With more and more small businesses operating out of their owners’ homes, it’s becoming easier to perform a variety of business functions from the comfort of your couch, dining room table, or home office. One area that small business owners may have more questions about comes down to processing payroll and printing a check at home.
Once you know how to read a check, it is possible to perform these sorts of tasks at home, although there are a few steps you must follow in order to be able to do so.
Here’s what you need to know about printing checks at home.
Register your business and set up your bank account
Before you can begin to issue checks in your business’ name, you must be sure your company is properly registered.
In some states and cities, you may also need to register for an employee identification number, or EIN, although if you operate as a sole proprietorship, you may also choose to use your Social Security number.
You’ll also need to make sure that you have a bank account set up since the checks that you have for your business will route from that bank account and not your personal account.
Once you have this information, you can proceed to design your checks.
Design and order your checks
There are a few features you’ll want to be sure to personalize when you create your business checks. For example, you’ll most likely want to include your business’ name and return address in the top left portion of the check.
You may also want to include your company’s logo to help lend your business checks an even more professional look. Many websites that sell business checks offer design capabilities.
Print your checks at home
Once you have your checks ordered, designed, and delivered, you can print your checks at home using an ordinary office printer.
Many word processors and other software solutions will offer you templates to follow to ensure that the payee, memo, and money fields are properly aligned.
You may also be wondering whether an inkjet or laser printer is better for printing checks. T
his ultimately comes down to your preference and budget, but if you are planning on printing a large volume of checks, the increased speed from a laser printer may be worth your money.
Important security considerations
While you can certainly order and print your checks at home, it is important to note that there are some security risks if you don’t spring for checks that are difficult to forge.
For this reason, many people look to business check printing companies to handle their check printing needs in a secure manner.
These sorts of companies are perfect for small businesses because they combine speed and efficiency with the types of security features that can’t be replicated easily in a home office.
For example, they can print on a controlled paper stock which is much harder to replicate. They can also print in thermochromatic ink, something that consumer printers have no capability of.
There are a variety of other chemical sensitivities that these sorts of companies provide small business owners that also make them worth considering, especially if you prefer an “out of sight; out of mind” mentality when it comes to processing your business’ payroll.
It is possible to print checks at home with the proper setup and equipment.
Although this adds convenience to your business’ operations, you should be careful to avoid any security risks associated with printing checks, since check fraud has unfortunately become even easier in the digital age.
For many, the security threat may outweigh the convenience and flexibility provided by printing checks at home. Make sure to be smart as you design and the print of your checks, and you’ll get the best of both worlds.
