely decline to accept the check.

• Enlist the services of a check guarantee service which could be considered a form of “check insurance.” Online bill payment services often include check verification as part of their portfolio of services.

• Ensure that the online bill payment service includes optional check conversion for the merchant account. This allows for checks to be processed almost in the same way as credit card transactions are handled. The nominal fees are minimal compared to the losses attached to check fraud. Check conversion not only protects against fraud, but transactions should be faster and time will be saved by eliminating visits to the bank.

If you’re interested in learning more about our check verification services and other ways CheckCare helps to prevent fraud, check out our website or contact us today.

Should I pay my bills online? Some things you need to know

Online bill payment is efficient, secure, and time-saving. It’s becoming common practice for many people, but do you know how paying bills online works and how to select the right option?

First, you should make sure that the security of the financial transaction is guaranteed. Discover a system that will remind you about bill payment deadlines and that will offer an integrated approach for your convenience. Various such products are already available on the market.

Paying bills via your corporate website is a great opportunity. All you need to do is instal a module that helps you deal with bill payment in a quick and efficient manner.

Paying bills online is also possible through the opportunities that banks themselves offer. The process, for most banks, is for the individual to sign up for online banking. Online banking gives you access to your funds and helps you schedule bill payments.

You should also look for bill payment options that provide e-mail reminders. These are usually third-party services that have no connection to a bank. Missing a deadline this way becomes virtually impossible.

Read reviews and find out what current customers think about paying bills online through a specific platform, software, or third-party service. Get familiar with the terminology. It is essential to know who is handling your money, what kinds of security certificates are available, and how the system ensures all bill payments will be delivered on time.

Paying bills online can be the easiest and most efficient way to handle monthly financial commitments and keep track of bills due.

CheckCare helps businesses set up online payment portals to help ensure they receive payments on time each month. Read more about that service here.

End-of-Year donations made easy with online tithing

Is your church prepared for the increased donations and tithing typically experienced at the end of the year? It might not be. Not unless you have an online donation method established and readily available.

One-third of U.S. churches now offer online tithing as a way to increase their tithing. Churches that offer e-tithing are seeing 10-25% increases in their donations within the first year. CheckCare is the

fastest and most secure way for church members to tithe anytime, anywhere.

The members of your congregation are most likely looking for the right way to put their tax deductible donations to the best use. If your church wants to be at the top of the list, it will help to have a simple way for members to make donations from the convenience of their computer while they search for worthy causes.

Our secure donation site allows the members of your congregation to tithe safely and easily. And it can be set up quickly to allow donations to go directly into the church bank account – just in time for the end-of-year giving spree that takes place in December.

Make sure your church is accessible for online donations. Contact us today to set up your secure online tithing module.