Forms of payment

[sofadoc]

20 years ago, it was nothing for me to deposit 10-15 checks per week into the bank.
That number has gradually declined over the years. I probably average one a week now.

I've actually seen a resurgence in Greenbacks. It's nothing for me to hand a customer a sizable bill, and they whup out a roll of C-notes that would choke a mule, and start peeling them off the roll.

It's mostly credit/debit cards now. And more often than not, instead of just making a deposit, they just go ahead and pay the full amount up front. I'm not sure if I like that or not. Once I have already spent the money, it's hard to get enthused about doing the work. ;D  But I have become very deligent about using advance payments to take care of all my shop expenses for the month well ahead of time.

It's probably been 3 years since I wrote a paper check. And with a Post Office just around the corner, I take cash payments straight there and send off money orders to pay bills.

What types of cash flow are you guys seeing the most of?

[byhammerandhand]

Most of my business is B2B, many of them recurring.  All of them mail checks, except for one that does EFT.   

B2C customers generally pay by check, though once in a while I get cash.   I don't like cash as much because it's not so easy for me to make cash deposits as it is check because there's no audit trail.

My bank (credit union) has a bill payer feature, so I set up vendors there and pay bills electronically.   It depends upon the vendor, some get mailed a check and some are set up for EFT.   I use the same for my personal bills, utilities, insurance, credit cards, etc.    Where possible, I set up for a "pull" rather than a "push" and for example, American Express just automatically gets their payment for balance due on the due date and I don't have to even remember to do it.   While I have a checkbook for both business and personal accounts, I probably don't write 10 checks a year.

[gene]

I had one person ask me last year (in December) if I took credit cards.

All personal/business checks and a rare cash payment for something small.

My bank changed their ATM's so I no longer have to add my checks and put them in an envelope. I simply put my checks into the ATM and it shows me a picture of each check and I push OK if the amount is correct. I can get a receipt with the checks printed on the receipt if I want. Kool!

gene

[JDUpholstery]

90% checks, 10% cash....I have often considered getting set up to do credit cards, but having a pretty shallow profit margin (slower work speed so do not make as much as I could), I just do not want to pay 2% on the transaction.

I take a deposit up front, wait for it to clear my bank before buying materials, and then balance is due on completion (unless it is a very large job, then I may do incremental payments. So far I have not seen a bad check, but do know that the risk is there.

[Mike]

Shen i sas in nee england the economy was good and i used to see slot of younger working folks and had slot of charges. Now  with retirees. And a bad e onomy its alway check or cash. I set up with a swuare acount i have had smaller jibs 300 or more under a grand thst have paid up front although it its nice i hate it when i finnish the job look at the contract snd see no fimal payment. It take all the fun out of it !

[Mojo]

Probably 90 % of my billing is done through PayPal. My customers love it and so do I. I do NOT want any customers credit card numbers or have it scanned on any machine I own. I do not want the liability in the event their card gets hacked down the road.

The vast majority of my customers are from out of State, contact me via e-mail and the entire transaction is done through the internet including the billing. Many times I never see or even talk to my customers. I just shipped out two orders, one to AZ and another to WA. I never talked to the customer as all our correspondence was done through e-mail. I invoiced them through Paypal, got paid and then shipped the product. I have no idea if they paid by credit card or check as I never see their end of the transaction. After a few weeks I transfer the money from Paypal to my checking business account.

Works great

For locals I have gotten paid cash and check but there have been several instances I used Paypal to bill local customers. When doing work for dealerships I always get a check on a net 30 day billing cycle which is customary for larger businesses.

Chris

[Mike]

speaking of not writing checks sofa, I find it a pain when I doo have to write and mail a check it much easier to use a debt card .
all my bills are electronicly  . I see 20 30 people a day standing in line outside a local Comcast cable office  :oi say why do they do it  :o

[Mojo]

A laugh for you guys.

1 st off let me say I have nothing to do with money except make it.  8)
My wife the brilliant math teacher handles all the household bills and budget and she does an amazing job. She pays through the banks online bill pay and occasionally writes checks. Everything gets paid on time and we never have an issue.

If I get a check from a customer I hand it over to her and in 3 minutes it is deposited. She uses some application from our bank on her I Phone which captures the image of the check, uploads it and deposits it. We rarely go to the bank anymore.

Here is the laughable part. Before we headed to VA with our coach I wanted to get new tires for the rear. They were 6 years old and due to be replaced as they aged out. I was leaving the house with the coach and she handed me the checkbook and said " do you want me to make the check out for you ? " I said no thats OK I can handle it ". If ya'll think I didn't handle it correctly then your write. I screwed it up big time.

The tire place called me a week later to say they couldn't cash my check for $ 2,200. When I asked them why they replied " because you wrote down one amount and then spelled out a different amount on the next line. * OPP's * I explained that my wife handles the bills and I was very sorry. I gave them my debit card number and they ran that to pay the bill. He called me the next day laughing and said " maybe you should just hand the phone to your wife so she can take care of this ". I gave them the wrong debit card number. He enjoyed teasing me.

I finally got the bill paid by giving them the right number. Some days are better then others. :)

Chris

[sofadoc]

I do NOT want any customers credit card numbers or have it scanned on any machine I own. I do not want the liability in the event their card gets hacked down the road.

It is my understanding that the CC terminal in my shop is little more than a modem. It's feeds data scanned from the card to the processing company, but doesn't store any data internally. And when a person or company gives their CC info over the phone, I write it down on a slip of paper. Then I process the transaction immediately, and tear the paper into small pieces. I don't have any fear of liability.

I woke up one morning and checked my bank account online, only to find that while I was asleep, 3 grand had been wired from my checking acct. to a Western Union office in London. Western Union told me that whoever used my CC # also had my 3 digit security code # from the back of the card.  Well, it just happened to be a brand new card that I had only used once..........at a hotel in New Orleans.  My bank told me that it would be pointless to try and blame the hotel.

I think the last time I wrote a check, I screwed it up as bad as Chris. ;)

When I was a teenager working at a fast food restaurant, we had "counter checks" from all the local banks laying by the register. Anyone could come in off the street and fill one out, and sign their name to pay for food.
It was a simpler time back then...............

[Mike]

s
15 20 years ago when I got set up with card servicen to take credit they had to sear my credit to take credit , I really didn't get that? and we gt a big terminal that tied intot he land line then later in florida I got a portable unit to read card and printed a reciete and wirelessly made the transaction.
now you got square and the rest easy as pie to get