Ordering new cheques from the bank usually takes 10-14 business days to arrive. If you need the cheques immediately, you have to pay more for expedited shipping. This sounds terrible when you need to pay some bills urgently. Isn’t it? Opting for placing an online order is also risky as it might be prone to fraudulence and identity threats. Luckily, you can print your own cheques in the comfort of your home with cheque printing software.
Looking for Cheque Printing Software? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best Cheque Printing Software solutions.
Printing your own cheque can help you save money, and add a new level of personalization on your cheques. You can avail several advantages if you print your own cheque. But, before scrutinizing these benefits, let’s check the prerequisites for it.
What do you require to print your own cheque?
It is crucial to determine everything that you will need for printing a cheque before landing into any troubles. So, get familiar with the typical requirements and decide what’s best for you. Here’s the list!
1. Printer
To print your own cheque, the apparent element is to have a printer. However, you can use any of the laser and inkjet printers.
2. Magnetic Ink
While you sit to print a cheque from scratch, it is advisable to use magnetic ink.
Some banks make use of magnetic readers on their computers. It reads the routing information and bank account number printed at the bottom of the cheque. As magnetic ink comprises magnetic particles, it can encode your bank account and routing information with special numbers. If you avoid the use of magnetic ink, there are chances that the banks may detect the manual input on the cheque and levy a fee for you as well as the payee. Sometimes, it may result in slower processing time.
If you have your bank details and routing numbers pre-printed and require printing only the payee information on the cheque, you need not use magnetic ink.
Though the magnetic ink is a bit more expensive than regular ink and is harder to find, you can use it in all the printing jobs you do.
3. Software
Undoubtedly, you can print your own cheque without any software. But, it demands some design skills and time. However, a pre-built package can do most of the work for you, and software is relatively inexpensive. It can make the task a lot easier and quicker.
Perhaps, there may be a decent chance that you already have what you need. We are talking about money management software Microsoft Money, Office Time, and more, that helps you quickly make a payment and create a cheque. Additionally, these programs automatically generate a record when you create a cheque. With this, you can track the payments without entering the information manually. You can also gauge the cheque stock paper ordered from the printer with the help of this software. Nevertheless, you can design a template yourself if required.
Apart from the above programs, some of the newest and best accounting software can also aid you in printing or customizing cheques yourself.
4. Paper
Legally, you can use any paper to print your own cheque. But, if you use a regular paper, banks may think that the cheque could be possibly fake or so. So, it is recommended to use security paper or carbon paper which you can easily obtain from office retailers. One benefit of such papers is that no one can easily tamper or alter it.
Now that you have known what it takes to print a cheque let’s understand how to print a cheque.
How to print a cheque?
- Step 1: Download software that enables you to print cheques at the comfort of your home.
- Step 2: Determine the compatibility of the software with your printer. For that, you can take out a print of sample cheque included in the software. Generally, a laser printer gives high-quality results.
- Step 3: Get the Magnetic Ink or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) toner and cheque stock paper for printing your cheques. Not all the information on the cheque needs magnetic ink. Only the bank information, including the routing number and your account number, requires being printed using magnetic ink.
- Step 4: Enter your information into the cheque printing program and print out a sample. Ensure that all the information, including routing number, name and address, bank name and address, and account information, match your original cheque from the bank. Once you verify all these and the sample is a replica of your original cheque, you can save the template and print as many new cheques whenever you want.
Advantages of printing your own cheque
It is a common thing to use pre-printed cheques in business nowadays. Many private individuals and companies are using it and availing a multitude of benefits. Here’s a list of advantages one can avail by printing his own cheques.
No more manual filling of blank cheques
If you use cheque printing software, you no longer need to fill blank cheques manually. When it is combined with MICR and laser printers, you can also eliminate the expense of buying pre-printed cheques.
Cost-effective
Getting accustomed to printing your own cheque helps you save money and bring in the flexibility to print cheques whenever needed. Moreover, it is a more efficient and practical way than ordering cheques from the bank.
Minimize loss of files
Appropriate use of a document management software and cheque printing process can free you from the hassles associated with paper files that could be lost or destroyed. This also eliminates poor financial reporting as every data you need is available on software.
Good Branding
Printing your own cheques enable you to leverage customization. It lets you represent your brand professionally by adding legitimate details. This brings a good impression to the clientele and builds trust in this regard.
Enhanced Security
By printing your own cheques, expect it to deliver promising security for your business. If printed with the process as mentioned above and prerequisites in mind, it guarantees that the cheque will never bounce.
Have you decided to print your own cheques? Great! Make sure you get it right and comply with your bank’s requirement.
Passionate Digital Marketer & Software Analyst. I recognize the importance of interactive engagement in today’s world and works towards building a steady flow of relevant, user-oriented content to obtain high-rank placement in search engine results.
