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Time to read: 4 min
It’s bound to happen sooner or later…your check stock is dwindling, and you need to order more. What does that have to do with moving to a new ERP system? Well, it is a minor consideration, but this is a great time to rethink how you print your checks and maybe take a deeper look into ACH transactions before you spend a bunch of money on check stock that you may not need when you switch to Business Central or another ERP option.
Our ongoing blog series will help your organization prepare for GP’s end-of-service, not only as you prepare for a move to a new ERP but to make the most of your current system investment.
This seems like it is a pretty minor thing to consider in the scheme of things, but if you are transitioning away from Dynamics GP in the next year or so, you can save money daily by changing your payment processes. Not only are you cutting down on unnecessary costs, but anything you think about and plan for now is one less distraction during a system migration or transition. When thinking about the future of your transaction methods, there are a few things that you should think about:
The Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) has determined that the median cost of printing checks is 4 to 10 times more expensive than using ACH for payments.
Let’s look at that for a moment. The AFP determined that the cost of check printing is between $2.01 to $4.00 per check, while the cost of ACH is between $.26 and $.50 per payment. Taking the midpoint of each of these, assuming that you make 1000 payments per month, you can see that ACH is significantly less expensive.
Image: Checks vs ACH price comparison table
In addition, 85% of organizations cited lower cost as a primary reason for moving from checks to ACH, and manual check processes consume significantly more staff time, delaying approvals and reconciliation.
If you don’t have all your vendors on ACH, we highly recommend making that change now. If you have all the bank information available when you move to Business Central, your payables transition will be seamless. Why wait to do it when you are in the middle of an implementation?
Learn more about fraud protection in Business Central →
Many institutions consider ACH to be a secure and more efficient way to conduct payments. AFP’s annual fraud survey ranks paper checks as the most fraud-prone payment method. The Federal Reserve Bank also points out that, even with Positive Pay controls, checks remain higher‑risk due to physical handling and mail transit. Nacha, the organization that governs the ACH Network, states that eliminating checks reduces exposure to both check fraud and downstream ACH fraud (routing/account data leakage).
If you are printing checks and assume not all your vendors would like to be paid by ACH, you should also consider whether you still need to use preprinted checks. Pricing varies for each of these based on the number of checks purchased. High-security preprinted checks cost around $150 for two-hundred, and blank check stock is around the same price for five-hundred check forms. If you plan to move off of GP within a year, changing to blank check stock is a viable consideration.
If you are staying on GP for a year or two, we probably wouldn’t recommend switching from preprinted to blank check stock. But, if you are interested, some third-party providers (also called Independent Software Vendors, or ISVs) can be used in both Dynamics GP and Business Central. The setup and report changes will differ across systems, so you would only need to prepare your staff for the blank stock once you switch to Business Central.
One other nice feature: blank stock is available in different colors. If you are printing checks for multiple companies, this sometimes makes it easier to track which company the payment is coming from. Or, even better, the same check stock can be used for payments from multiple companies.
When you purchase check stock, we tend to reorder whatever we bought the last time. When your stock runs low, start thinking about what you will be doing in the future, even if you aren’t transitioning to a new system right away.
There is no question that ACH is the best option for payments. It’s less expensive and more secure than printed checks. We highly recommend that you start using this ACH for as many payments as possible in Dynamics GP today, and continue using it after you transition to Business Central. Any time spent on setting this up in GP will be repaid many times over, and you have the information from your vendors readily available to set up in Business Central.
With GP’s end-of-life nearing, many organizations are turning to their Partners for guidance. Whether you’re looking for demos, quotes, or are ready to start planning your migration, Syvantis is here to help. Our team of consultants will help you leverage your investment in GP and prepare you for a migration to Business Central.
Business Process Designers. Technical Experts. Dedicated Partners.
