Page 65 - Accounting Best Practices

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Accounts Payable Best Practices
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company. There are a number of check protection features available that one can
incorporate into the company check stock in order to thwart the efforts of coun-
terfeiters. Here are some of the features that can be ordered from the check
printer:
• “Void” image. When a check is copied, the word “Void” appears multiple times
on the copied version of the check. This makes it impossible for a counter-
feiter to create clean color copies of a check.

• Microprinting border. Text can be added along the edges of a check using very
small fonts, so they are only visible as text when magnified. When copied, they
appear as a line, with no discernible wording visible. This is a less obvious
way to deter the efforts of someone attempting to color-copy a check.

• Modified background in dollar space. A set of wavy lines can be designed
into the check, in the area where the dollar amount is printed on the check. By
doing so, counterfeiters will have a very difficult time erasing existing dollar
amounts without visibly damaging the background.

• Watermark. A watermark can be added to a check that is only visible when
seen from an angle and that is impossible to duplicate when a check is run
through a copier. This technique is most effective when the check contains a
warning not to accept the check unless the watermark can be seen.

Cost: Installation time:

3–29 ISSUE ACH PAYMENTS WITH REMITTANCE DETAIL
Larger companies have been able to pay for invoices with Automated Clearing
House (ACH) transfers for some time. Their accounting systems create a file of
the amounts to be paid and link this to a file containing the banking information
for their suppliers. This file is sent to the company bank, which processes ACH
payments overnight that appear in the bank accounts of suppliers by the next
morning. One problem: The suppliers have no supporting detail for the payments
except for the name of the initiating party, which appears in the information
transmitted by the bank. The result is a callback to the company, asking for the
detail so the supplier can properly post the receipt information in its accounting
system. This extra contact essentially eliminates the time saved by the originating
company when it first set up the ACH payment system. Some companies have
created a system that issues separate payment notifications by mail, but this extra
system requires manual labor and results in supporting detail that arrives in the
mail days later than the payment.